On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 15:44, Caroline Gordon <carolinegordon...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Is there a gender divide in startups? > On the data, you'd have to say yes, absolutely there is, but I don't know that the causes of the causes of the divide are super clear. In tech at least: - Technical/engineering/developer degrees have a horrible ratio. Something like 5% of undergraduates in computer science are female. There's really no way to come back from there. Why don't young women choose programming as a degree area? I don't know, but this is a big deal. - Flowing from that, people form natural stereotypes and expectations. It is wrong and unfair and in my experience never meant with malice, but it happens. I was at a tech focused event in SF last week. There was a better M:F ratio than usual, and in the conversations I had, all of the F's were working in a marketing/PR/admin role, with the exception of Marissa Mayer (who incidentally is lovely and an awesome role model). The consequence of these stereotypes is that it makes it much harder for female entrepreneurs (again, I'm just talking about tech here) since the default assumption when they meet someone is shaped by dozens to hundreds of previous interactions. As a credit to the male entrepreneurs I know, when they meet a female entrepreneur, they apply the same criteria of meritocracy to their interaction and frankly women who've managed to overcome so many obstacles to be in the arena are highly highly likely to be some of the best entrepreneurs you'll ever meet. Beyond these observations about the metrics and the interactions/treatment of women tech entrepreneurs, it is hard to say. Perhaps your observation about the default role of many of the mums in your school circle says a lot too - doing anything that isn't the standard/normal thing is always harder, but the rewards for success are generally better for it. I can't remember the exact words and so attributing the quote isn't easy, but one of the US Generals (in Afghanistan I think) said something like "we need to make decisions based on where we are, not where we want to be". I'm sure all thinking people would love to see a tech scene where there are lines out of the ladies as well as the men's bathrooms at events, but perhaps the first step is to lend support and encouragement to the women in the arena and encourage them to be role models to try and increase the number of young women choosing tech as a career. G -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. You can use http://siliconbeachaustralia.org/jobs To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
