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Silicon Valley gender gap is widening

Jessica Guynn
USA TODAY
Najla Bulous is graduating from Harvey Mudd with a computer science degree and taking a job with a Silicon Valley tech giant.

SAN FRANCISCO — Najla Bulous wants to change the face of Silicon Valley.

The daughter of immigrants from Mexico and Egypt, Bulous is a Harvey Mudd College-trained software engineer. After graduation in May, she's starting a new job at a Silicon Valley technology giant.

Bulous knows she isn't the stereotypical Silicon Valley geek. She didn't study computer science until college and never intended to major in it. But after just one introductory course, Bulous was hooked on the challenge of mastering problems with lines of code.

Now this 21-year-old is not just planning a career in technology. She wants a hand in re-engineering the culture of Silicon Valley to be more inclusive of women and people from underrepresented groups.

She has her work cut out for her.

Despite the rise of tech superstars such as Sheryl Sandberg and Marissa Mayer, Silicon Valley is still a man's world.

Girls graduate high school on par with boys in math and science, but boys are more likely to pursue engineering and computing degrees in college. That disparity only grows at the graduate level and in the workforce where women are dramatically underrepresented in engineering and computing. Even those women who pursue this kind of technical career drop out at much higher rates than men.

A report released Thursday by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is sounding a wake-up call for the industry. It warns that the gender gap in technology is widening as women are being held back by stereotypes and biases.

"What we found is that not only are the numbers low, they are headed in the wrong direction," says Catherine Hill, AAUW's vice president for research.

From college curriculum to hiring and retention practices, changes must be made across the board to encourage more women to see themselves as technologists and explore careers in the industry, Hill says.

Women made up just 26% of computing professionals in 2013, substantially less than 30 years earlier and about the same percentage as in 1960. In engineering, women are even less well represented, making up just 12% of working engineers in 2013.

ANEMIC NUMBERS

The statistics for women of color are even more anemic.

Although African-American, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaskan Native women together were 18% of the population ages 20 to 24 in 2013, they were awarded just 6% of computing and 3% of engineering bachelor's degrees that year.

Those statistics are reflected in the workforce of leading companies in Silicon Valley which say 20% or less of their technical staff are women.

Also in a distinct minority inside major tech companies: Women in non-technical roles. Seven out of 10 employees in these companies are men. And few women reach the senior executive level or the boardroom at major companies and start-ups alike.

Women don't fare any better as entrepreneurs. A sliver of venture capital funding goes to women and a tiny percentage of venture capital investors are women.

The only place women seem to be gaining representation is in the courts. A high-profile courtroom showdown between prominent venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and former partner Ellen Pao has Silicon Valley buzzing over allegations of sexism and discrimination. And, in just the last couple weeks, Facebook and Twitter each were sued for discrimination.

All of which has fueled momentum to bring more women and minorities into the industry — and for good reason.

Research shows diversity in the workforce sparks productivity and innovation. Women's views and experiences are crucial to shaping 21st century technology, Hill says.

It's also crucial for women to gain more access to one of the nation's highest-paying careers in one of the economy's fastest-growing sectors.

Najla Bulous

"I believe engineers and computer scientists are made, not born," Hill says. "It's a question of exposure and opportunity."

As early as first grade, children begin to associate math with boys. In college, women frequently report they don't feel they belong.

Women face major hurdles in landing jobs.

One study found that scientists were more likely to choose a male candidate over an identical female candidate for a hypothetical job opening at a lab. They also offered the male candidate a higher salary.

FACING IMPLICIT BIAS, EXPLICIT HARASSMENT

Kate Heddleston, a software engineer in San Francisco who has held titles such as Head Mugwump and Software Warrior Princess, says women routinely face implicit bias and explicit harassment in the workplace.

"We need to realize that we have created workspaces that don't welcome everyone equally and we need to change that," Heddleston says. "Large-scale change might seem daunting, but it is possible. Diversity problems can be solved the same way that challenging engineering problems can be solved — one small step at a time. By recognizing problems, isolating them, and coming up with creative solutions, we can make more inclusive and productive environments."

As a summer intern, Bulous says she initially struggled as the only woman on the engineering team at a small tech company in New York before finding her comfort zone.

"The tech industry should actively be trying to dismantle systemic biases that push out anyone who doesn't fit the tech guy image," Bulous said. "What's the point of trying to recruit people from underrepresented backgrounds if they're forced to assimilate into an unwelcoming culture?"

Technology companies here are experimenting with new approaches to combating bias and transforming work cultures, from unconscious bias training to gender-blind hiring and performance evaluations.

Google is one of the companies funneling money and resources into recruiting and retaining women.

Angela Navarro, 23, is a software engineer who works on the YouTube Android app. She says she's often the only woman in a meeting or on a team.

A women's group at Google has helped "tremendously" in providing a support system and mentors.

"It's great to meet other women and not feel like you are the only person here in this building," Navarro says.

Navarro belongs to a new generation of women scaling the ramparts of the tech world.

Lynn Root, 29, is a software engineer for streaming music service Spotify in San Francisco.

It's a second career for Root, who has a business degree in finance and economics and was working in banking when she fell in love with programming in 2011.

Root says she wakes up every day ready to sprint to the office.

"I discovered I loved programming, being able to create something with my bare hands or from nothing in a technical way," Root says. "It's just so beautiful to come up with an elegant solution."

Programming is the kind of career that offers endless challenges, she says.

"There is so much you can learn in software engineering," Root says. "I am chipping away at this huge mountain ahead of me."

But, Root says, she first had to overcome anxiety to tackle "a subject that is universally known as difficult."

"What has worked for me is essentially becoming comfortable with making yourself uncomfortable," she said.

Jenny Jensen, 27, says she came from a small town and studied theater in college. She wasn't encouraged to pursue technology as a career.

She was inspired to give up her job at a non-profit and learn how to code while scraping old wallpaper from her guest bedroom and watching a livestream of Google's software developer conference I/O in 2012.

Now Jensen works as a Web production analyst for a software firm in Michigan. She's a die-hard hockey fan and in her spare time she is building a searchable database for fines and suspensions in the NHL.

"I like to solve the puzzle to make things work," Jensen says.

Layne McNish, 27, says coding helped her unravel the puzzle of what she wanted to do with her life. She was a professional cellist and a Broadway publicist before she started coding a year ago.

At first she thought coding would be too "technical and boring." But after immersing herself, she says she discovered coding is more creative and empowering than anything else she has ever done.

McNish is one of two women on an engineering team for a tech company in Portland, Ore.

"It's something I really love doing and I can have a good life," McNish says. "I liked what I did before, but I was working a million hours a week and it was miserable and I didn't get paid barely anything. Now I like what I am doing with my life, and it can offer the flexibility that many women want out of a job. ... It seems like the perfect place for women."

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