Revisited: Women in Tech
Last week, on October 10th, UC Berkeley hosted Women in Technology - a symposium devoted to recognizing gender diversity in the technology fields. The event was in the Banatao Auditorium and was presented by CITRIS, the Banatao Institute and the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity; it was co-sponsored by BCNM.
Gender diversity among leadership teams and the broader workforce offers demonstrated advantages for innovative thinking, job satisfaction, and corporate bottom lines. Yet the percentage of women in computing jobs has actually declined over the last 25 years, and now stands at roughly 25% in both industry and academia.
Leaders and champions of women in technology offered their thoughts on challenges to achieving gender diversity at all organizational levels of industry, academia, and the public sector. The event started out with an Athena Maker event for girls. A noted remark was "we don't need equality, we need equity," a reference to the inherent importance of retaining difference without preventing achievement. We also presented the first CITRIS Athena Awards, to honor inspiring women and organizations making outstanding technical contributions and supporting the next generation of women and girls. Ruzena Bajczy was presented with a lifetime achievement award.
See some what people had to say about the event!