Why Females need to realise the massive opportunity that exists for them in STEM sectors today

I recently had the privilege of speaking on a panel at the IWish conference in Dublin on females in STEM sectors. The initiative was established in 2014 by three Cork businesswomen — Gillian Keating, a Partner with Ronan Daly Jermyn Solicitors; Caroline O’Driscoll a Partner at KPMG and Ruth Buckley, Head of ICT and business services at Cork City Council. IWish is a chance for secondary school girls to listen, meet and greet female role models in STEM and motivate them to consider choosing science, tech, maths or engineering as part of their subject choices as they move to third level education.

Women represent the single largest economic force in the world. They are half of the world’s population, earn more college degrees than men; yet they do not professionally engage in high-end math-intensive fields such as computer science and engineering. Meeting women who are in these industries highlights to young girls that it is possible and allows them to see what a career in these industries might look like as well as how to get there. In science, on average women have 9% of leadership roles globally. Providing female role models that girls can identify with helps to break down the stereotypes that exist in today’s society and will hopefully in time begin to bring these dismal numbers up.

 

Around 120,000 people are working in the STEM sector in Ireland and only about a quarter are women. There are many reasons why we see less females choosing these male dominated subjects at third level, including the perception that they won’t ‘fit in’ or that the courses and industries they choose are ‘boys only’ clubs. Research carried out by SFI shows that the main reason students choose a third-level course is because they feel it ‘fits’ their perception of themselves.

My panel’s topic was ‘Females in STEM, a life no less ordinary’. I was joined on the panel by Katie Brennan, Accenture; Grainne McAleese, Alexion and Ciara Judge, Student Entrepreneur. We touched on many important topics such as how we got into the roles we are currently in, what career advice we would give to females considering STEM sectors and what our journey has been like so far. I talked about female entrepreneurship and my rather unconventional route into VC. In many ways I related to the topics being discussed because the VC industry and indeed the entrepreneurial industry is heavily male dominated and this is something I’ve experienced first-hand in the last number of years. However, working for Atlantic Bridge where a third of the investment team are women, has allowed me access to important role models and has helped me to identify what the career path in VC is like for a female.

The one piece of advice from my own personal experience that I would give young girls who are thinking of starting their own company or going down the VC route or indeed going into any STEM profession, it would be this: Instead of adopting the perception that being a female in STEM is a huge hindrance or a barrier, think of it as a massive opportunity. The lack of women in STEM means we are lacking the perspectives of half the world’s population. Females should see an opportunity to put their own stamp on industries that are ripe for disruption and bring unique ideas and fresh individuality. Feeling out of place or the ‘odd one out’ may seem daunting at first, but it forces you outside your comfort zone and in my experience, this can only lead to good things. It pushes your boundaries and brings out the best and most ambitious side of yourself. It allows you to make mistakes early and learn from them as you progress in your career. It makes you less risk averse and opens up a world of opportunities that you don’t even realise exist. Being the only female sitting at the table can sometimes be daunting at times but it makes you more resilient and more determined to succeed, it makes you tough and fuels your ambition, forcing you to speak your mind which in turn only improves your confidence.

There are very few industries nowadays that have not yet been disrupted in some way by science or technology. It is such an exciting time to be building a career in one of these sectors, learning something new every day as well as adapting and evolving to the changes that impact every part of our life. Females need to begin to understand that they too can be the disruptors and that the opportunity for them to do this is only just beginning.

Attending the 30% Club taught me why women in investments makes sense

I’ve been in my current job just over a year now and have had the chance to attend some great events aimed at getting more women into the technology sectors. One of the events I recently attended was the 30% Club, which was a real eye opener for me – hence why I wanted to write about it…

Attending the 30% club at Citi’s Dublin offices in September, I heard of the challenges faced by companies today in relation to gender diversity. The 30% Club is a group of international  Chairs & CEO’s committed to better gender balance at all levels of their organisations through voluntary actions.

Women in business and particularly women in technology has inspired me from an early age when I studied business and management at DCU. I started my career with Atlantic Bridge Capital, a tech growth equity firm in Dublin last year. At Atlantic Bridge, we know that businesses with women in senior management roles, and more specifically investment firms with women on the investment teams are positioned to achieve tremendous heights. With less than 4% of venture capital money in Silicon Valley  flowing into women owned businesses and with only 5% of women in US VC, there is a well-documented concern.

Ireland however can set a real example here as the country is doing exceptionally well on an international scale compared to the US, The leading Irish VC firms, including Atlantic Bridge Capital, all have successful female investors on their teams: Elaine Coughlan, Helen McBreen (Atlantic Bridge) Ena Prosser (Fountain Healthcare Partners), Orla Rimmington (Kernel Capital), Jennifer McKeever (Seroba Kernel) and Debbie Rennick (Act Venture Partners) to name a few.

Gender diversity has become very prevalent for many leading businesses in recent years especially. Workforce diversity reports from Google and Apple revealed that only 30% of its workforce are women, Yahoo employs 37% women, Facebook – 31% and LinkedIn – 39%. At last year’s Web Summit in Dublin, of the 130 people to address audiences from the main stage, only 24 of them were women.

Attending the 30% Club helped me to understand further the challenges facing companies with respect to gender diversity and discuss and recognise the initiatives that are being put in place to address these challenges.

Sandra Rockett, Investment Director, Irish Life Investment Management & Helen McBreen, Atlantic Bridge Capital both spoke about the strong fiscal results and high performance of companies with strong gender diversity in their senior teams.

Personally, working with women in senior positions is hugely encouraging. It gives younger women who are thinking of entering specific male dominated sectors or industries a role model to look up to, which I found was hugely important when deciding what career path to choose.

Additionally, new research from Harvard  has shown that a diverse workplace can have a profound impact on both business success and technical innovation, as well as market growth – a finding that should intensify efforts to ensure that executive ranks both embody and embrace the power of differences. According to a report by Caliper, female employees are persuasive leaders within the workplace because they tend to be empathic listeners. As a result, women understand objections or concerns others may have and know how to effectively formulate a response. It is hugely important to have balance at the investment table because that way, decisions can be open to more views, opinions and debate. More challenges ultimately lead to better decisions being made.

Helen and Sandra also touched on how unconscious bias plays a big role at the investment table. Female founders tend to have a positive approach to risk, progress further with less capital and have more successful IPO’s. So many VC firms have left behind a lot of opportunity in the US due to unconscious bias and new female founded VC firms such as SoGAL Ventures and Aspect Ventures are setting up in their place. It begs the question what do we do to change investors perspective so that more women founded companies are being invested in and this in turn comes down to the perceptions of investors and encouragement from all sides of the table. Allowing females to sit at the table will empower women and they should be encouraged and motivated to be part of business decision making. Investors and entrepreneurs must be part of the solution to ultimately breakdown the barriers to the success of female entrepreneurs.

It was both refreshing and encouraging to know how much is being done to address the challenges of gender diversity on so many different levels, from early education to the workforce environment. I’m looking forward to the next 30% Club council meeting which is being held in November to learn more about the initiatives being done to tackle gender diversity in the workplace.

Google reveal that only 30% of their workforce are women

As many of you have probably heard, Google released figures in recent days that revealed only 30% of their workforce are female. Women appear to be the minority at one of the top tech companies in the world. Google appears to be more of ‘a mans world’ and even more surprisingly, only 17% of the tech workforce at Google are female.

These figures astounded me! However, we have to respect Google for publishing this data, many companies would of tried to hide these figures, feeling embarrassed with the lack of gender diversity that is current in their company. Even though these figures are so disappointing to see from a women’s perspective and especially for the few female students entering STEM sectors nowadays and may have looked up to Google for inspiration, it is still worth noting that they released this data for a reason and that is because they are not where they want to be in terms of gender diversity.

Google have previously been reluctant to share information with the public with regards to gender diversity within the company, and that it is now time to address this issue.

However, it seems that Google are not the only ones in the firing line for lack of gender diversity within their company; Amazon, Twitter and Apple have also been criticism the past for employing low numbers of females.

As disappointing as it is that these companies employ more men than women, I think it is a step further in addressing the gender gap in the workplace, especially in the technology sector. With companies beginning to admit that gender diversity is lacking within their companies, this brings the problem to the forefront of society. Google have taken the first step  here and hopefully other tech companies can then follow suite and try to work together to eliminate the problem.

The reality still remains however that there are not enough females involved in the creation of technology despite women driving its consumption e.g. more women now buy smartphones, more women than men causally game and women now dominate every social network except LinkedIn.

There is a clear and simple solution to increase diversity in the workplace and that is for senior management at every company to make a conscious commitment that every time a position opens up, they should require a more diverse pool of candidates. In addition, driving programs to bridge the gender gap like Microsoft and Intel do can help get more females into the tech sectors, and therefore more females in to tech companies around the world.

Multinational corporations such as Google, Microsoft and Intel need to continue recruiting and encouraging young women into the tech sector. Knowing now how very few female employees there are at these companies could easily put off girls studying in the STEM sectors. However, driving programs and initiatives as well as identifying this problems are all small but progressive steps in the right direction.

Until the next time….

Intel helping to bridge the gender gap in STEM sectors

In my last post, I talked to you about how Microsoft are really encouraging females in the technology space, and bringing to light the gender gap which currently exists in the technology workforce.

Intel also currently run a program called the Intel Global Girls and Women Initiative. It take a slightly different approach in the fact that it focuses on empowering females around the world to become creators of technology and aims to close the gender gap in education access, which will in turn expand opportunities for families, communities and nations. In addition, Girl Rising is a global action campaign for girls education. The campaign started with a film and is now a movement to lift barriers to girls education and to drive change and motivate leaders to take action. While talking about bringing more females into technology and encouraging them to lead, we forget about the girls who don’t receive the education they deserve, and so will never have the that chance. This program truly brings to light the issues and problems in third world countries with regards to education. Every child deserves the right to an education, and I’m glad to see big companies are finally taking action on this and making everyone aware that this is still a massive problem. It won’t change what’s happening overnight, but its definitely a step in the right direction.

Intel also runs the Girls Who Code program which teaches females coding skills through STEM projects to inspire and prepare them for third level education and to close the gender gap in the tech sector. 99% of Girls Who Code graduates are interested in pursuing a career in technology, so this proves that the program really aids in bridging the gender gap. The girls get to listen to mentors and hear stories from female leaders who were once in the same position that they are now, and who went on to study in the STEM sector and are now in successful careers in these areas. This is great encouragement to give to these girls, and it gives them the confidence that they need to study and pursue a successful career in the tech sector. Girls learn how to create and build their own programs in the computer science field and at the same time, are given the inspiration to go off and pursue a career in that area after they finish school. Watch the video to hear from the girls on the program and the positive impact the program is having on them

Another cool program run by Intel is the CompuGirls program which offers girls from under-resourced school districts the opportunity to attend summer and after school classes to learn the latest technologies in digital, media, games and virtual worlds.

As if this wasn’t enough. Intel also offer a Women in Technology SCHOLARSHIP in our very own Leixlip location in Kildare! They work closely with local schools and colleges to ensure that exceptional graduates continue to thrive in Ireland and aid in the success that Intel has had in our little green island in the last number of years! The scholarship is aimed at females entering a 4 year undergraduate degree in the areas of science and engineering, and provides a fantastic opportunity for young girls interested in studying in the STEM sectors.  Follow the link here if you’re interested in applying…http://www.intel.ie/content/www/ie/en/women-in-technology-scholarship-program-leixlip.html

What fantastic opportunities Intel are creating for young girls all over the world, including our very own Ireland! Its so great to see these large corporations taking action and helping to bridge the gap of females in technology related careers. The awareness that these initiatives create is marvelous and even better, it gives young females the confidence and inspiration to enter STEM sectors without fear, knowing that they can lead in these sectors just as well as the males can!

Until the next time…

Microsoft initiatives for females in technology

Most people that know me know that I’m a big fan of everything Microsoft. I worked in the Operations Centre in Dublin on a 12 month work placement, and loved every minute of it. One thing I noticed when I worked there is that they hold so many events and run a lot of programs aimed at women and young girls. As I said in my previous post, I’m going to look at some companies who really inspire and push women to succeed, whilst bridging the gap in gender diversity in the workplace.

So first up, its Microsoft. The company runs so many programs to inspire females from a young age to enter into the STEM sectors, and encourage them to be positive leaders. As mentioned in previous posts, we need more young girls to study the STEM sectors in third level, as there is a shortfall of females in these industries. However, the problem starts when girls think that studying science, technology, engineering or maths is for ‘boys-only’. Companies as well as past students and mentors need to start encouraging females to study in this space, and the bias needs to be forgotten.

I was fortunate enough to help organise the ‘Techie Girls event’ during my work placement. The event is aimed at female students studying IT related courses in university. The event is run once a year at the Microsoft European Development Centre in Sandyford. The objective of Techie Girls is to encourage those female students to firstly continue their education in IT and secondly, consider Microsoft for intern and graduate positions in the future. Its a great day for students as it gives them the chance to meet with some female technical leaders, graduates and interns, as well learning about some of Microsoft’s latest innovations and the chance to learn what it would be like to work for Microsoft as an intern or graduate. It also gives students a great chance to network and build some fresh contacts, as well as asking any questions they might have to the interns and graduates.

Another event which Microsoft runs specifically for females is called the ‘Geeki Girls Tech Conference’. It welcomes all females of all ages who are enthusiasts about technology, digital media, computers and digital gadgets. The Geeki Girl program aims to bring STEM subjects into schools to be able to excite young girls about all the possibilities these career fields offer women. Women of all ages are invited to come along and learn about some of the most innovative technologies on the market, while having fun at the same time. The conference is relatively new, and is only being held in the U.S at the moment. When it comes to Europe and hopefully Dublin, I’ll be the first in line to get a ticket!

As if that wasn’t enough, Microsoft also run a camp called DigiGirlz which gives high school girls the opportunity to learn about careers in technology, connect with Microsoft employees, and participate in hands on computer and technology workshops. The company runs a DigiGirlz day as well as a DigiGirlz High Tech camp. The girls get to listen to executive speakers, participate in technology tours and demonstrations, network and learn hands on experience in workshops.

Even though not all these programs may be available in every country just yet, its definitely a step in the right direction. With these programs and initiatives, Microsoft are leading the way when it comes to bridging the gender diversity gap in the workplace, and they are also encouraging and inspiring young women to enter into the STEM sectors, which is exactly what is needed with the technology and digital space moving at such an alarming rate right now! All thats needed is some ambitious young women and some encouragement from the right people in the industry…

So thats it for now, I’ll be looking into some other initiatives and efforts that large companies are running in order to get more females into the STEM sectors in the future. It will be interesting to see if any are as good as Microsoft’s…

I will leave you with some food for thought, this is one of my favorite videos from Microsoft…

Until next time….