Communications of the ACM
Social Networking Helping Women Turn on to Tech
A new report from Orange Labs suggests that technology will play a key role in drawing more women to careers in information technology. The report, "Her Code: Engendering Change in the Silicon Valley," notes that the appointment of Carol Bartz as chief executive of Yahoo is a sign that women are more "misunderstood" than "missing" when it comes to technology.
"Guided by a historical perspective, enriched . . . by interviews with high-profile women executives and journalists in tech, supplemented by interviews with young girls, and complemented by literature review and secondary research, we came to a surprising path of inquiry," the report says. Women are underrepresented as open source developers or holders of computer science bachelors degrees, but they are big users of technology, the report says. For example, Orange's research arm has found that about 70 percent of girls between 15 and 17 have a social network profile, 56 percent of Facebook's users are women, and 75 percent more girls blog compared to boys. And the fastest growing segment for Facebook is women aged 55 and over.
View the video "Her Code: Engendering Change in Silicon Valley."
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