Women in Computing

MARCH 2019 | EDUCATIONANDCAREERNEWS.COM |

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Women in Computing Bumble co-founder Alex Williamson says it’s time for women to lean on each other to take the next step in tech

EXPLORE why women are needed to prevent bias in algorithms and AI development

LEARN the advice for women who are considering entering STEM-related fields

Engineer your future

Electrical and computer engineer Chen-Nee Chuah uses artificial intelligence to optimize endovascular devices for fluid and drug delivery.

Amazon Alexa Artificial Intelligence Challenge winner and computer scientist Zhou Yu develops intelligent chatbots that go beyond simple commands.

engineering.ucdavis.edu

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Here’s Where Women Can Shine on the Entrepreneurial Stage Investors are realizing that women should be funded. One organization is making a big difference.

Women represent the largest market opportunity and control $20 trillion in annual spending. They’re the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs, and women-led businesses are outperforming their male peers in many venture capital (VC) portfolios.

Unfortunately, female founders only received 2.2 percent of VC dollars in 2017.

That’s $1.9 billion out of the $85 billion that was invested in total. The average deal size for a female-led company was just over $5 million. For companies led by men, that number was almost $12 million. Funding for women of color is less equitable. In 2017, there were almost 7,000 startups that had at least one female founder, but less than 4 percent were led by black women. When it comes to tech specifically, black women have raised only 0.0006 percent of all venture funding since 2009.

At AnitaB.org we envision a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for whom they build it. We bring together tech makers, policy makers and philanthropists to highlight innovations and programs developed by women. We hope the tech community will continue to amplify these efforts.

Dr. Stephanie Rodriguez, Vice President of Policy & Engagement, AnitaB.org

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For Women in Tech, There’s No One Path to Success Women may not have had the most direct path into the business and tech sectors, but they’re paying dividends and showing true leadership.

I

f you speak to 10 women who have successful careers in technology, odds are that each one will give you a different tale about her path.

Though we may envision our careers a certain way starting out — getting a degree, finding a job at a company, then working our way up the ladder at that same company — most women in tech will tell you it doesn’t go quite so smoothly.

Sue Carenbauer, the senior director of e-commerce product management and technology at Giant Eagle, didn’t even consider a career in tech at first.

“I had a passion for working in operational roles,” she says. “It wasn’t until an employer gave me the opportunity to transition into a tech-focused position, with little applicable expertise, that I found myself starting my technology career.”

Carenbauer, who earned her business degree from Penn State University, has extensive experience in both

technology and business-focused roles. She believes the ability to integrate both operational and technical perspectives has been a key to her career success.

Dena Haritos Tsamitis, the director of the Information Networking Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, was married with children before deciding to pursue her career in tech. After separating from her husband, she realized she wanted more for herself. So she learned to code.

“For me, coding was a stepping stone to a career I would never have imagined as a professor and academic department head in the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon,” she says. “[I created] educational opportunities for my engineering students.”

Haritos Tsamitis’ story is proof that it’s never too late to have the career you want. After leaving college to raise a family, Haritos Tsamitis returned to

school. She changed her major from English to information science, and got her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania. Today, she is the inaugural recipient of the Barbara Lazarus Professorship in Information Networking.

Careers in tech not only benefit women, but the companies hiring them. According to a 2018 Forbes study, “Companies with women in 50 percent or more of leadership positions tend to see higher growth in sales and earnings.”

When more women begin to educate themselves on the opportunities available in tech, these leadership positions will be sought after and fulfilled, boosting revenue in these companies and improving the overall economy.

There is a difference out there waiting to be made, and women are the ones who will make it. n Julia Miglets, Social Media Director, Women in Technology International

Publisher Samantha Coppola Business Developer Gretchen Pancak Managing Director Luciana Olson Designers Tiffany Pryor, Keziah Makoundou Copy Editor Jeremy Binckes Director of Sales Shannon Ruggiero Director of Business Development Jourdan Snyder Director of Product Faye Godfrey Lead Editor Mina Fanous Production Manager Josh Rosman Content Strategist Vanessa Rodriguez Cover Photo Kristen Kilpatrick All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve San Francisco Chronicle.

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GIRLS IN STEM BECOME WOMEN WHO CHANGE THE WORLD

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Advice to Women Thinking About Entering STEM Fields What has your experience been like working in AI?

part of the AI community and to drive the progress.

Exhilarating! It’s an active field, with new research and findings every day — and still more to discover.

What are some of the challenges of being a woman in tech?

Why should women pursue a career in this area?

I have been in countless meetings and on numerous teams where I was the only woman. Gender imbalance creates a culture where women simply don’t “fit in” — from lunchroom banter to team camaraderie. But most damaging are the unconscious biases that question women’s abilities and creep into casual interactions and comments.

In this field, women have to speak up and advocate for themselves.

Stephen Hawking said super-intelligent AI will be very good at accomplishing its goals, but there will be trouble if those goals don’t align with ours. If AI models are consciously or unconsciously biased, then those biases will be built into the systems that we create. It is critical for women to be a

Avast that are invested in attracting and retaining women in technology. Half the population is left untapped when we don’t include women. To build systems, inclusion is imperative.

Who inspires you?

Women like Grace Hopper and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I salute Reshma Saujani’s work in founding Girls Who Code. I admire Indra Nooyi’s grit that earned her the CEO title at PepsiCo.

Deepali Garg Senior Data Scientist, Avast

Is the industry attracting and retaining more women in this field?

I am heartened by companies like

Do you think mentorship for women in tech is valuable?

Absolutely! I have benefitted enormously from mentors and mentees. Mentorship provides women space to ideate who they can be — to reinforce that they can overcome hurdles and come out shining on the other side.

What advice would you offer to young women?

This industry might not be the easiest path, but you can overcome hurdles. Women like me are waiting for you and we’d be honored to serve as your mentor. STEM careers need you — your perspective, knowledge and expertise. n

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How Diversity Helped Raytheon Develop a Real Leader One of Raytheon’s top scientists explains what drove her to thrive in the tech field — and why more diversity is always welcome.

C

heryl Whitis was a junior in high school when she discovered her passion for computer science. Even in that pre-dot-com era of compilers, punch cards and large mainframes, she recognized the opportunities.

She earned a scholarship and studied data processing, knowing it was the future.

“It was really creating something where nothing existed before,” Whitis says. “There were no limits.”

As chief information officer and vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems, Whitis is building a culture of innovation. Her team delivers core IT services and runs the infra-

structure used by 15,000 people.

“We touch every employee in one way or another,” Whitis says.

“We are the glue that brings it all together.”

Since her dad was in the army, Whitis gravitated to the defense industry. She wrote the program that U.S. Customs and Border Protection still uses for its aircraft maintenance and logistics tracking systems. “I take pride in knowing the products I work on protect men like my dad,” she says.

The role of Whitis’ IT group has grown over the years. It now provides a wide variety of services, from high-performance simulation

capabilities to new business pipeline tools, including automating the factory floor; helping engineers implement programs and agile engineering techniques; implementing advanced analytical tools; and, most recently, providing the cybersecurity infrastructure for numerous programs and products.

“By providing the necessary tools and technology, we enable international growth — a critical component of our long-term strategy as a company,” Whitis says.

Whitis manages a growing assortment of continually evolving challenges, from global expansion to cyber threats.

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Visit jobs.Raytheon.com/women to submit your resume.

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“My largest focus right now is staying ahead of the advanced persistent threat on cybersecurity,” Whitis says. “Our strongest defense is making our employees aware of our cybersecurity strategy and how to best conduct business in the safest environment possible.”

“We have to get more comfortable with people working remotely,” Whitis says. “I’m trying to push the boundaries of how we can make our environments more secure as well as conducive for collaboration and productivity.”

Another focus that is increasingly important as the company expands around the world. Diversity and

inclusion are two efforts critical to sustained success and the ability to attract new talent.

“We need to nurture the people we meet along the journey,” Whitis says. “Appreciation and respect for others help build rich networks you can count on and that can count on you.”

As someone who has helped pave the way for women in IT leadership, Whitis has a message for those who believe they must conform to a certain image to be part of upper management: “Stay true to yourself and make sure you love the work you do.” n Raytheon Communications Team

How Bumble Is Empowering Women at Work, Too Alex Williamson, co-founder of the woman’s empowerment dating app Bumble, explains how women should be flexing their muscles beyond the dating world.

How has Bumble evolved as the business has grown so quickly?

The four team members who launched Bumble are an extremely passionate, fun-loving

group. And we’ve found magic in new offices in each office that we’ve opened. At our hear t, we’re focused on maintaining a culture that reflects our mission and values of kindness, respect, equality and growth.

PHOTO: KRISTEN KILPATRICK

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What advice would you give to women looking to break into the app space?

Find someone who believes in you. Don’t take no for an answer. Ask questions to get the

feedback you need to quickly iterate your idea and find the backdoors to success. When we we re l a u n c h i n g, a l m o st ever yone said no to working with us. We made them listen because we were so dedicated to our mission. I never thought I’d be in this industry, but I got a rare opportunity to join a team while we were launching the product, a nd all of my ex per ience in other fields helped me navigate my role.

How should we encourage young women to pursue careers in tech?

When women see other women in leadership and tech roles, it’s easier for a young woman to see herself in those shoes. We’ve spoken with many woman who have excelled in male-dominated fields, and it’s been so clear how mentorship has made an impact on their careers. So let’s create

a seat at the table for them and help mentor them along the way.

Why do you think it’s important to bring more women into technology?

People design solutions for the problems that they face — that’s why Bumble was created! Culturally, women were told to wait for a man to make the first move.

We thought this was antiquated.

If you only have one gender designing solutions in tech, it will inherently create missed opportunities and gaps in the marketplace. So much of the aggressive behavior seen online came from fear of rejection and the pressure on men to be the initiator. When we changed that dynamic, online interactions became more respectful. This took a woman’s perspective to come to this conclusion and to solve the problem. n Alex Williamson, Co-Founder, Bumble

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MEDIAPLANET | 7

Women in Computer Sciences Speak Out Find out what’s driving the next generation of female computer scientists, and what advice they have for the next generation.

involved in writing programs. It’s fun to automate trivial tasks.

colleagues that have kept me curious, interested and amazed.

Why do you think it’s important to encourage women to pursue a career in technology?

ZY: I would say joining the Microsoft student club in my first year of college inspired me to pick the computer science major.

RT: Studies show that a more diverse work environment can be more innovative and productive.

What is some advice you would give to young women interested in this field?

ZY: Having a diversified environment makes workplaces more innovative and dynamic. I recommend watching the Pixar animation Purl for inspiration.

Roselyne Tchoua, Graduate Student, University of Chicago

When did you first become interested in computer science?

Roselyne Tchoua: I became interested in computer science

Zhou Yu Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of California-Davis

as a research participant at my first job. I had studied electrical engineering but was working on developing a web interface to simulations running on super computers.

Zhou Yu: I took an extracurricular course in my elementary school, and learned my first programing language, Basic. I did not yet realize it was related to computer science, but I liked the logic

Was there a specific moment or person who inspired you to want to study this major?

RT: There hasn’t been a particular person who inspired me to want to study this field, but since I have chosen it, I’ve found several inspiring mentors and

RT: Ask questions and find out about opportunities that this field can offer, and look beyond some of the stereotypes that you may have heard about the people in the field.

ZY: You have to believe in yourself that you can handle all the difficult courses. If you don’t believe in yourself, you will never succeed. If you put your mind to it, the universe will come together to help you achieve your goals. n

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