Women's Leadership

Women with successful careers in science, industry and technology provide important examples to those considering careers in STEM-related fields. Women scientists, engineers and corporate leaders are becoming increasingly involved in pipeline-building programs and networks. Professional associations such as the Association for Women in Science, and the Society of Women Engineers are key examples of programs that are building women’s leadership. Leaders of academic institutions, corporations and non-profits in STEM need to model inclusive hiring and promotional practices and develop an organizational culture that fosters positive attitudes towards women’s advancement. Such leadership encourages a culture of diversity and inclusiveness for replication by middle and senior management.

Emilie and the Scientific Community

Submitted by Kyla Bender-Baird on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 12:17pm

By Rylee Sommers-Flanagan*

I am finished writing and thinking about socially conservative Texans (for now). But I still have history texts on the mind.

Here’s the dilemma: in a conversation with a like-minded male progressive, I was surprised to realize that, while sympathetic to the fact that girls have few female role models to read about in school, he didn’t see an obvious solution. He thought maybe a few more women could be highlighted, but he offered the following to explain why men would continue to outnumber women in the texts for years to come:

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Brazil's sex tourism boom

Teaser:

BBC: Foreign tourists are flocking to Brazil for sex holidays, where, despite police crackdowns, child prostitution continues to flourish, and includes young girls and transgender children. Many of the children are underage, unable to even enter bars, and some begin working as young as age 7. In addition to sex tourism, poverty is one of the main reasons that child prostitution is on the rise in Brazil--indeed, Unicef estimates there are 250,000 child prostitutes in the country.

Editorial:

"Young children are supplying an increasing demand from foreign tourists who travel to Brazil for sex holidays, according to a BBC investigation. Chris Rogers reports on how the country is overtaking Thailand as a destination for sex tourism and on attempts to curb the problem."

Source:

BBC

URL:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-10764371

Date:

July 30, 2010

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Emerging Leaders Network Wine Tasting

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06/15/2010

The Emerging Leaders Network of the National Council for Research on Women invites you to an exclusive networking and wine tasting event for young professional women in New York City. Tuesday, June 15, 6:00pm--8:00pm,

Bottle Rocket, 5 W. 19th Street, (between 5th and 6th Aves.)

The Emerging Leaders Network supports entry to mid-level professionals in their efforts to develop leadership skills and build partnerships. The Network is currently developing programs relevant to both the corporate and nonprofit sectors.

Entry fee for the Emerging Leaders Wine Tasting is $25 per person, payable in advance, by check or credit card, or payable by cash, check or credit card the night of the event.

Please RSVP to Lisa Rast via email at Lrast@ncrw.org, or fax to (212)785-7350.

Checks should be made payable to: NCRW

Photos:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

Computer Engineer Barbie and the Role of Women in Tech

Teaser:

Twenty years ago, women were awarded twice as many computer science degrees as they were in 2008. Of course, there are more fields open to women today. But that only explains part of the reason this well-paid, fast-growing field is losing women.

“Though we can’t be certain of the cause of the decline, research suggests several likely possibilities,” says Catherine Ashcraft, senior research scientist at the National Center for Women & Information Technology at the University of Colorado. “Many of these are related to the image of computer science and the lack of female role models and mentors. Girls get subtle messages from all sorts of places — the media, popular culture, parents, teachers, school counselors, other authority figures — that computer science isn’t really ’something girls do.’”

Source:

Wall Street Journal

URL:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/04/09/computer-engineer-barbie-and-the-role-of-women-in-tech/?KEYWORDS=women

Date:

April 9, 2010

Affiliate:

Associated Issues & Expertise:

WeLEAD: Professional Development

Submitted by jmumbey on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 10:45am

Date/Time:

04/17/2010

WeLEAD Professional Development Training Session.

Location: Ward Circle 103

For more information on the event please contact Ava Lubell (202) 885-6273.

WeLead Photo Session

Submitted by jmumbey on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 10:32am

Date/Time:

04/17/2010

Workshop

Location: Ward Circle 105

For more information on the event please contact Ava Lubell (202) 885-6273

High Performance Entrepreneurs: Women in High Tech (Whitepaper)

Submitted by kpeterson on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 7:20pm

New research shows what many have long suspected: women entrepreneurs are poised to lead the next wave of growth in global technology ventures. This report, prepared by Illuminate Ventures, documents the performance of women entrepreneurs in the past decade and the trends that are propelling them towards critical mass in the high-tech sector.

The bottom line: More than ever before, women are influencing the face of business. They are on the cusp of becoming a leading entrepreneurial force in technology. As the global economy regenerates, new business models are needed to stimulate economic and job growth. Investors seeking to reinvigorate bottom-line performance and to favorably impact the entrepreneurial strength of our economy would be wise to support strategies that enable high-tech start-ups that are inclusive of women entrepreneurs.

URL:

http://www.illuminate.com/whitepaper/

Women in IT: The Facts (2009)

Submitted by kpeterson on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 5:59pm

The technology industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the U.S. The United States Department of Labor estimates that by 2016 there will be more than 1.5 million computer-related jobs available. Technology job opportunities are predicted to grow at a faster rate than jobs in all other professional sectors, or up to 25 percent over the next decade.

Highly-qualified women are well-positioned to move into these open jobs, yet the industry is failing to attract this talent. Furthermore, women already employed in the technology industry are leaving at staggering rates. Failing to capitalize on this talent threatens U.S. productivity, innovation, and competitiveness. To further strengthen the U.S. position as a technical leader we need to examine the reasons why the industry is not attracting more people with varied backgrounds and take action to stem the current tide.

URL:

http://www.ncwit.org/pdf/NCWIT_WomenInITFacts_FINAL.pdf

The Recruitment, Retention & Advancement of Senior Technical Women

Submitted by kpeterson on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 5:46pm

On October 1, 2009, 59 senior technology executives participated in the Anita Borg Institute’s 2009 Technical Executive Forum.

Even though an acknowledgement was made that the pipeline of technical women with technical degrees coming out of academia was insufficient, the group commented that the women who do graduate from these programs are not joining organizational cultures that are as receptive as they could be to gender diversity. This cultural disconnect was highlighted through the discussion of five main components.

1. The existing technical culture is biased against “those who don’t code”

2. The existing technical culture rewards “Hero” behavior and an “in your face” communication style

3. Risk-aversion is embedded in recruiting and advancement practices

4. The individual contributor track lacks a development culture

URL:

http://anitaborg.org/files/breaking-barriers-to-cultural-change-in-corps.pdf

Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success

Submitted by kpeterson on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 5:37pm

A growing body of research has documented the underrepresentation of women in technical positions in US companies. Women hold 24 percent of technology jobs, yet represent half the total workforce. This underrepresentation persists even though the demand for technical talent remains high: computer occupations are expected to grow by 32 percent between 2008 and 2018.

In 2008, the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology and the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University conducted a survey of 1,795 technical men and women at seven high-technology companies in Silicon Valley. In this paper, we focus on senior technical women, who at only 4 percent of our sample represent a rarity in the technology industry.

URL:

http://anitaborg.org/files/Senior-Technical-Women-A-Profile-of-Success.pdf

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What We Do

NCRW is a network of leading university and community based research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing global reach dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls. We also have a Corporate Circle comprised of senior diversity professionals from leading U.S. and global member companies and a Presidents Circle of college and university leaders who share our commitment. NCRW harnesses the collective power of its network to provide knowledge, analysis, and thought leadership on issues ranging from reducing women’s poverty to building a critical mass of women’s leadership across sectors.

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