Boulder <3s Women in Tech

Boulder Startup Week: May 15, 2013 Jenny Slade, NCWIT @ncwit | @bldrstartupweek | #BSW13

Women Make Boulder Awesome

Why Women Matter to Technology

Women Correlate with Success

Analysis of more than 20,000 venture-backed companies showed that

successful startups

have

twice as many women

in senior positions as unsuccessful companies.

Dow Jones VentureSource, 2011.

Women Help Companies Grow

Tech companies with women have been shown to use

40 percent less capital

and be

more likely to survive the transition

from startup to established company.

Cindy Padnos, Illuminate Ventures: "High Performance Entrepreneurs: Women in High-Tech," 2010.

Women Improve Innovation

The presence of women in a group is more likely to increase the

collective intelligence

(problem-solving ability, creativity) of the group than the presence of individuals with higher intelligence.

“Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups, ” Science October 2010, Woolley, Chabris, Pentland, Hashmi and Malone.

Women Enhance Teams

Groups with

greater diversity

solve complex problems

better and faster

than homogenous groups.

Scott Page, The difference: How the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools, and societies, Princeton University Press, 2009.

Women Are 50% of the Population. Why Handicap Your Hiring by 50%?

"

We simply cannot afford to alienate large chunks of the workforce. It is a widely understood truth that the single biggest challenge is attracting the right people … to literally handicap yourself by 50 percent is insanity.

” - Dan Shapiro, Google

Women Are 50% of the Market

Women in Tech, By the Numbers 57 26 20 11 Percent of U.S. professional occupations held by women Percent of U.S. technology jobs held by women Percent of U.S. software developers who are women Percent of women executives at U.S. venture-backed startups

Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2012; Dow Jones VentureSource, 2012.

The Numbers Don ’t Add Up

Why So Few Women in Tech?

Pipeline Attraction Attrition

Society ’s Biased About Gender and Technology

What Do You See In This Picture?

What Is Unconscious Bias ?

We all have shortcuts, “schemas” that help us make sense of the world. But our shortcuts sometimes make us misinterpret things.

That ’s unconscious bias.

Unconscious Bias = Stereotype Threat Example: White male engineering students score lower when told in advance that Asians typically score higher on math tests

Source: Aronson, et al., 1999; Steele & Aronson, 1998

Unconscious Bias = Tokenism

African American s

Xkcd.org with modification by Cohoon, 2012

Unconscious Bias = Micro-inequities

»

Slights

: “You’re the receptionist, right?” » » »

Exclusion

: “Oops, I forgot to cc her on that email.”

Recognition

: “No, I’m pretty sure it was Tom’s idea, not Jane ’s, to use a link algorithm.”

Isolation

: “Dude, let’s grab a beer!”

Unconscious Bias in Performance Appraisal Identical resumes. Gendered names. Reviewers (of both genders) strongly favor John in skills, hireability, and salary.

Howard vs. Heidi

Howard vs. Heidi

Howard vs. Heidi

Unconscious Bias in Hiring

“Blind” orchestra auditions, with musicians behind a curtain, increased the number of female musicians hired by 25% to 46% percent

. Goldin & Rouse (2000)

The American Economic Review, 90

(4), 715-741.

Unconscious Bias Is…Unconscious.

Women and Men at Startups See Things Differently …

Case Study: How Etsy Grew Its Female Engineering Team by 500%

Don ’t just say you care about diversity Take action from the top Show why your company is a great place to work Invest in early talent Integrate your workspaces Put more than 1 woman on a team (don ’t isolate them)

5 Things You Can Do Today 1 2 3 4 5 Invite diversity. Use diverse networks, not just your status quo networks, to recruit.

Include a woman, and a pile sort, in your job interviews.

Remove biased language from job descriptions.

Audit your physical space for gender-neutral vibes.

If you ’re a man, be a male advocate.

1) Invite Diversity

2) Include a Woman, and a Pile Sort, in Job Interviews

Pile sort: www.ncwit.org/interviewstrategies

3) Remove Biased Language from Job Descriptions CONFIDENT OBJECTIVE DECISIVE ANALYTICAL AUTONOMOUS DOMINANT

“Startups and Job Advertisements,” Aaron Kay, PhD: http://ww2.ncwit.org/pdf/A.Kay_JobPostings_EAmtg12.pdf

; http://vimeo.com/46501265

4) Audit Your Physical Space for Gendered Vibes

(Cheryan, S., Plaut, V., Davies, P., & Steele, C. (2009). Ambient belonging: How stereotypical cues impact gender participation in computer science. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(6), 1045-1060; http://www.ncwit.org/physicalspaceuw

5) If You ’re a Man, Be a Male Advocate

What ’s Good for the Goose …

Women & Information Technology

Our coalition includes more than 250 universities, corporations, and non-profits.

Get Going with Free, Research backed Resources and Programs

We Plug You In.

Panel

» Ingrid Alongi : Co-founder and CEO, Quick Left » Jim Franklin : CEO, SendGrid » Greg Greenstreet : VP of Engineering, Gnip » Leslie Osborne : VP of Product + Operations, Standing Cloud » Krista Marks : Engineer, Founder of Nimbee, Kerpoof