Communications of the ACM
Tech's Big Gender Diversity Push, One Year In
About 7,000 women and 3,600 students attended the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women In Computing conference.
Credit: Fast Company
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the representation of women in computer and mathematical operations is slightly worse than it was in 2010, and the same holds true for the field of software developers. Research suggests diverse corporate teams make better decisions and are financially better off.
Technology firms' efforts to address the issue of low numbers of women employees was underscored at the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference. The event featured 148 companies, 57 academic institutions, and 22 labs. Government and nonprofit organizations at the conference recruited from a pool of about 7,000 women working in technical roles and about 3,600 students.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Nadya Fouad presented her findings on why large numbers of female engineers were leaving their jobs. She had surveyed 5,300 women who graduated with engineering degrees between 1980 and 2010, and found many left their jobs due to such things as inadequate manager support and lack of opportunities for advancement. One strategy for connecting diversity to long-term business interests is to set clear goals, and one such company at Grace Hopper was ThoughtWorks, with a staff of about 3,500 people across 13 countries that specializes in software consulting, delivery, and products.
From Fast Company
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2015 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found