Breaking down myths about women in tech

By Laura Rosbrow-Telem,

Geektime Managing Editor

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First,

What brings you here?

The 3 things you’ll get from this talk:

1. Numbers of women in hi-tech
2. Policy - and some surprises
3. Stories from the “startup nation”

Women in hi-tech:

The numbers

36% among all hi-tech workers in Israel, from 269,000 total

(3% of total population) - 26.1% in technical roles

36% among all hi-tech workers in the U.S., from 6.5 million total

(2% of total population)

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33% among all hi-tech workers in Japan, from 1.9 million total

(1.4% of total population)

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ADI SOFFER TEENI

Adi Soffer-Teeni, Facebook Israel Country Manager

Israel

• 8 million people
• ~5,300 startups in Israel, 1,400 started in 2015
• Highest concentration of startups per capita outside of Silicon Valley

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Women in hi-tech:

Female founders

26.1% in technical roles among everyone in hi-tech

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9%

20%

17%

Women in hi-tech: In VC

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<5%

7%

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Why???

First, the media:

• Very few women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) in movies

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The problems we all face

Two quick facts from the

White House:

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1. In family movies, 5 times as many men as women play STEM professionals
2. In family movies with computer scientist and engineering characters, men play these characters 14.25 times more than women, 5.4 times more than women on primetime TV!!!!

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Fewer women than men study STEM in high school, college

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Cultural barriers in organizations with few women

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Difficulties re-entering the workplace

Other big challenges

Barriers in Israel:

• The army
• Pressure to have several children

Maternity leave�3 months in full, or 6 months at half-time - big effect

What Israel is doing right on a policy level

69% in Israel, age 30-40 with children, working

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63% in U.S., age 30-40 with children, working

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Unclear in Japan - about 70% of Japanese women leave work for some time after having a first child

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Childcare? Actually, the price goes up as more women work

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Average monthly salary = $2,250

Average monthly childcare costs = $750

Percent of monthly income going to childcare = 30%

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Average monthly salary = $4,328.25

Average monthly childcare costs = $972

Percent of monthly income going to childcare = 22%

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Average monthly salary = $3,500

Average monthly childcare costs = $200-$400

Percent of monthly income going to childcare = 8%

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Women-led hi-tech organizations

• Google’s Campus for Moms: 3-month accelerator for women with business ideas during maternity leave
• She Codes: Community of over 10,000 female software developers.
• “Awesome Project”: Professional women volunteer to inspire girls to go into STEM careers

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Let’s look at other countries for some ideas

JAPAN

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According to the Bloomberg Innovation Index, 2nd most innovative country in the world - above both the U.S. and Israel.

• Based on strengths in R&D and patents

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ReadyFor? - crowdfunding platform popular with women entrepreneurs

• More than half of projects on site started by women
• Platform also started by a female entrepreneur, Haruka Mera

Fujiyo Ishiguro, president and CEO of the Netyear Group Corporation

The Middle East

Women study STEM subjects at a higher rate

The internet has spawned a flourishing of female entrepreneurs

The numbers

While only 10% of all Internet entrepreneurs are women women Internet entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa region is at 23% and in the Gulf it's 35%.

1 in 5 Arab women work

Women in Gaza study science and launch startups at rates higher than men.

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35% of recent attendees at a startup gathering in Amman, Jordan were women.

The lesson? The internet has the power to encourage entrepreneurship everywhere

While only 21% of the Middle East workforce consists of women, "the Internet … is a new space that is more meritocratic and not as heavily male. The technology also lets entrepreneurs work from home, making it easier to raise children."

Dr. Michal Tsur: Co-Founder and CMO of Kaltura, Co-Founder of Cyota (sold to RSA for $145 million)

Dr. Kira Radinsky: MIT 35 under 35, Forbes 30 under 30, Co-Founder of SalesPredict

Increasing the numbers of women in tech needs many approaches:

• increasing STEM in media,
• encouraging girls/women to study STEM,
• building networks for women in STEM fields so that they will be able to stay and thrive,
• family friendly policies to keep them in the workforce, etc.

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Many of our conceptions about women in tech, are, well, stereotypes. Important to know the facts and how we can change them.

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You don’t need to be an expert to start something

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Be faithful to your way

Some final thoughts