Monday, January 2, 2012

Forbes Woman Of The Year: Women In Tech

Jenna Goudreau, Forbes Staff

It’s been an incredible year for women. At the highest echelons, a flurry of executive change-ups ushered in new female faces to global leadership positions across industries. Women now oversee some of the world’s biggest companies, banks, media outlets and economies. And at the lowest levels, female protesters have come out en masse to demand their rights.

In 2011, through quiet determination and willful force, women have pushed for progress. One group of notable women has succeeded in breaking barriers, securing a powerful voice on the frontlines of business and innovation. Women in technology have made important strides this year, shifting from a minor anomaly to a force to be reckoned with.

This is a different time,” Ursula Burns, chairman and chief of Xerox, told me at a recent women’s event. With the new regime of female tech leaders, Burns says technology is becoming a significant pipeline for women–thanks to the field’s constant evolution. “We got here by doing great work while not backing off the things that are important.”

IBM, one of the world’s biggest and most influential tech companies, with a market cap of upwards of $200 billion, this year made history by appointing 30-year veteran Virginia “Ginni” Rometty as its next CEO. A computer scientist and electrical engineer by training, Rometty was tapped as Big Blue’s first female leader the same year that it celebrated its 100th year anniversary. She will lead it into its next 100 years, while showing young women the now unlimited possibilities available to them.

Meg Whitman too, with a constantly evolving career, continues to prove the staying power of women in tech. After leading eBay for 10 years and an unsuccessful attempt at the California governor seat, the “technology visionary” has come back stronger than ever as the newest chief of Hewlett-Packard.

This year’s list of the world’s most powerful women highlighted a new breed of female techies. After exploding the network’s growth to 800 million active users, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg was named the world’s fifth most powerful woman in 2011, shooting up from No. 66 the year before. BillionaireHTC Chairman and Cofounder Cher Wang, who landed at No. 20 for the first time, oversees the manufacturing of one out of every five smartphones in the world. Also debuting to the list this year were Google‘s Susan Wojcicki andMarissa Mayer, perfecting online advertising and search, and Twitter’s Katie Jacobs Stanton, who took the Tweet international.

While women in tech have pushed ahead, there’s still a long way to go tocatch up in the ratios. Of the 10 fastest-growing jobs projected by the U.S. Department of Labor, nine require math or science training. Engineering and computer-related fields are expected to see the most growth, but women currently hold less than 25% of these positions and earn just 20% of these bachelor’s degrees. Meanwhile, three of the top 10 best-paying jobs for womenare in tech (computer software engineers, computer programmers and computer and information systems managers) and feature some of the narrowest gender wage gaps among professional jobs.

The imperative is clear: Increased attention and creativity is necessary to attract more girls to tech. And we’re on the right path. From computer engineer Barbie to new science and math Girls Scouts badges, girls are beginning to get technical support.

Some thanks are also due to those already established in tech who are pulling women up. “People made the choice that we be here,” said Burns. ”If Ginni or Sheryl or I had to fundamentally change who we were, it wouldn’t have happened. There’s something to be said for the men–in companies and on boards–who’ve known that we [women] can do what we do without becoming them.”

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Advocate for women in tech

BY PADMASREE WARRIOR, CTO, CISCO (AS TOLD TO STACEY HIGGINBOTHAM)
Source: Gigom

Padmasree Warrior joined Cisco in 2007 as Chief Technology Officer, and is also Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco’s Enterprise, Commercial and Small Business group. Prior to Cisco she was the Chief Technology Officer of Motorola. We asked Warrior for her reflections on 2011 and her New Year’s resolutions for 2012 because she is a tech thought leader that has also championed for women and technology.

For me personally and also for Cisco, 2011 was a year of realignment. My own role changed twice at least. In the beginning of this year I took over as the enterprise leader for Cisco and then in April of 2011, I took over as the co-leader of all of engineering. I was the CTO first when I joined Cisco four years ago. The biggest challenge for me is that along with the expansion of my role came all of the changes we needed to make internally to re-energize the group, to realign and to refocus back on the architecture and the core priorities of the company.

From a personal point of view, I have a weird brain as I call it. I have both a strong left and a strong right brain. You probably see that from my tweets as well. I write haiku, I paint, and I am an engineer. I speak on the behalf of women both in technology as well as in the industry — that’s a big passion of mine. So what i think that was challenging for me personally was really trying to find the right way to partition my energy between all of these things.

Because of all the things that are going on at work and my own role in the transformation of Cisco, which is extremely important, I didn’t have as much energy and time as I would like to have had on doing these other things — painting more, or writing poetry more or encouraging women. I think that’s something that I want back to do more in 2012, both within Cisco and within the industry. I believe women should play a strong role in technology and I want to get management focused on that again.

Leadership is about putting personal energy into it. I truly believe that leadership is something that you have to be involved with in terms of the details as well as the strategy. I don’t subscribe to the model that someone is either a strategist or an operational person. I don’t actually believe that. At this level you have to have strength in both and the ability to do both and have the ability to go from one end of the spectrum of really thinking through the disruptions in the industry, the changes in the architecture, back to the details of how many engineers are working on which project and will the project be delivered on time or not.

So I think the current role and the expansion of the role has allowed me to do that. That part I really enjoy and I think the results speak for the company. I think as we have gone through the transformation very well as a company.

For next year I think that the big challenge for the industry, not just for Cisco, is how the big trends, cloud, mobile or social, are changing the scope of what companies do and how to make that transformation. Previously you could be an IT infrastructure company alone, and that was okay. But now as applications move to cloud, you really have to figure out how to deliver applications from the cloud. Even imaging companies are tyring to figure out where they’re going in the future. And that’s what exciting about the industry. We believe that the IT industry, applications and mobile are all blending together and so companies have to figure out their transformation; what their strengths are; and how they leverage that strength.

Cisco’s strength is network and networking itself is changing architecturally. I believe it’s going to play a huge role going forward. So that’s the opportunity. The challenge is transitioning ourselves to meet that opportunity.

One of the things I’d like to do next year, is to continue to be more of an advocate for women in technology at all levels. I think women tend to be more hesitant to making the changes that they need to make especially in entering the harder fields like technology and science and I want to make sure I use my energy to make sure we don’t lose the progress and momentum that women have made in technology. That goes for Cisco as well as the whole industry. I would like to see more women leaders get engaged with mentoring and helping others. It’s not even mentoring, it’s more just about helping others and sharing your experiences.

Source: Gigom

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Public invited to cheer on student teams at Maui’s FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics Tournament

KAHULUI – Anyone who has ever watched a local robotics competition will agree:
once you find yourself cheering for that little contraption on wheels to win, you know
you’re hooked.

It’s that same addictive fascination that draws students from all over Maui Nui to eagerly
compete in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) Hawaii Robotics Tournament every year. This
November 12th will be the second Maui district tournament with 18 teams from Maui,
Molokai and Lanai. These 9-14 year olds will be maneuvering their robots through various tasks at the Maui High School Cafeteria. Six state berths will be at stake. Last weekend’s district tournament at Pomaika`i Elementary resulted in two Moloka`i teams qualifying for the State FLL Tournament held on December 3, 2011 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

Each year, teams are challenged to design, build and program an autonomous robot
out of LEGO elements to solve a real world issue. The theme for 2011 is food
contamination.

The Food Factor Challenge gives teams the opportunity to explore the topic of food
safety and examine the possible points of contamination that our food encounters – from exposure to insects and creatures, to unsafe processing and transportation, to unsanitary preparation and storage – then find ways to prevent or combat these contaminates.

Teams are expected to build, test, and program their robot to solve a set of Food Safety
missions as well as research, develop, and share their innovative food safety solutions.

The public is encouraged to come down and watch this exciting event on Saturday,
November 12th, from noon to 3 pm at Maui High School Cafeteria. Presentations
(restricted to participants only) will be held earlier in the day, from 8 am to 12 pm.

FIRST LEGO League is an international organization that introduces students to the fun
and experience of solving real-world problems by applying math, science and
technology (STEM).

In Hawaii, FLL is supported by the Women in Technology (WIT) Project, an initiative of the Maui Economic Development Board. WIT’s goal is to motivate students toward STEM
careers by capturing and sustaining their interest in STEM education at an early age.

####

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Maui First Lego League Robotics Qualifier 2011

Maui First Lego League Robotics Qualifier 2011
Maui High School
Saturday, November 12, 2011

12:00 - 12:30 Welcome and Introduction
12:30 - 2:30 "Food Factor" Robotics Challenge
2:30 - 3:00 Announcement of Qualifiers Winners

RSVP to: info@womenintech.com

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wahine Forum Aims to Empower Women

The 2011 Wahine Forum was held on Tuesday, October 18 at the Hawaii Convention
Center. The purpose of the Wahine Forum is to elevate the role of women in the community by sharing useful information, building leadership capacity, and broadening attendees’ perspectives on community involvement and career horizons.

Maui Economic Development Board Vice President, Leslie Wilkins talks about how she, and 38 other powerful women plan to inspire others at Tuesday's Wahine Forum.

Check out the KITV video!

View a pdf of Ms. Wilkin's presentation

Friday, October 14, 2011

Wall Street Vet, Best-Selling Author, Wahine Forum Keynote, to Address La Pietra Monday, October 17, 2 p.m

(Honolulu, Hawai'i - October 14, 2011) - Wahine Forum Keynote Speaker Carla Harris will speak at La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls on Monday, October 17 at 2 p.m. The students will get career development advice from Harris.

Harris is the best-selling author of Expect to Win, 10 Proven Strategies from a Wall Street Vet. She is also a managing director and head of the emerging manager platform at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. She spent more than seventeen years of her career in capital markets. During her two-decade career on Wall Street, Harris executed the IPOs for UPS, Martha Stewart Living, Omni media, Redback and Immunex, one of the largest biotechnology offerings in U.S. history. Harris was recognized as Black Enterprise's "75 Most Powerful Women in Business" in 2006. She was on Fortune's 2005 "Most Influential List." She was named to Ebony Magazine's "15 Corporate Women at the Top" in 2004, Essence Magazine's of "50 Women Who Are Shaping the World" in 2003, and Fortune's list of "50 Most Powerful Black Executives in America" in 2002.

Wahine Forum is an annual women's conference co-convened by Hawaii Business Magazine and Junior League of Honolulu. Wahine Forum is held the following day (Tuesday, Oct. 18) at the Hawaii Convention Center.

La Pietra-Hawai'i School for Girls, is a lead sponsor bringing signature intergenerational engagement to the event. La Pietra has supported women's conferencing in Hawaii for five years as a sponsor of JLH's HerStory and Wahine Forum since last year.

Directions to La Pietra, located at 2933 Poni Moi Road:

(From H-1) Exit at King Street, continue to Kapahulu Avenue. Turn right on Kapahulu Avenue. At the end of Kapahulu Avenue, turn left onto Kalakaua Avenue. You will pass Waikiki beach park and the Waikiki Aquarium. Continue to follow Kalakaua Avenue until you make a soft left and come to a stop sign. Proceed across the intersection onto Poni Moi Road.

Media Contact:

Mike Moses, La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls

(808) 922-2744, office * (808) 375-2120 cell

mikem@lapietra.edu

Barbra Pleadwell, Hastings & Pleadwell

808-538-0797 x1, office * 808- 292-3031, cell

bap@hastingsandpleadwell.com

Friday, October 7, 2011

Ada Lovelace Day-Meet the founder of Bioinformatics, Margaret Dayhoff

Ada Lovelace Day allows us an opportunity to highlight the work of women in science.

Today I’d like you to meet a pioneer in the field of bioinformatics, Margaret Dayhoff, a visionary who:

created the first computer program to analyze molecular data
created the single letter amino acid abbreviation
developed the first public molecular database
revolutionized the field of evolutionary classification by using mathematical matrices to examine protein similarities.

Now that I am teaching online courses, I have become familiar (but not a pro) with screen capture technology. I use Camtasia for Mac, which I find fairly easy to edit. Instead of writing a post to introduce you to Dr. Dayhoff, I narrate this tutorial video (hence its presence on PsiVid). I hope curious viewers will learn something new about the field of bioinformatics and about Dayhoff’s contribution. The audience for this video would be novices, possibly at the high school level or adults unfamiliar with bioinformatics.

Stick around to the end (or jump to 7:49) to learn a fun way to find your name in DNA using some of the principles that Dr. Dayhoff developed! It’s a great exercise in understanding the central dogma of biology and the power of bioinformatics. You can do that by visiting THIS WEBSITE

I used an iPod earphone mic, so when I moved my head, the sound vacillated. My coworker had borrowed the “snowball” mic that I would normally use for the audio. Also, you are seeing an odd pulsing. I do need to optimize the frames per second during processing to have that disappear, just not sure which direction to go, higher or lower. Anyone have suggestions?

Source: Scientific American
By Joanne Manaster

Monday, September 26, 2011

New Workplace Flexibility Policies

WIT commends the White House Council and National Science Foundation for launching this important initiative that will allow scientists and researchers the flexibility to both balance and manage the demands of career and family.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2011

The White House and National Science Foundation Announce New Workplace Flexibility Policies to Support America’s Scientists and Their Families

Today, White House Council on Women and Girls Executive Director Tina Tchen, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren, and National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Subra Suresh announced the “NSF Career-Life Balance Initiative,” a 10-year plan to provide greater work-related flexibility to women and men in research careers.

Among the best practices that NSF will expand Foundation-wide, are ones that will allow researchers to delay or suspend their grants for up to one year in order to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or fulfill other family obligations — maximizing current policy to facilitate scientists’ reentry into their professions with minimal loss of momentum.

“Jump-starting girls’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math—the so-called STEM subjects -- and boosting the percentage of women employed in science and engineering is not just the right thing to do but is also the smart thing to do for America’s future and the economy,” said Tina Tchen.

“Too many young women scientists and engineers get sidetracked or drop their promising careers because they find it too difficult to balance the needs of those careers and the needs of their families,” said Subra Suresh. “This new initiative aims to change that, so that the country can benefit from the full range and diversity of its talent.”

Later today, First Lady Michelle Obama will speak at a White House event about the importance of supporting and retaining women and girls in STEM careers. At this East Room event, the NSF will discuss today’s announcement about retaining women in STEM fields. Tune in to www.whitehouse.gov/live to join the event live at 4 pm EDT.

“If we’re going to out-innovate and out-educate the rest of the world, we’ve got to open doors for everyone,” said Mrs. Obama. “We need all hands on deck, and that means clearing hurdles for women and girls as they navigate careers in science, technology, engineering and math.”

NSF—which is the leading source of Federal grants for many fields of basic research crucial to US technology development and job creation, including computer science, mathematics, and the social sciences—is also calling upon universities and research institutes to adopt similar policies for their employees and grantees.

Women today currently earn 41% of PhD’s in STEM fields, but make up only 28% of tenure-track faculty in those fields. Reducing the dropout rate of women in STEM careers is especially important in the quest for gender equality because women in STEM jobs earn 33 percent more than those in non-STEM occupations and the wage gap between men and women in STEM jobs is smaller than in other fields.

NSF has launched targeted workplace flexibility efforts in the past, but the new initiative is the first to be applied Foundation-wide to help postdoctoral fellows and early-career faculty members more easily care for dependents while continuing their careers. The new initiative will offer a coherent and consistent set of family-friendly policies and practices to help eliminate some of the barriers to women’s advancement and retention in STEM careers. It will:

· Allow postponement of grants for child birth/adoption – Grant recipients can defer their awards for up to one year to care for their newborn or newly adopted children.

· Allow grant suspension for parental leave – Grant recipients who wish to suspend their grants to take parental leave can extend those grants by a comparable duration at no cost.

· Provide supplements to cover research technicians– Principal investigators can apply for stipends to pay research technicians or equivalent staff to maintain labs while PIs are on family leave.

· Publicize the availability of family friendly opportunities – NSF will issue announcements and revise current program solicitations to expressly promote these opportunities to eligible awardees.

· Promote family friendliness for panel reviewers – STEM researchers who review the grant proposals of their peers will have greater opportunities to conduct virtual reviews rather than travel to a central location, increasing flexibility and reducing dependent-care needs.

· Support research and evaluation – NSF will continue to encourage the submission of proposals for research that would assess the effectiveness of policies aimed at keeping women in the STEM pipeline.

· Leverage and Expand Partnerships -- NSF will leverage existing relationships with academic institutions to encourage the extension of the tenure clock and allow for dual hiring opportunities.

The Administration has been highly focused on the goal of increasing the participation of women and girls in STEM fields. The White House has encouraged and celebrated the participation of girls and women in STEM fields through initiatives like Educate to Innovate, which, among other goals, focuses on improving STEM education for underrepresented groups, including girls, and the President’s $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition, which rewards states that develop strategies to broaden the participation of women and girls and others underrepresented in science and engineering. To achieve this, states applying for these funds receive competitive preference if they demonstrate efforts to address barriers to full participation of women and girls in these fields.

The President has appointed a strong team of women leaders to his Cabinet and White House staff, including several female scientists including EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (an engineer), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Jane Lubchenco (a marine scientist), US Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt (a geophysicist), and Director of the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Regina Dugan (a mechanical engineer).

The White House has also been committed to making the government a model employer in the area of workplace flexibility. In March of 2010, The President’s Council of Economic Advisors issued its first ever report on the economic benefits of workplace flexibility, concluding that it strengthens a company’s bottom line while helping workers meet the needs of their families and stay in the workforce. The President hosted a White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility and the Department of Labor led subsequent efforts around the country to promote workplace flexibility and generate best practices in the private sector. To strengthen the government’s position as a model employer in this area, the President signed the Telework Enhancement Act, which requires Federal agencies to take a number of significant steps to promote the use of telework, including appointing a senior telework managing officer in each Federal agency.

Several independent organizations and academic associations today announced initiatives in coordination with NSF and the White House, adding momentum to a nationwide shift that promises to strengthen the US economy and job security even as it strengthens families across the country. Among them:

· The White House Council on Women and Girls and Office of Science and Technology Policy are launching a “Women in STEM Speakers Bureau.” Designed to spark the interest of girls in grades 6-12 through engagement with women-scientist role models at the top of their fields, the Speakers Bureau will deploy top Administration female STEM specialists to roundtables with students across the country.

· The National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity will announce an expansion of its signature initiative, the STEM Equity Pipeline, to provide professional development training for high-school and community college faculty and staff in STEM fields.

· The Association for Women in Science is launching a new initiative that brings together representatives from government, industry, and academia with the goal of improving STEM workplaces to promote gender equality and retention, re-entry, and re-training for women.

· The National Girls Collaborative Project will announce the FabFems Project to promote career development for young female STEM students through an online networking platform that will include female educators and professionals in STEM fields.

· The American Association of University Women will announce the expansion of successful regional programs aimed at engaging girls in STEM subjects to a national level.

· The Association of American Universities and the Association of Public Land-grant Universities will commit to looking for ways that the many institutions they represent can do more to develop, support, and promote more flexible work and learning environments for those in STEM and other disciplines.

Helping women reach their economic potential

By Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen, Published: September 25

The American Jobs Act which President Obama sent to Congress two weeks ago, is vital for our country’s women. It would keep 280,000 teachers — most of them women — from losing their jobs due to budget cuts. It would put hundreds of thousands of unemployed women back to work. It would put more money in the pockets of almost 80 million working women, by cutting their payroll taxes next year. As the president has said, Congress has a responsibility to pass this bill.

However, even as we wait for Congress to act, the Obama administration is taking steps to create economic opportunities for women and girls.

On Monday, for example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will announce new steps to make it easier for women to pursue careers in engineering and the sciences — fields that are critical to our nation’s economic growth.

Women working in science, technology, engineering and math careers earn 33 percent more than those in other occupations, and these “STEM” skills will become even more important in high-growth, high-tech fields such as health-care technology and advanced manufacturing.

As with women throughout the workforce, however, women in STEM jobs are often expected to establish themselves professionally at the same time they are starting families. This forces women to choose between their careers and their responsibilities at home. Understandably, many of our most promising young scientists and engineers drop out of the pipeline.

To support female innovators and help women contribute to the economy, the NSF is taking steps to allow researchers to balance their responsibilities in the lab with their responsibilities at home. For example, if a researcher needs to delay the start of a funded project for a family-related reason, such as taking care of a young child or an aging parent, the NSF will work with her to make that possible without causing her to lose her grant. If she needs to interrupt research to have a baby, there will be options to add the lost time onto the end of her funding period without penalty. In many cases, NSF will even pay for technicians who can keep labs and research projects running during a period of parental leave.

As an agency devoted to evidence-based decision making, NSF will also support research into the effectiveness of flexible workplace policies. This will ensure that the new programs are working and will help identify best practices to share with the public and private sectors.

For many women who dream of becoming scientists and researchers, these kinds of simple, common-sense changes will make a world of difference. And our entire economy can benefit, because if more women have the chance to pursue STEM careers, it will lead to more innovation, entrepreneurship and growth.

Monday’s NSF announcement also highlights the ways that flexible workplaces contribute to our economic competitiveness. There is a common misconception that workplace flexibility policies cost businesses money. In fact, the opposite is true. A study from the White House Council of Economic Advisers found that flexible workplaces often attract the best workers and experience reduced absenteeism, lower turnover and higher productivity. As President Obama has said , “Workplace flexibility isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s an issue that affects the well-being of our families and the success of our businesses.”

We also recognize that a lack of work-life balance prevents many workers from reaching their economic potential. Today, nearly two-thirds of American families with children are headed by two working parents or by a single parent. These parents cannot thrive in a job where they are unable to care for their children. At a time when working men and women across our nation face deep economic uncertainty, it is wrong to ask them to choose between their jobs and their families.

We understand that these policies are no substitute for congressional action on the economy. But we also know that government can make a difference — through direct action and by working with outside organizations. A broad coalition of groups has joined the Obama administration in addressing workplace flexibility for those in STEM fields, including the Association for Women in Science, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and the Association of American Universities.

When President Obama addressed the U.N. General Assembly last week, he made a powerful economic argument on behalf of the world’s women. “No country can realize its potential,” he said, “if half its population cannot reach theirs.” As the president pursues a short-term recovery and long-term prosperity, he will continue to focus on empowering America’s women and girls, and giving every American a chance to contribute fully to our economy.

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama, chairs the White House Council on Women and Girls. Tina Tchen is executive director of the council and chief of staff to the first lady.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Technology Industry’s Gender Gap Seen Hampering Competitiveness

The lack of women in technology will hinder U.S. companies’ global competitiveness, leaving a valuable source of female workers untapped, Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) executive Kathy Hill said yesterday at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco.

Companies should overhaul policies starting at the training level to ensure a balance between the sexes, Hill said at the APEC meeting, which was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. APEC represents 21 economies that account for more than 55 percent of global gross domestic product.

“Technology has to play a role,” said Hill, a senior vice president of development strategy and operations at San Jose, California-based Cisco, the world’s largest maker of networking equipment. “Technology makes a lot more money than other businesses, and we’ve got job growth.”

While women hold about half the jobs in the broader U.S. economy, they account for less than 25 percent of science, technology, engineering and math positions, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“We need to unlock a vital source of growth that can power our economy in the decades to come, and that vital source of growth is women,” Clinton said yesterday at the conference. “By increasing women’s part in the economy and enhancing their efficiency and productivity, we can bring about a dramatic effect to the competitiveness and growth of our economies.”

Technical Majors

The disparity begins in college. More than 31,000 men graduated with bachelor’s degrees in computer and information sciences, outnumbering women by more than fourfold, according to a 2008-2009 study by the National Center for Education Statistics. Males who graduated with technological engineering degrees during that period dwarfed female counterparts by almost ninefold, the study found.

Females who start in science, technology, engineering and math concentrations often switch to other fields before graduating, said Marilyn Nagel, chief executive officer of Watermark, a Palo Alto, California-based, 4,000-member organization for professional women. Corporations and universities should make efforts to retain women in those majors throughout the students’ college careers, she said.

That means supporting them when they’re most likely to switch from math to another major -- between freshman and sophomore year -- and bringing them into corporate environments so they can visualize what they will be doing in their careers.

‘Business Imperative’

“It’s a business imperative to increase diversity,” Nagel, 62, said in an interview. “A homogeneous team is not going to be as innovative and is not going to produce the same level of well-thought-out results as a diverse team.”

Design skills also may help women break into technology, said Weili Dai, the 50-year-old co-founder of Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL), which makes chips for personal computers and mobile phones. The iPad and iPhone have spotlighted the need for practical, elegant designs, she said.

”Technology used to be boring, but now technology is fashion,” Dai said in an interview at the conference.

Companies need to make sure female mentors are accessible to younger employees, she said. That allows women to more easily see themselves in top positions, Dai said.

Just 12 percent of the students majoring in electrical engineering and computer science at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, are women, said Claire Tomlin, a professor who oversees those majors at the school.

The college is working with middle-school girls to spark interest in engineering at a young age, and it invites females from other schools to the campus for summer programs to cultivate more interest in the field, she said.

Companies in the U.S., where the overall population is 51 percent female, will be more profitable if they foster collaboration between the sexes, Dai said.

“In my company, any function could be done by a man or woman,” she said. “How do we leverage the natural attributes and talents of women?”

Source: Bloomberg

reporter: Danielle Kucera

Reporter: