Does Gender Matter?Stories from the Tower and

the Trenches Crystal Valentine, PhD

VP Technology Strategy, MapR Technologies

Women in Big Data Luncheon Spark Summit June 8, 2016

The Gender Gap is Not Innate

•  Fact: Women are as smart as men (even at math and technology!)

•  Fact: Women opt out of tech careers starting in secondary school

•  Reasons: 1.  Perception that “I won’t be good at it”

2.  Perception that it’s boring

3.  Perception that “I won’t fit in or like my peers”

Leaky Pipeline

Source: Anita Borg Institute

Strategies for Change

Change

•  Ex. Intro CS at Amherst College

1.  Streamlining

2.  Make it fun!

3.  Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing

Barrier

1.  “I won’t be good at it”

2.  “It’s boring”

3.  “I won’t fit in or like my peers”

Results

•  Before: (2014) •  40% of COSC111 enrollees were women

•  <30% of CS majors were women

•  After: (Today) •  >50% of CS course enrollees are women!

Help or Hindrance?

Pros

1.  Unique perspective

2.  Memorable

3.  Never a line for the ladies room

Cons

1.  Glass ceiling?

2.  Man-splaining

3.  Harder to “fit in”

Keys to Success

1. Work hard

2.  Be yourself

3.  Speak up

4. Look for mentors and allies

Thanks!

bit.ly/wibd-luncheon-spark-summit

Find my slides & other related materials to this talk here:

or search:

cvalentine@mapr.com