Senior Technical Women: A Profile Of Success

New Report Outlines the Attributes of Success for Senior Technical Women; Offers Recommendations for Companies to Advance Women in Technology and Facilitate Diversity.

A new research report released by the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (ABI) outlines the attributes of success for Senior Technical Women who, at only four percent of the 1,795 technical men and women surveyed for the report, represent a rarity in the technology industry.

The report, titled Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success, examines the characteristics of high-ranking women in technology, how they perceive themselves and their top attributes for success, and what organizational practices they most care about. The ABI report is publicly available at www.anitaborg.org.

Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success explores the demographics and attributes shared among women who defy the odds and achieve senior level positions on the technical track. It also makes recommendations for companies looking to retain senior technical women and for women seeking to advance to senior level positions.

A growing body of research has documented the underrepresentation of women in technical
positions in US companies. Women hold 24 percent of technology jobs, yet represent half the total workforce. This underrepresentation persists even though the demand for technical talent remains high: computer occupations are expected to grow by 32 percent between 2008 and 2018.

Companies are increasingly aware of the benefits of diversity for innovation, and are looking for solutions to recruit, retain,and advance women.

A combination of factors helps to explain the dearth of women in technical positions:

• A shortage of women graduating with degrees in technical fields. Women earned 18.6 percent of Computer Science bachelor’s degrees in the US in 2007, and 18.5 percent of engineering degrees. For computer science, this represents a sharp decline from the 37 percent of women graduating with a bachelor’sdegree in 1985.
• For women who do enter technical careers in industry, persistent barriers to retention and advancement have been documented, including: isolation and lack of access to influential social networks and mentors;unwelcoming cultures; work-family conflict and family configurations that differ from male colleagues;organizational cultures that do not reward mentoring and employee development; and hidden bias andstereotyping that become embedded in organizational processes.
• The mid-career level has been identified by researchers as an especially difficult juncture when 56 percentof technical women leave their companies, representing twice the turnover rate of their male colleagues.Furthermore, half of those women leaving their companies end up leaving technical fields entirely.

What about the women who persist and advance past the mid level? Little is known about the women who defy these trends and achieve senior level positions on the technical track.

ASOCIA Group is a leading information technology consulting and staffing firm and is 100% woman-owned and certified(WBE) by the Women’s Business Enteprise National Council(WBENC).
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Dont Miss The Largest Women In Computing Conference: Grace Hopper Celebration- September 2010-Atlanta

“Collaborating Across Boundaries”
Atlanta, Georgia
September 28 - October 2, 2010

Co-founded by Dr. Anita Borg and Dr. Telle Whitney in 1994 and inspired by the legacy of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the Institute’s Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) Of Women In Computing Conference is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the largest technical conference for women in computing and results in collaborative proposals, networking and mentoring for junior women and increased visibility for the contributions of women in computing. Conference presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industry, academia and government. Top researchers present their work while special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering.

Past Grace Hopper Celebrations have resulted in collaborative proposals, networking, mentoring, and increased visibility for the contributions of women in computing.

Keynote Speakers Include:

-DUY-LOAN T. LE, Senior Fellow & World Wide Advanced Technology Manager, Texas Instruments
-CAROL BARTZ, Chief Executive Officer, Yahoo!
-BARBARA LISKOV, Institute Professor Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, MIT
-AMY ALVING, Chief Technology Officer, SAIC
-KELLI CRANE, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Thomson Reuters

Registration

ASOCIA Group is a woman-owned enterprise(WBE), certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council(WBENC) since 2007. www.asociagroup.com/WBENC

ASOCIA Group provides IT staffing and executive search services. We strive to help support women in all levels in information technology careers, from entry-level to executive management.
www.asociagroup.com

Top Six Attributes of High-Ranking Women in Technology

A majority of senior technical women consider themselves to be assertive, collaborators, hard workers who work long hours, unafraid to question, risk-takers, and analytical in nature, according to a new report published today by the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (ABI). The report, titled Senior Technical Women: A Profile of Success, examines the characteristics of high-level women in technology, how they perceive themselves and their top attributes for success, and what organizational practices they most care about. The ABI study is publicly available at http://anitaborg.org/files/Senior-Technical-Women-A-Profile-of-Success.pdf.

“Our survey explored both men and women’s perceptions of what the key attributes are for success in technology,” said Dr. Caroline Simard, vice president of research and executive programs for the Anita Borg Institute and author of the study. “The findings have helped identify common characteristics of those who have been able to break through the barriers associated with climbing the technical ladder. By shedding light on these attributes and encouraging further research on the subject, we hope to facilitate greater diversity, which is so critical to innovation, at all levels of the technology industry.”

Attributes of Success: The study identified top attributes for success for senior technical women -

• Analytical: The majority of senior technical women perceive themselves as analytical. Indeed, all technical employees tend to see themselves as high on this attribute, as technical careers tend to first and foremost look for analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Unafraid to Question/Desire to Learn: A majority consider themselves as questioning – having the ability to ask the right questions, which is critical to problem-solving.

• Risk-Takers: A majority of senior technical women view themselves as risk-takers, which was identified by technical employees as one of the top four attributes of success. Moderate amounts of risk-taking are an important part of leadership, and senior women and men are equally as likely to perceive themselves as risk takers. This research shatters the stereotype that men are more likely to be risk takers than women are.

• Collaborative: Senior technical women are collaborators. A collaborative work style is perceived as a critical success factor in high-technology by both technical men and women, and is consistent with a culture that values innovation, which cannot be achieved without extensive collaboration. Collaboration is both a critical source of success but also a great source of career satisfaction.

• Hard-working/Long Hours: Advancement for senior women comes with long working hours. This finding is consistent with the culture of technology where advancement is tied to increased responsibility and significant availability. This can be a barrier for women who seek advancement while juggling family responsibilities in dual-career couples. 72 percent of the senior technical women surveyed reported cutting back on sleep to advance their careers and nearly a third have delayed having children.

• Assertive: A majority of senior technical women describe themselves as assertive – significantly more so than women at the entry and mid levels. In a professional culture that rewards speaking up, self-promotion, and ambition, senior women interviewed uniformly said they had to learn to be assertive and promote themselves in order to advance. However, research also shows that women have less freedom than men in assertive behavior. Because women’s assertiveness defy long-standing gender stereotypes, women often experience a “likeability penalty” when they are assertive.

About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, Microsoft, HP, Cisco, First Republic Bank, Intel, National Science Foundation, NetApp, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Thomson Reuters, CA, Intuit, Wilson Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook, and Raytheon. For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.

Anita Borg Institute Announces Women of Vision Award Winners

The Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology announced the winners of its 2010 Women of Vision Awards recognizing women who have made significant contributions to technology. One winner is selected in each category: Innovation, Leadership, and Social Impact.

The honorees are:

Kathleen R. McKeown, Henry and Gertrude Rothschild Professor of Computer Science, Columbia University
Kristina M. Johnson, Under Secretary for Energy, U.S. Department of Energy
Lila Ibrahim, General Manager, Emerging Markets Platform Group, Intel Corp.

The Women of Vision Awards recognize women who make significant contributions to technology in three areas: innovation, leadership and social impact. To be selected for the award, women have to demonstrate “consistent, significant contributions to technology innovation and application”; effect positive changes in the way technology impacts society; or demonstrate leadership in the technology industry, according to The Anita Borg Institute.

McKeown’s contributions to natural language processing in artificial intelligence, information extraction and human-machine interaction distinguished her for the innovation category.

Johnson’s roles as Under Secretary for Energy and as dean of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering garnered her a Women of Vision award in the leadership category. At the Department of Energy, Johnson is working on a plan to achieve an 83 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. At Duke, she led the expansion of the engineering school.

Ibrahim’s work for Intel scored in the social impact area. She currently leads the research, definition, development and marketing of technologies specifically intended for education worldwide. Previously, Ibrahim led Intel’s Digital Village Initiative, which delivers technology projects that advance education, health and e-governance in the developing world.

The Women Of Vision Conference is being held on May 12, 2010.

Congratulations McKeown, Johnson and Lila! Thank you for your work and dedication.

Technology Field-A Bright Spot in the Economy Offering Current & Future Career Prospects for Women

Even in this economy, there are bright spots and opportunities for great careers for women. Technology jobs – Engineering, Science and Information Technology – are emerging as new career opportunities with a lot of promise. Women have left these fields due to a number of factors: Job pressures, long hours, lack of appeal or marketing of the field and male dominance in the field. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal: Technolgy Efforts Lure Women Back.

While 41% of highly qualified scientists, engineers and technicians in lower-tier jobs are females, more than half eventually quit mid-career, based on research by the Center for Work-Life Policy Sylvia Hewlett and others published last year in the Harvard Business Review. This has resulted in a huge deficit in these fields, with companies such as Honeywell, GE and others currently launching new return-to-work programs- specifically in the science, engineering and technology sectors. Prospects for opportunities and long-term job growth are relatively good even in these fields, even in this economy, due to the deficit of women created by high quit rates among experienced women. The irony is that these fields can be very exciting and rewarding fields to be in both professionally and economically.

While there is a need for young women to consider entering the technology fields, the need is even currently greater for experienced professional women to re-enter technology fields or consider it as an option, due to the deficit, current opportunities and potential.

For women new to the field or seeking to re-enter these fields, here are a few suggestions:

• University programs and courses: Look into programs being offered by universities to help women re-engineer their careers such as those offered by MIT and others.
• Company sponsored programs: Explore training programs being offered by corporations such as GE, Honeywell and many other firms. Find out who the key companies are in the technology fields you are interested in and see if they have any programs currently being offered specifically for women.
• Women Technology Associations: There are also numerous societies for women focused in technology fields such as WITI – Women In Technology International www.witi.com and NCWIT – National Center For Women In Information Technologywww.ncwit.org which provide programs, networking and other opportunities for women.
• Seek out mentors: Seek out women who have been successful in the careers to serve as role models or mentors. They can be great sources for resources, guidance, contacts and even career opportunities. You never know if they might have a need with someone with your skills right now!