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Women in IT Leadership
Women make up just under 50% of the paid workforce of the world, and yet 60% of the world’s working poor. In aggregate, they continue to earn significantly less than their male counter parts, and they continue to hold the largest share of family responsibilities. In the United States 75% of the 67 million women working (46% of the workforce) hold full-time jobs and 38% of those are in management, professional and related occupations. Like the rest of the world’s women, in the US women make significantly less than men; around 80% of their salaries. And, perhaps it goes without say traditional family roles remain largely the same.
When you look at the roles women hold globally they are still heavily weighted toward “traditional” female roles; not surprising as any major sociological shift always has its evolution, not unlike the one our country went through (just look at where we are now with a woman running for President and less resistance to her based on gender than many of us would have anticipated). Beyond this, isn’t it exciting that the labor force globally is becoming increasingly balanced, and that much of the female labor force in the United States is moving into management and professional roles? I am concerned though for the challenges presented to family as women become more present and critical in the workforce.
Within the context of the IT space in the US, women’s presence has been on a decline. Women make up slightly more than a quarter of the IT workforce; down from close to a third in 2000. The Boston Globe recently wrote an article that might shed some light on this– In Computer Science, a Growing Gender Gap. What’s encouraging though is that the number of women in IT leadership keeps inching upward and is approaching 1 in 10. Even though there are fewer women in IT in general, my view on where things will trend for the future is positive.
My hope is that what I see in the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area is an inspiration for women to pursue IT jobs and an IT leadership path. What I see is a strong willingness to think flexibly about family roles between men and women, and increasing strength in the numbers and the talent of the women at the helm.
About a year and a half ago I started a Women in IT Leadership Dinner Group, extending invites to all the high-level women leaders I could find. Below is a list of the women who have joined the group to network, share experiences and ideas, and support one another.
- Sheri Anderson – CIO of Business Objects
- Sunny Azadeh – CIO of Agile Software
- Gail Burt – Senior Director, Global Applications
- Janet Cinfio – VP, Global Applications
- Cecilia Claudio – CIO of Sandisk
- Mercedes De Luca – VP of IT, Yahoo
- Jessica Denecour – CIO of Varian Medical
- Delfina Eberly – CIO of Critical Path
- Madeline Fackler – CIO of Lifescan
- Alayne Gyetvai – CIO of Tessera
- Sree Kolli – Dir, Business Performance Improvement, Align Technology
- Leslie Lambert – VP of IT, CISO, Sun Microsystems
- Lori Martin – IT Director, EAS Business Processes & Analysis, Brocade
- Gerri Martin-Flickinger – CIO of Adobe
- Debra Martucci – CIO of Synopsys
- Kathy Mendoza – Dir, Demand Supply Optimization, Hitachi GST
- Cornelia Pool – CIO, Covad Communications
- Tama Olver – CIO of Applera/Applied Bio (recently retired)
- Ginna Raahauge – Director, CA IT, Cisco
- Ileana Rivera- Director of IT, Stryker Endoscopy
- Christine Rose – Dir, Professional Services for Taos - former CIO of Finisar
- Marie Scigliano – CIO of Palo Alto Unified
- Pat Takahash – CFO/VP, Safeway IT
- Kathy Trontell – Sr. Director, KT2010 Enterprise Program Office, KLA-Tencor
These women are highly successful and many of them have strong support systems in their family; a number with spouses very willing to share flexibly in the traditional female roles. However, as they know all too well, especially those with children, being a woman leader in IT is not without its challenges. First in the line of challenges for those with children is the increasing 24/7 nature of our jobs and need for travel. The transformation we’re experiencing in truly becoming a global economy with integrated global operations throughout our companies is in large part due to an increasing push for global sourcing and delivery strategies. These global operations have higher demands for 24/7 availability of systems and processes. This puts tremendous pressure on the IT leader and his/her management team to be themselves available 24/7. We’re used to the old saying “dad was never around when I was growing up because he worked all the time”. What does this do to families when it’s being said about both parents? Even women in IT leadership without children have their challenges. For example, building credibility as a woman leader abroad, fitting in to leadership teams that are still largely male, and finding other women in positions of leadership with whom to network and share support. Despite the challenges, the women I encounter have amazing careers and terrific outlooks; they’ve made an impact and have served as role models for others to come.
I recently conducted an interview with one of the women who joined the Dinner Group I host. In my Interview with Gerri Martin-Flickinger, CIO of Adobe, she contemplates her path to IT leadership, some of the challenges women have in the role, and the differences women bring to it; all summed up on a very positive note.
I hope you enjoy the read. Please feel free to email me if you have any thoughts or comments – coco@taos.com.
Coco Brown
President and COO
Taos
If you are looking for more facts of your own or want to check mine, here are my sources:
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