Women! Blog Archive
Posted June 29, 2007 at 3:19 PM in Computing, Technology, Women! | Comments Off
The K-12 Informal Education Hub of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), led by the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), is conducting a three-phase study to determine what experiences or factors influence females to pursue a career in information technology (IT). Study results will help guide efforts to increase the number of women entering IT fields. We would appreciate your help in disseminating the survey to as many technical women as possible. Please forward this email to other women you know working in IT.
Take the survey!
Posted June 12, 2007 at 11:50 PM in Computing, People I Admire, Women! | Comments (1)
While I was dealing with all sorts of travel problems this past weekend, Telle Whitney was in San Diego to see Fran Allen receive the Turing Award. I hope Telle took pictures, because the ACM still hasn’t learned to use online social networking tools to quickly distribute the media that its members want to see…
However, while I was looking around for photos or video from the awards banquet, I found this Congressional resolution, passed by the House of Representatives on May 1 (how’d I miss this?), which honors:
…the pioneering life work of Frances Allen in computer research and development and salutes the Turing Award Committee for recognizing, through the selection of Frances Allen, that creative women have contributed mightily to the development of this important field.
I’m not sure what made me tear up more: Fran receiving such recognition or the acknowledgment that women have made great contributions to computer science.
Posted May 10, 2007 at 11:21 AM in Business, Women! | Comments Off
According to the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business and Loyola University, as reported in the April 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review, women who make it into senior management roles in Fortune 1,000 companies get there faster than men.
Though nearly half of Fortune 1,000 firms still have no female executive officers, those that do seem to be aggressively hiring and promoting them into the top ranks. As the chart shows, a much larger percentage of Fortune 1,000 women have made it to executive officer positions in their thirties, forties, and fifties than have men their age. What’s more, these women achieved their executive positions at a younger average age than the men did (46.7 versus 51.1) and have less tenure on average than men in their current positions (2.6 years versus 3.5 years).
Check out the chart, too: Younger Women at the Top.
Posted May 6, 2007 at 1:48 PM in Current Events, Places I Love, Politics, Women! | Comments Off
Despite the fact that all recent evidence pointed to this outcome, I’m still sad to see that Ségolène Royal was not elected as the new French president. I was glad to hear that about 85% of the French people voted, though — that’s huge!
I didn’t follow the election all that closely — though I probably paid more attention than the average American. My French isn’t all that great anymore, but from what I was reading about Mme. Royal’s position and what I thought I understood, I thought she had some great ideas in her 100-point plan.
I wonder what will happen to France as a country with Nicolas Sarkozy at its helm. His plans for changing France have been called “American” and “racist” by some — and for France, that really scares me. I don’t mind him fighting for things like over 35-hour work weeks (because I never could quite understand how anything ever got done in France when there were so few work hours), but it seems to me that he does come across in much the same way that Dubya does — hard-headed and unwilling to change his views in the face of opposition. He’s known for his bad temper. I think he’s kinda scary.
I also can’t help but wonder how this may affect Hillary Clinton as she contends for the Democratic presidential nomination. I’m not yet sure who I’m for in that run-off, but I certainly have a keen eye watching what goes on with her, just to see how she’s treated by the media and how she handles herself. I heard that, in the last French presidential debate, Royal was on the offensive — which Sarkozy called out as being un-presidential. A thinly veiled sexist attack that we’re to see more of in the U.S.? We’ll see soon enough…
Posted May 3, 2007 at 1:14 AM in GHC, Technology, Web Stuff, Women! | Comments Off
The new Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology site went live earlier today. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
The production of this site has been one of my labors of love over the past year and I’m so honored that the Institute, whose mission is near and dear to my heart, chose KimmieCorp to create their new Web presence. But I didn’t work alone:
- Phoebe Espiritu did all of the UI and Visual Design work, and without her efforts, this site wouldn’t look anywhere near as elegant and engaging as it does.
- Erica Rios, ABI’s Internet Project Manager, deserves huge kudos for persuading ABI to undergo this redesign, and for working so diligently to see it through.
- Eric Mason and Deborah Alexander, the ABI Communications team, were also key in giving design direction and in posting content.
Thanks to everyone above for their great work, plus to everyone else at ABI (including their volunteers) for their trust and cooperation!
Folks, here’s a public service reminder: There are plenty of other non-profit and volunteer organizations out there that need help and advice when it comes to creating a functional, usable, accessible and stylish Web site… so find one that you’re committed to and get to work! The organization will have a site that communicates their message in a compelling manner, and you’ll have work that you can be proud of. It’s great when doing good is a win-win.
Hi, my name is Kimberly Blessing. I'm a computer scientist, Web developer, standards evangelist, feminist, and geek. This is where I write about life, the Web, technology, women's issues, and whatever else comes to mind.
