DECEMBER 2 - SUSAN WOJCICKI“Unless we make a change, the future of tech will look just like it

DECEMBER 2 - SUSAN WOJCICKI“Unless we make a change, the future of tech will look just like it does today,” cautioned YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki at this October’s Grace Hopper Celebration, a gathering which brought together over 12,000 female technologists. For Wojcicki, the bleak statistics around women in this industry shouldn’t just be a wake up call for much-needed change, but rather our country’s next “Sputnik” moment. Women, for example, hold just 26% of all jobs in tech and by 2020, jobs in computer science are projected to grow three times faster than the national average. “If women don’t participate in tech, they are losing the chance to influence the largest economic and social shift of this century,” said Wojcicki. “It threatens our country’s continued economic prominence and risks our future competitiveness. And it should awaken all of us to act,” she argued.Ranked number 9 on Forbes’ list of the World’s Most Powerful Women, Wojcicki believes that solving for tech’s gender imbalance isn’t just a pipeline or a retention issue–it’s both. She outlined her blueprint for achieving industry parity, starting with engaging more girls in STEM education at an early age. Tackling misperceptions—that computer science is boring or that girls aren’t good at it—is fundamental. “We need to give girls the opportunity to see what computer science actually is… they need to see for themselves how inspiring, how creative, how impactful computer science can be,” said Wojcicki.She also believes that if tech wants to be a more inviting industry for women, paid maternity leave is a must. She has a unique vantage point having been Google’s first employee to take maternity leave (she helped craft its policy,) and the only person to have taken five of them while at the company. “Each of those [maternity] leaves has enriched my life, my career. They left me with the peace of mind, knowing that I could return after spending the time that I really wanted and needed at home with my new baby,” said Wojcicki.While education and industry reform are critical to solving for tech’s gender imbalance, Wojcicki also stressed the need for women to be proactive as they navigate their careers. “Look out for yourself, be an advocate for yourself. And don’t feel guilty about it,” she said. “And above all, we have to take it as our personal responsibility to show the next generation of girls and the current generation of women that they belong in computer science and with it, they can change their world.”Text for today’s post was taken from the October 2015 Forbes piece “Can YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki Solve Tech’s Gender Gap?” -- source link

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