blogs.ubc.ca/bengeorge

Vivek Wadhwa is a columnist for the Washington Post ‘Innovations’ as a writer and critique of modern technology. He wrote a column on the disproportionate amount of women who graduate from college and university with science and engineering degrees, and the number of women found in high level managerial positions in the technology industry – specifically in Silicon Valley.

It is estimated that well over 50 percent of university graduates are women, in all degree levels. Yet it is strange to find that women overall do not appear in the most prominent roles of the technology industry. I also never took notice to the fact that most prominent figures in technology (Steve Jobs and Bill Gates) are men.

It is understandable that managers must hire and promote employees with the company in mind, but things like maternal leave, and family obligations should not be an issue, as long as the woman in question has agreed to do what is best for the company.

Numerous road blocks continue to prevent women from standing on equal footing with men, but through support groups like Women 2.0, hopefully the situation will change.

The Washington Post – Silicon Valley women are on the rise, but have far to go