by Telle Whitney
Once again, a new study has emerged, this time by researchers at the University of California-Davis, to remind us of the paucity of women in the executive ranks of California’s 200 largest public companies, where women hold only 10.2 percent of the board seats and highest-paid executive positions.
According to the authors of the study, which was published last week, the results “paint a dismal picture of the gender diversity in the upper echelons of corporate leadership in America.'’ The study is lamentable — especially in Silicon Valley, where we think of ourselves as progressive business practitioners. But it’s not surprising.
Volumes have been written about this unfortunate situation, and indeed, the statistics are alarming. Women represent half the U.S. labor force and outnumber men 56 percent to 44 percent on college campuses. Women hold more than 50 percent of all management and professional positions, yet they constitute fewer than 2 percent of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 CEOs.
In technology companies, women fare even worse. Catalyst reported that women hold only 9.3 percent of the board seats in technology companies, vs. 12.4 percent among Fortune 500 companies, and only 11 percent of women are corporate officers in tech firms vs. 15.7 percent in Fortune 500 firms. A unique pressure faces women aspiring to leadership in technology firms: They must also be astute technologists. This at a time when women are heavily underrepresented in high-tech occupations at all levels. In computer science alone, the number of female graduates has declined from 37 percent in 1985 to as low as 17 percent at top research institutions in 2003.
At the heart of this issue are four key barriers to advancing the roles of women in the high-tech sector: corporate cultures that are exclusionary and don’t support women’s advancement; the combined weight of work and family responsibilities; a sense of isolation resulting from a lack of role models and access to networks; and the failure of companies to strategically and objectively identify and develop talent.
A bleak picture, to be sure. But none of these problems is unsolvable, and people, especially those in the technology arena, are understanding the problem.
Prompted by the erosion of America’s technological leadership, the U.S. government is considering initiatives that will work to bolster academic and industry efforts to stimulate innovation in America.
Leading universities are examining the ways in which technology, math and sciences are taught and learned, and are working closely with external groups to develop both the technical and leadership skills of women.
U.S. high-tech companies — Sun, HP, Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Google and Intel, to name a few — are digging deep into their corporate cultures and coffers to develop and support internal and external programs to recruit, retain and advance technical women. They recognize that diversity in their workforce, including outreach to women, will result in products with greater universal appeal, strengthened global competitiveness and reward at the bottom line.
Private organizations are proactively working to help women hone their leadership and problem-solving skills, assist them in navigating their careers and provide communication, networking, mentoring and role modeling.
Collectively, these efforts bode well for moving more women into the mainstream of leadership in America. If there is increased momentum to staff the labs of Silicon Valley with more female technologists, it won’t be long before these same brains take their rightful seats at the boardroom tables.
Telle Whitney is president of the Anita Borg Institute for Women & Technology of Palo Alto. She wrote this article for the Mercury News. It was printed on Thursday, February 16, 2006.