All Articles Tagged "silicon valley"
Is Silicon Valley Ready For Black Women? Are Black Women Ready For Silicon Valley?
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Is the tech world finally looking to black women to join the talent pool? According to Lisa Nicole Bell, founder and CEO of Inspired Life Media Group, if Silicon Valley isn’t already taking notice of tech’s fastest growing minority groups, it will be soon. And black women need to be ready to jump from tech consumers to tech makers.
“Black women consume significant amounts of digital media. We’re frequently the early adopters for new software and hardware,” she writes in Inc. The numbers are there: An Essence magazine 2008 report found that five times as many black women — 36 percent — use cell phones for three or more hours per day. It also found that black women are much more likely than other female consumers to use technology and the Internet as tools of empowerment and self-expression. Add to this, a recent Pew study, which revealed that blacks “over-index” on Twitter and Instagram.
While the tech world may finally realize the need for inclusion of more black women, actually making that happen is another matter. According to Bell, several steps must be taken not only by Silicon Valley but also by black women themselves.
“Education seems to be the most promising means of both increasing the number of black women active in tech,” she explains. “With a paucity of black women choosing to major in computer science and related studies, there has to be more done to encourage black girls to see themselves as producers in addition to being consumers.”
And the education push needs to start early on. By encouraging young girls to enter STEM careers, not only will this affect the tech industry but the world in general. “More girls and women need to be encouraged to pursue interests and careers in digital,” Mira Lowe, senior editor for features at CNN Digital, explains to Bell . “If women are not engaging in the technology world, they will ultimately not be contributing to the world at large.”
One organization helping to encourage young black girls to enter the tech arena is Black Girls CODE, an organization founded by Kimberly Bryant, a technical project manager based in San Francisco. “There is definitely a very serious pipeline issue. The K-12 infrastructure does not currently provide adequate access to training in computer science,” Bryant says. “Once we can better feed the tech pipeline with women and other diverse candidates, we can begin to move the needle and change the face of tech as these students move on to attend college, pursue careers in tech, and eventually become the tech leaders, builders, and mentors for the next generation.”
Lastly, once young black women have studied and entered the tech world there needs to be mentoring available. “Network with people in the field. Develop and preserve your digital footprint. Believe that you can make a digital difference,”Lowe tells Bell.
Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer: You Can’t Work From Home But You Can Spend More Time There With Your Baby
Patrick McMullan/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)
Just two months after setting off fierce debate about the merits of telecommuting, Yahoo has announced a slate of new perks and benefits for its staffers. On the top of the list is extended maternity and paternity leave. All parents, including fathers now have eight weeks; new moms have 16 weeks.
In addition, parents will receive $500 for necessities, there are gifts for new pet owners, and eight weeks of unpaid leave for employees who make it to five years with the company. This all sounds pretty good, but actually, Yahoo is playing catch up with the rest of Silicon Valley. According to CNN, Google, the company Mayer used to work for, offers all parents seven weeks of paid leave, and between 18 and 22 weeks of maternity leave for mothers. And Facebook offers four months for both parents and $4,000 of “baby cash.”
Mayer herself went back to work two weeks after giving birth to her son on September 30, which everyone commented on (even though it’s none of their business). All of her decisions are watched closely for a variety of reasons: because she’s a woman CEO, because Yahoo was once a major player in the tech space and it’s trying to regain prominence, and because of the attention now being paid to women “leaning in” and “having it all.” Keep in mind, Mayer was pregnant when she accepted the CEO position, so there’s a good chance she felt she had to go back to work as quickly as possibly because she was new to the job.
On the business side, the company’s stock is up 24 percent since the beginning of the year. Mayer herself is being paid $36.6 million in cash and stock for her work.
Research conducted by Kenneth Matos at the Family and Work Institute shows just how far outside the norm these new Yahoo perks are. “Matos’s research shows that only 30 percent of U.S. employers offer paid or unpaid maternity leave that is greater than 12 weeks,” Today’s website says about the data. “Matos also said that 58 percent of employers who provide maternity leave pay new moms for at least some of that time off. Only 14 percent of employers who provide paternity leave pay for some of the dads’ time off.”
Many companies and most states in the US don’t offer very much in the way of paid maternity leave, a rare thing among developed countries. The Today site proposes that the Yahoo changes could spark other developments in this area.
No Blacks? No Women? What Tech Companies Don’t Want Us To Know
Intel’s Brian David Johnson and will.i.am (who works with the company) at Macworld 2013. Photo Credit: Susana Bates/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)
CNN has made numerous attempts over the past few years to collect data about diversity at the top tech companies, but have been mostly unsuccessful due to blockades from tech leadership. As you may know, I work for a large tech firm, also one that CNN attempted to collect data from, and I don’t need any advanced survey research to prove that black people, male and female, are hard to spot on tech campuses.
I’m sure many would make this assumption, but CNN wanted to prove it. After making a general request to 10 of the largest firms and 10 smaller but influential firms only three — Dell, Ingram Mico, and Intel — were forthcoming with their data. The other 17 companies flat out refused to share this data, which immediately raises a red flag.
CNN consulted with their legal team and found out they could make a request through the Department of Labor to access Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data. But even this tactic only added two more companies to the information list — Cisco and Ebay. Five major companies required by law to give up the data submitted written objections on the basis that releasing this data would cause “competitive harm.”
To go so far as to be ready to start a legal battle over the issue, shows that these companies have something to hide. With the data they were able to collect, CNN was able to determine that diversity in Silicon Valley is a serious issue and it seems like we are just embarking upon the conversation. As Aditi Mohapatra, associate tech sector director at BSR, a consulting group that works with companies on social and sustainability issues, put it: “This data is just a baseline for discussion, but we can’t end the problem if we can’t start the conversation. For the tech industry to remain silent about diversity is so not aligned with what they preach.”
Tech companies are supposed to be about breaking the mold, advancement and innovation, but it seems like this is not represented in their workforce. These cutting edge companies are stuck in the past when it comes to diversity. Maybe one day the transparency they promote in other areas of business will be reflected by their willingness to provide diversity data. It’s only when you know what you’re working with that you can improve. And as the tech industry is a thriving one with boundless potential for growth and innovation, it’s important that we open doors for different groups to make their way into the industry — for their own betterment and that of the technology advancements we want to continue seeing.
Tech Start-Ups Thrive Outside of Silicon Valley
Photo: Jeff Chiu/AP/dapd
Of course, tech start-ups in Silicon Valley are finding lots of success. But there are a number of other cities that are also becoming fertile ground for burgeoning technology businesses.
According to data provided by Thomson Reuters and the MoneyTree Report by PwC and compiled by National Venture Capital Association, San Francisco and San Jose, CA are the two top cities in the U.S. for technology start-ups. But coming in at number three is New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and other New York government officials started a big push in 2011 to make the Big Apple a hub, not just for industries the city has been known for. It has been building a reputation as the place for tech start-ups on the East Coast.
“Part of this is that many of the traditional industries in which New York has always been a leader — like financial services, and retail, and business services — are more and more becoming high-tech industries as well,” Sen. Schumer said at the time.
Mashable also credits companies like Facebook and Google, which have set up offices in New York, for boosting its tech cred.
Coming in number four on the list is Boston, which, according to CIO.com (the site originally posted this information) is a venture capital hub and is seeing a lot of activity in the healthcare and IT spaces. That city is also aided by the prestigious schools that call the city home. For instance, according to CIO.com, MIT grads are jumping into a lot of startups.
And finally, number five is Los Angeles, which is, naturally, seeing a lot of activity in the media and entertainment area.
Behind The Click: Ayori Selassie Came From Humble Beginnings to Work for Forbes’ Most Innovative Company
So here we are! Our last “Behind The Click” profile for 2012. (Don’t worry… there’s a special year-end piece in the next few days as well as much more to come in 2013).
Ayori Selassie is helping us wrap up this year with a bang. Not only is she a product manager at SalesForce.com (voted most innovative company by Forbes magazine), but she also has some very special involvement with a particular part of the U.S. State Department (of which I’m a huge fan). Read on to find out about this very busy and talented member of the technorati!
Current Occupation: Product Manager, SalesForce.com
Favorite website: Mashable. “Great resource for tech, startup and innovative stuff in general.”
Favorite read: Women Who Run With The Wolves by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes. “The fables, folk tales and stories in this book (less so the analysis of the stories) helped me recover from a failed marriage engagement and learn to trust my gut. I still refer to these stories for personal experiences and when giving advice to other women.
Recent read: Rebuild the Dream by Van Jones. “He is one of my role models.”
2012′s ultimate goal: Taking my daughter to see our nation’s capital. I did that in October and will be doing it again for her birthday with a very special surprise visit to a very important place. I’ll have to let you wonder about that!
Quote Governing Your Mission:
First choice:
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt
Twitter handle: @iayori
LdC: So, let’s always start with the basics. Give me a bit about your background.
Tops in Tech: African American Innovators To Be Honored
Image: Associated Press
There are the Oscars. The BET Awards. The MTV Awards. But did you know there was an awards ceremony for the top African Americans in technology? People who are working to make our lives better through new innovations?
Black Money just released the names of 2012′s “50 Most Important African-Americans in Technology,” who will be honored on January 15, 2013 in Washington, DC at the Innovation & Equity Symposium. The theme for this year is “Keeping America First in Technology: Public Innovation and Supplier Diversity.”
Many ask, “Where are the blacks in technology?” That’s because the numbers still remain low. In fact, the number of minorities in Silicon Valley have actually dropped. “An analysis by the Mercury News of the combined work force of 10 of the Valley’s largest companies — including Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Cisco Systems, eBay and AMD — shows that while the collective work force of those 10 companies grew by 16 percent between 1999 and 2005, an already small population of black workers dropped by 16 percent, while the number of Hispanic workers declined by 11 percent. By 2005, only about 2,200 of the 30,000 Silicon Valley-based workers at those 10 companies were black or Hispanic,” according to the Mercury News.
So the recognition of blacks in the field by “Black Money” is even more significant. Among the honorees are Dr. John and Gerald Commissiong, the co-founders behind Amarantus BioSciences, Inc., a California-based biotechnology company developing new treatments and diagnostics for Parkinson’s disease and traumatic brain injury.
The Hon. Dr. Cardinal Warde, a professor of electrical engineering at MIT, is also being recognized. He is considered one of the world’s leading experts on materials, devices and systems for optical information processing. There is also: Dr. Debra Auguste, the newly appointed associate professor of biomedical engineering at City University of New York; Dr. Jean Orelien, a leader in the mathematical research behind modern medicine who does a lot of work in Haiti; and Linda Cureton, the chief information officer of NASA.
For a full list of the tops in tech, visit the Black Money website.
Tech Entrepreneur Cites Discrimination and Lack of Mentorship For Silicon Valley’s Lack Of Diversity
by R. Asmerom
Diversity in Silicon Valley continues to be a touchy subject. The dire lack of women and African-Americans, in particular, is one issue that is interpreted from two very different perspectives. Is the lack of diversity due to the dearth of support for African-Americans to enter tech careers or is it due to blatant discrimination by venture capitalists?
One of Silicon Valley’s “most controversial critics” Vivek Wadhwa is certainly not buying the fact that Silicon Valley is a meritocracy. In an interview with Andre Keen on TechCrunch TV, Wadwha said that the few racist and sexist VCs in Silicon Valley were partially responsible for keeping the doors closed to women and Blacks. “What happens is that there is always one arrogant partner, there’s always one sexist, racist,” he said.
In addition, Wadhwa also places blame on the African-American community for not investing in mentorship. He recalled how he told a group of African-American techies that “the problem with you is that you don’t help each other. That caused everyone to gasp, but the reality is that those groups haven’t been helping each other.”
Wadhwa cites how the Indian community advanced in the tech field by creating mentorship programs early on, resulting in their strong presence in the tech field. “1 out of 7 every companies in Silicon Valley had an Indian CTO or CEO between 1995-2007,” he noted.
Watch his full interview at TechCrunch
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Are African-Americans Opting Out of Tech Careers?
by R. Asmerom
Are African-Americans opting out of tech careers? Dr. Maya A Beasley says yes. In her book, “Opting Out: Losing the Potential of America’s Young Black Elite,” The University of Connecticut assistant professor contends that self-segregation is discouraging African Americans from accessing the networks that lead to tech careers.
She drew upon 60 interviews with black and white college students at UC Berkeley and Stanford for her research. The impetus for the book stemmed from the fact that while she was a graduate student at Stanford, she noticed the lack of Black people in Silicon Valley overall although there was a relatively substantial amount of Black students at Stanford University. “I thought this was really odd because I went to college with really brilliant black students,” she told FINS. “And I knew that Stanford had a high proportion of black students so I was surprised to see such a disparity between what I saw on campus and what I saw on Main Street.” She wanted to understand how those students didn’t get filtered into the Silicon Valley infrastructure.
She noticed that some students were discouraged from STEM classes and that many others opted to hang out in exclusive cultural circles. “There’s a danger in completely segregating yourself,” Beasley told FINS. “When black students only interact with each other it really inhibits the information they’re getting. White students are getting advice from their parents and summer jobs through their connections. If you’re limiting the number of times you’re spending with white people, you’re also limiting the types of information you have available to you.”
In addition, Beasley notes that the composition of STEM courses (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math), which are dominated by a white and Asian males, also deters African-American involvement.
So what’s the solution? It seems that self-segregation will naturally take place but making a conscious effort to integrate and acknowledge the cultural dynamics surrounding Silicon Valley would help a Black student’s transition, if he or she desires, into the tech landscape.
Behind the Click: Silicon Valley Lawyer Cheree McAlpine
Sponsored By
Current Occupation: Vice President and General Counsel, Wyse Technology Inc.
Favorite website: Economist.com
Favorite read: Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
Recent read: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
2012′s ultimate goal: Getting my 13 year old daughter into a good high school this fall
Quote Governing Your Mission or a Quote that Inspires You: Carpe Diem
Twitter handle: @chereemcalpine
Ready for another profile on women making moves in the tech space? If so, you are in for a treat. So far I’ve profiled entrepreneurs and VP’s, but I have yet to zero in on one of the most important areas of the game, until now. With new terrain being carved out daily, those with legal expertise are key in moving the industry along. I was fortunate enough to connect with Cheree McAlpine, a key attorney in Silicon Valley, who will give us a peek at what it’s like to be part of the inner legal circle of the tech world. Get ready for some hot insights from the General Counsel at Wyse Technology, a leader in cloud client computing:
LDC: I’d love to know when did you first become interested in law?
CM: I’ve always loved advocacy, speaking , and debate (my mother would say arguing), but at some point law just became a natural and obvious choice if you want to do what you love.
LDC: There are probably not too many Black female attorneys in your field. Do you find your gender/race a challenge in Silicon Valley?
CM: I have experienced a wonderful 17-year legal career in Silicon Valley where technological innovation is key and knowledge is a premium. I am currently the General Counsel and head lawyer at a global company. I understand and can appreciate the uniqueness of my situation as an African American woman in this position and I certainly can’t say that I haven’t experienced conscious or unconscious biases in my profession. My focus professionally has always been on understanding my value as a lawyer and businesswoman in the Silicon Valley business community and having the confidence to pursue the positions that are suitable to me without personal regard to race and gender.
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business, Career, cloud computing, digital, executive, legal, silicon valley, technology, womenGiving Black Techies a Seat at the Table
(Tech Crunch) — If Mike and I have it “tough,” the entrepreneurs at NewMe, the first startup accelerator targeting black founders specifically, have it a thousand times tougher with regards to looking like they should work in tech — Women represent 23.8% versus African-Americans at 1.5% of our work force respectively. As Central.ly co-founder Chris Bennett told me, “There aren’t minorities in tech, there just aren’t. One of the problems in the black tech community is that there isn’t yet a community.” Co-founded by Angela Benton (wow, female and a minority — a double whammy) and Wayne Sutton, NewMe attempts to remedy this, by giving Silicon Valley exposure to African American-led startups. NewMe provides its charges with access to housing, resources and mentorship from top Silicon Valley companies (Google is a sponsor and the startups have been working out of Tagged’s offices). Instead of investment, the incubator aims to provide value by fostering a supportive community.
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