 The Five Percent Enigma—By Janet Rhodes Published: February, 2007  Founder Carolyn Leighton at WITI's Women and Technology Summit last October in Santa Clara "I'm surprised if there are more than two women out of 18 participants sitting around the table," says Susan Duggan, CEO of the Silicon Valley World Internet Center, as she describes the Center's think tank sessions where corporate leaders shape technological innovation. "Often there aren't any women at all." According to figures published by DeVry University, women lead only five to six percent of major high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. The National Science Foundation (NSF) says that women account for 46 percent of the labor force, but hold only 22 percent of the science jobs. In 2003, there were 14,791 female graduate students in computer science. During the same year, there were 38,887 male graduate students in the same field, according to the NSF. These numbers provoke two questions: Why is there a lack of women in technology? How does this impact the development of new technology? However, discovering why women are not entering the technology industry or advancing to leadership positions is not as easy as pointing to a glass ceiling. No Girls Allowed Aliza Peleg, Managing Director of SAP Labs North America, headquartered in Silicon Valley, feels very fortunate to be in her position. "I've been in the industry more than 25 years and have experienced no discrimination or glass ceiling. But I'm not saying that it doesn't exist for others," she says. "In the IT world, the old boys' network model is breaking up. Women are often in C-level positions now, for example, Chief Financial Officer, but SAP is making a concerted effort to embrace diversity." In high school, Peleg was one of very few girls taking advanced math and science classes. In college and graduate school, the ratio in her classes was almost 50/50. But this ratio dropped when she entered the workforce — only about 30 percent of computer tech employees were women. As to why the percentage of women continually drops off from school to workforce to management, Peleg offers several reasons. "IT and the business world in general are tough for both genders," she says. "Women, however, feel a heavier burden, because they are often managing their families and caring for kids." As a manager, new mothers come to see her often with the family/career dilemma. "With their first child, they are often torn about going back to work," Peleg says. "Not many men come to see me and say, 'I want to take two years off to spend with the baby.'" | ||
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