One of the top five issues I’m passionate about is the need to increase the number of women executives, techies, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Why does this subject get so much of my mental energy?
- Progress is too slow! We are raising the next generation in an environment where women are still impeded by their gender. Parents only want the best for their children, and we need to make sure our girls are judged on their merits.
- There is extensive scientific proof demonstrating that male-dominated teams are less efficient and less innovative than those with a healthy dose of ladies to break up their groupthink and egos. My favorite example is this paper by The London Business School – “Innovative Potential: Men and Women in Teams” (PDF)
- By failing to bring more women on board in visible roles and making sure their voices are heard, we are missing an incredible pool of talent since we’re only really tapping into 50% of the market.
- The biggest issue is when female executives, entrepreneurs, techies, and scientists have to waste mental energy dealing with the crap caused by misogynistic behavior. Men consciously and/or subconsciously create barriers and discourage women from joining their teams. E.g. VCs not investing in female-led companies, professors discriminating against their pregnant female students, techie men looking down on their female counterparts, etc.
Here are my three biggest calls for change:
- Child rearing is the responsibility of both parents. Written and unwritten policies and expectations keep men away from truly participating in parenting. Time off, flex schedules, day care, etc. need to be highly promoted to male employees. I have seen plans like these in action and I know the results are spectacular. Without this change, other efforts have no chance.
- Any educator who dares to say women aren’t good at sciences or technology should be fired. We’ve been tolerating this hate speech for too long. We have missed out on great minds due to this garbage.
- Scandinavian countries are on the right track and have made changes through legislation (check out this article on Norwegian and Danish progress). We are behind the times and should also implement legislation. Since tax-paying women comprise 50.7% of this country, this should be reflected in the makeup of senior leadership teams of companies receiving any government business. Time to do an executive rank check or there will be no federal dollars for you. No effort by a school to attract women into fields heavily dominated by men? No federal funding for you either. Enough carrots, it’s time for sticks!
What else can we do?
- Our ranks will not become more diverse until we men genuinely open our networks and make a conscious effort to include more women in them. Connect outside of your usual “fishing grounds”.
- 99.99% of “diversity” efforts HR creates are BS because the vast majority of these policies are garbage just designed to keep the lawyers away. Our frat boy culture needs to be changed by the participants first – it starts with you! We built the “glass ceiling” and we can’t expect women to dismantle it on their own.
- Due to our upbringing or egos, we men create an environment that keeps civilized women away, because many of us deep inside know they can do anything we can do as well, if not better. This attitude needs to go!
I have to give credit to several others who have highlighted this subject recently. Jeff Bussgang addressed why there are not enough female VCs (see his article The VC Gender Gap – Are VCs Sexist?) and the sharp-tongued Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe addressed networking for women (see this article). I hope that by the time the next generation of girls comes of age that things will be much improved.
UPDATE 1/15/10: Jason Evanish (co-founder of Greenhorn Connect) pointed me to a great resource on their site – Resources for female business women, executives, and entrepreneurs in Boston area.
UPDATE 2/20/10: I have recently found a great whitepaper with research by Illuminate Ventures. Defintiely a worthy read. Here is a quote: “Organizations that are the most inclusive of women in top management achieve 35% higher ROE and 34% better total return to shareholders versus their peers – and research shows gender diversity to be particularly valuable where innovation is key.”
UPDATE 2/28/10: I have to mention a fantastic article Eric Ries has posted on his blog called: “Why diversity matters (the meritocracy business)” Eric does a great job explaining why diversity is a great measure of how meritocratic your organization is.
Photo credit: ayeshamus
Hi, my name is Apolinaras Sinkevicius, but most call me Apollo. I am the guy who takes care of the day-to-day business and technology of rapidly growing companies. 12 years in managing the "nuts and bolts" of companies and being a steward of corporate cultures makes me a seasoned operations professional and right hand person to founders and CEOs.
I was having cocktails with a group of very intelligent women in technology here in Bellingham a couple of weeks ago and this very topic came up. We actually came up with a very interesting thought as to why there aren't more women climbing the ladder of success, and what it boiled down to was a lack of father figures. If you consider Maslow's hierarchy of needs, love is a more basic need than is esteem. With a lot of young women today having grown up with out a father present, whether by divorce or just lack of availability, a lot of young girls today have thrown much of their focus into finding that love which they lacked in all the “wrong places”, thus sapping energy out of focusing on a career or college studies. So men, one thing you can do is be there for your daughters – love them, encourage them, be a good male role model in their lives and they'll be able to focus on making a bigger impact in the business world!
I know that three things are true:
1. Yes, we need more women in tech. The ratio is not right.
2. Being a woman entrepreneur in tech/science/whatever gives me an advantage. I'm an anomaly.
3. I don't give a CRAP if men want to keep me out. I will claw my way in.
Hi Apollo, it's very gratifying to see a man carry this banner. It gets tiresome to speak to the converted, in an all-female audience.
I vividly remember my own 13-year-old epiphany in Civics class when the teacher outlined the gender imbalances in all forms of US leadership. My teenage wrath was unbounded. I literally had never thought about the issue until then. My own experience is that many male colleagues are perfectly well-intentioned but literally do not notice or think about these issues. They are shocked when I point out really basic barriers.
Like…the story I just heard from my brother-in-law about my nephew being a shoo-in for a very hard-to-get Citibank position because he is on the company hockey team. My brother-in-law is a great guy, and he was delighted to relay that story and his pride in our nephew. But I had to say, “but imagine that Moira (his daughter) was a more qualified candidate for the position.” Changes things, doesn't it? This is in 2009. We have a long way to go.
Well… I do know you as a tough cookie and you haven't gotten sick yet of shenanigans. Point I am trying to drive is that it would be much better use of your talents, if you did not have to claw your way in.
Thanks for dropping by my blog!
Jules,
Thanks for your comment. You are on your 3rd startup, plus you are raising 3 boys, so you know too well of these issues.
I saw my father pioneer a lot of initiatives in his companies. I just hope I can carry his legacy well. I do agree with you, things are progressing too slow. I see that through my scientist wife and grew up watching my scientist mother fight claw her way to the top. It is not pretty and I want to affect some change in hopes that some day my girls will not have to deal with what women around me now do.
Thanks for your comment! I do emphasize the point in the article, that we need policies and ACTIONS of our companies to encourage (or at least not discourage) both parents participating fully in the lives of their children.
Apollo — It's amazing that we still have so far to go in 2009. Here are a few things that I see working: 1) The first few women hires tend to be really difficult to find, but once you have those, the rest show up. There are always courageous people out there, but most want to work in a company where they feel they fit; 2) If you are a parent and your kids ask for help in math and science, resist the temptation to delegate that to Daddy. When we women say, “Oh honey, I was never good at math, so please ask your father”, we reinforce exactly what we are trying to change; 3) Be appalled in situations where gender diversity is EASY. For instance, a social media panel of all men is just a lazy coordinator.
Thanks for the support for women!
Diane,
Thank you very much for taking the time in your extremely busy schedule. I like your points, especially the 2nd one.
Apollo – I agree that having more women in leadership roles can dramatically improve the talent pool available and bring valuable perspectives, especially ones that tend to be more empathetic to customer and employee needs. I was blessed to have some outstanding female managers and role models early in my career, and of course my wife is successful in her own field of medicine. And child-rearing in this century not only should, but must, be a more mutually shared effort between father and mother.
Where I disagree a bit is on the legislative approaches. This is fundamentally a cultural issue, and it is difficult, probably impossible, to legislate culture. I'm not sure that the approach that worked for Scandinavia would work for the US. There are significant differences in the culture, namely a lower marriage and fertility rate (though not as low as I thought, currently hovering around 1.85-1.9), that facilitate the broader presence of women in the boardroom. Any government efforts to enforce this in the US are as likely to set up disincentives as to drive desirable behavior. The only exception might be in the realm of childcare tax benefits and services, which could have a simultaneously positive effect on the fertility rate.
Efforts by universities are not the issue; women make up more than 50% of graduates now. If anything, boys are being left behind by a US education system that is more geared to the learning style of girls. I think that this issue is going to take time to resolve and it is the responsibility of Gen X, Gen Y, or any other future generation identified by a letter to begin setting examples for the future by following your last three tips.
I do miss working for a company where women were well represented (GE), as the diversity of my more recent employers has been limited and the availability of new perspectives to drive new and interesting discussions is, well, non-existent.
Greg,
Thank you for your detailed comment! Re. legislation. You are right, this is cultural issue, and so was segregation, women voting rights, etc. etc. etc. All required legislation to move progress, because (unfortunately) in this country majority will not move out of the status quo, unless they are forced to. My suggestion is to start by using federal contracts to get that ball rolling.
Re. universities, just look at computer science, math, physics, and certain medical areas. It is an absolute “sausagefest” and schools are content with that. It does start deeper in K-12, pressure needs to be applied there too.
I don't disagree with the thrust of your blog, Apollo, remember that as you read:
You say that since women comprise about 51% of the population, that same percentage should be represented on executive and technical teams.
Where exactly are you going to draw the line?
* 4-10% of the population is gay.
* 1-3% of the population is 'challenged' physically or mentally (the ADA only discusses impediments, or access to work).
* Latinos make up about 20% of the population now.
* African Americans about 12%
* Asians-???
You see the thrust of my argument.
I agree that women can be extremely helpful (and have been on many of the teams I've worked with), but that depends on the person's ability, not gender or ethnicity.
Given a choice between a so-so candidate of diversity and a candidate head and shoulders above the pack, I'm going to pick the sharper candidate every time. Any business that doesn't won't be in business long.
Scot,
Your interpretation is definitely not what I or any of the studies meant. I do also suggest reading linked study. It is worthy of 15-20 minutes of your time.
I think you may want to re-read the article
Apollo, another well written post. And on such a touchy subject. Thank you.
I've been amazed over the years at some fellow men in business who don't seem “to get it” and do nothing until suddenly their daughters are graduating from college and the problem comes to their doorstep. Yet they had done nothing to address it for the, say, 20 years they have been in business.
And the problem starts sooner, at business school. A prestigious Boston based MBA program — which shall remain nameless — over a decade ago set “diversity” metrics for admissions; 50% women, X% minorities, Y% international, etc. Within five years all metrics were met — except the 50% women goal. Over a decade later, they still can't get the number over 30%.
I am not one for legislation, but maybe that's what it's going to take.
Finally, your comment about child rearing is an important one. When we lived in Ireland, a man's taking care of his child was paramount. For example, if it was suggested that we have a meeting “first thing in the morning”, it was perfectly acceptable for one of the other dads to say, “I can't meet first thing as I need to make the school run.” This comment was frequent and was never looked down upon. This type of thinking — the acceptance in business of men being active in child rearing — could well me one of things which solves this problem.
I have never experienced direct discrimination for being a woman, but yes, that cultural groups, cliques and old boys networks are everywhere. Some industries (i.e. liquor) are worse than others (non-profit). I do think slowly this is changing. Let's just hope it keeps changing for the positive.
Hi–just found this article which I found interesting and engaging. It is cultural and I don't know if legislation can truly affect that. It's parenting-does my son see me standing up for myself, so he won't think to down-grade women with whom he interacts? Does my daughter get respect from her father so she knows to expect that from other men? It's also necessary for us to hold editors/writers/whoever accountable in their standards of how they report–sometimes the act of overlooking/accepting discrimination is so ingrained it is a part of our assumptions, which must be challenged. And then, the challenge is to do so in a way that moves the conversation forward, rather than making people defensive. Thanks for posting this.
Hi Apollo – great post and thanks for pointing me to it. Such a complex issue and it requires change on both the part of men and women to get right. Like many women of my generation, I have not experienced overt institutional sexism by employers (although I have had some bad inter=personal experiences). As I've gotten more senior and participated on management teams what happens more often than not is that I just have a hard time relating to many of my peers on a personal level. What I've actually noticed is interesting though – the older my teammates are, the harder it is to develop rapport but with men my own age and younger it is much, much easier. The rapport factor turns out to be huge because it inhibits or engenders trust across the board. And I can't say whether it is me or them but it's definitely a pretty subtle cultural thing that really can get in the way of honest conversation with people above you which is critical to career mobility.
On the home front – things like parenting should be the responsibility of both parents equally but that's something that is really not universally accepted both in direct and subtle ways. I know some stay-at-home dads where it only made sense for them to give up there job in the short term but I know many more men (well intentioned, wanting to be a partner) who take a secondary or slightly passive role – mostly because they are not as comfortable with childcare in general. An example – I babysat extensively as a teenager but my husband has held a baby only a handful of times. That is a lagging cultural issue that is hard to adjust quickly. It can be overcome but takes a strong person to do so.
Technology also adds both flexibility and complexity – it allows us to work in more flexible ways but it also can keep us tethered to our smart phones. I just spoke to a friend with 3 small children who works 30 hours a week (and has a nanny) but has to still constantly check her email because culturally it is unacceptable for her to take 12 or 24 hours to respond. That creates enormous stress even if it doesn't take that much absolute time because her time is always split.
So – I have no easy answers but I think having the conversation with a mixed audience in our companies helps because like some of the other commenters have noted, some individuals are unaware of some basic needs on the part of their colleagues (and I don't think this is just a men's issue either… younger workers can also be equally oblivious to needs of older workers and vise versa).
Frankly as a women in software – I love the work of product management and design and I find the most productive brainstorming/design/development sessions come with a mixed audience – team collaboration really sings at those times… we do need to find ways to 'translate' to each other because with any diverse group, the language and perspectives we use are all different.
Thanks for the though provoking post!
You know what would really do the 'cause' a power of good? If people could write articles but avoid the trite observations about “hate speech” and “subconsciously creating barriers”. There might be some good stuff in there but you come across as a bit of an apologist for the male gender and that isn't the position of equality.
@Paul, one could read your comment as “trolling”. Care to share some suggestions on how to solve the issue or other thoughts of value?
Dear Researchgoddess:
Ve-r-r-y interesting. I'd like to see some stats on that. All I know is that every woman I know in technology DID have a strong, extraordinarily supportive Dad growing up.
For the last 12 years, my husband has been at home as the primary parenting resource for our household. It wasn't really a traditional role reversal, it was just the reality of who could economically support our family. As a musician, he was “economically more qualified” than I was to stay home. (I was a corporate executive at the time.)
If like us, you wanted to have a parent at home with the kids, you went through this fiscal exercise. And, the reality is, that women earn an average of 75 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Would I like to be less lonely for other women at the tech events I attend? You bet. Do I think it is going to change overnight? Doubt it. Will there always be some inequities in this arena? Quite likely, just by virtue of the biology of things. But if we can work on the fiscal inequities, it would go a long way. (And, when I say biology, I mean that I expect to see women taking 6 weeks to 3 months off for maternity leave and perhaps becoming slightly more likely to be the stay-at-home parent by choice.)
Dear Researchgoddess:
Ve-r-r-y interesting. I'd like to see some stats on that. All I know is that every woman I know in technology DID have a strong, extraordinarily supportive Dad growing up.
For the last 12 years, my husband has been at home as the primary parenting resource for our household. It wasn't really a traditional role reversal, it was just the reality of who could economically support our family. As a musician, he was “economically more qualified” than I was to stay home. (I was a corporate executive at the time.)
If like us, you wanted to have a parent at home with the kids, you went through this fiscal exercise. And, the reality is, that women earn an average of 75 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Would I like to be less lonely for other women at the tech events I attend? You bet. Do I think it is going to change overnight? Doubt it. Will there always be some inequities in this arena? Quite likely, just by virtue of the biology of things. But if we can work on the fiscal inequities, it would go a long way. (And, when I say biology, I mean that I expect to see women taking 6 weeks to 3 months off for maternity leave and perhaps becoming slightly more likely to be the stay-at-home parent by choice.)
Great post. From the perspective of one who worked as an in-house lawyer and executive at MySpace and eHarmony over the past several years, it seems to me that tech entrepreneurs ignore this issue at their peril. The explosion of social media was driven by a rush of mainstream (i.e., non-geek) customers of both genders to adopt online services as one of their primary channels of daily communication. It should be no surprise that given that females are encouraged to spend more time and energy communicating and maintaining relationships in our culture, they quickly became enthusiastic and prolific users of social media. MySpace never would have experienced the kind of explosive growth we did in 2003-07 if not for our site's enormous popularity among teenage girls and young women. Similarly, (heterosexual) online dating would be useless without female customers (preferably as close to a 50/50 split as possible).
Tying this back to the original post, I'm a firm believer that the most important ingredient to success for consumer Web businesses is an obsessive focus on the user experience. An all-male senior management team simply won't have the same perspective on UI/UE issues as female users. Yes, you can conduct market research, work with focus groups, etc., but it isn't the same as having senior-level product and marketing folks who grasp at a gut level what the experience is like for female customers — who often account for more than 50% of the registrations, UVs and page views of these sites — and allocate the necessary resources within their teams to optimize that experience.
Hail! Hail! D-lighted that you and other men are motivated to speak up and take action. Advocate for the Rule of 3 – a huge tool for removing the glass ceiling. When there are at least 3 women on top leadership teams, the culture changes.
Thanks again for adding your voice to the chorus!
Anne Perschel (@bizshrink)
Leadership and Business Psychologist
Unstoppable force advancing women leaders who pledge to pay it forward, side and back.
Hi Apolinaras, increasing womens' participation and opportunities in entrepreneurship is an area where I am 100% behind you. I think there are also many non-business related side benefits that can accrue to society and GNH (Gross National Happiness). Vivek Wadhwa also had a very interesting post on the topic recently and I think he was on to some of the issues. Would love to chat more on this later.
Great comment, Roy.
I have read a lot of Prof. Wadhwa's research and he definitely found some very important information why we do need more women in entrepreneurship and leadership ranks.