NYT on the Lack of Women in Tech Ventures
Seriously, this has to change and fast (from Sunday’s New York Times):
“CANDACE FLEMING’S résumé boasts a double major in industrial engineering and English from Stanford, an M.B.A. from Harvard, a management position at Hewlett-Packard and experience as president of a small software company.
“But when she was raising money for Crimson Hexagon, a start-up company she co-founded in 2007, she recalls one venture capitalist telling her that it didn’t matter that she didn’t have business cards, because all they would say was ‘Mom.'”
The full article illuminates the barriers that women technology entrepreneurs face in getting venture financing firms to listen to their ideas and capitalize their businesses, despite the fact that many tech products are aimed at women and that diversity ultimately benefits the bottom line. Encouragingly, there are many fantastic women and organizations out there supporting their tech sisters (find links toward the end of the piece), and working to break down the image of computer engineers as sheltered techno-geeks whose idea of fun is sitting in a dark room programming.
But as the article makes clear, there is a long way to go.
Here is the full linky: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/technology/18women.html?sq=women and technology&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=print.
Update (4/22/2010): Allyson Kapin adds to the discussion.