Where are the women in tech?
As any serial conference-goer can tell you, the conversations that occur outside the scheduled panels and sessions offer equally compelling opportunities for learning and discovery. This was perhaps even more true at this week’s Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference due to the broad spectrum of attendees from the wide world of technology.
On Tuesday evening, during an uncharacteristically clear sunset over Half Moon Bay, I met Dina Kaplan, co-founder and COO of blip.tv, a video-sharing site. Kaplan was gushing over the abundance of women here compared to other tech conferences where she was only one of a handful. I counted over 70 women, and their presence on panels and leading sessions has been key – from Lynda Clarizio, president of Platform-A and EVP at AOL (TWX), to Facebook president Sheryl Sandberg to Marissa Mayer, who heads search products and user experience at Google (GOOG).
The discussion at dinner turned to women, as one software industry veteran claimed to have witnessed an exodus of women from tech starting in the early 90s. The Internet bubble reversed the trend temporarily, but once again women seem to be disappearing from the Valley. He posited that this is due to a harsher work environment in tech overall, and the impact is greatest on women. Diane Greene, one of the few women in tech on our Most Powerful Women in Business list, was recently dethroned as CEO of VMware. Coincidence or trend? The New York Times reported this week that, for the first time since the women’s movement, the percentage of women in the workforce has fallen following a period of economic recovery.
If women are still struggling for power in the tech world, maybe we should turn to the virtual world for guidance. Before the evening came to an end, I caught up with Philip Rosedale (who Pattie — and a few others — forgivably mistook for Chris DeWolfe, the CEO and co-founder of MySpace). Rosedale, who is chairman of Linden Lab and the father of Second Life, said that at secondlife.com, a 3-D online world created by its residents, women rule society in a way that parallels the Victorian age (as rulers of their households, women of that earlier era coordinated the social events where alliances were created between families, businesses, etc.).
Another fascinating gender trend in this virtual world: More men, Rosedale says, choose to live as women than vice versa. If women have the power in the virtual world, no wonder men want to be women. - Jessica Shambora
Some don’t believe it, but the typical male chauvanist still exists heavily in work places. It’s making me change careers after being screwed over and passed over for incompetent work male buddies.
Women are now dominating social media and this might translate into more technology companies actively recruiting women into positions of power.
see blog on social media gender gap
As your blog points out, being a CEO is not necessarily the measure of a successful career in technology. At Cisco, for starters, I can tell you that one of our only four Executive Vice Presidents at Cisco is Chief Marketing Officer Sue Bostrom. Our Chief Technology Officer is Padmasree Warrior. Our Senior Vice President of Access Networking and Services Group is Kathy Hill. Our Senior Vice President of Global Policy and Government Affairs (and eco-board co-chair) is Laura Ipsen. Our Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations is Blair Christie.
I spent nearly 20 years in Silicon Gulch. When the big layoffs started in 2001, middle managers were some of the first to go. Most of the women I worked with or knew were (of course) middle management–including me.
I realised I was burnt out. I was laid off, not interested, and haven’t looked back. Even though I’m not even making half of what I used to–the lessening of stress and better work environment give me few regrets.
Of course now I complain about gas & trying to make ends meet; but would I go back? Not on your life.
Esther Wojcicki: The last newspaper generationJournalism teacher and newspaper adviser at Palo Alto High School
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Patricia Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Can Meg Whitman Save California?", Melinda Gates ("The $100 Billion Woman"), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). And she has broken ground with insightful pieces on career management issues such as ego ("Get Over Yourself!"), and "Charisma: Do You Need It? Can You Get It?" Pattie chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. And she has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" cover package since its launch in 1998. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big consumer brand companies.
Jessica Shambora started with Fortune as a reporter in June of 2008, following a stint as assistant editor at Travel+Leisure Golf. Shambora has written for Sports Illustrated, SI Latino, Women's Health, and Triathlete. She is a frequent contributor to Postcards. 
I work in technology and the last 3 jobs have dealt with men who cannot deal with a woman in technology. One even told management ‘My culture does not allow me to take orders from a woman’. Management had no problem with the comment, and backed him on everything.
I left for a job, I don’t really like but am totally happy and there is no on-call and I’m going back to school.
Racism exists big time in technology especially for ambitious women.