We've Always Been Here: Women Changemakers in Tech

Talks

Hilary Stohs-Krause

#software-development

#technology-history

#ruby-on-rails

We've Always Been Here: Women Changemakers in Tech

by Hilary Stohs-Krause

In her presentation titled "We've Always Been Here: Women Changemakers in Tech" at RailsConf 2017, Hilary Stohs-Krause highlights the under-recognized contributions of women, particularly women of color, in the tech industry throughout history. Stohs-Krause argues for a broader recognition of these pioneers beyond the famous figures like Grace Hopper and Ada Lovelace. The talk is structured into four main sections:

Need for Diversity in Tech: She emphasizes the value of diversity in tech companies, citing studies that show diverse teams are more likely to perform better financially and create more innovative products. For instance, companies with diverse leadership were found to be 35% more likely to outperform competitors.
Historical Context and Transformation: The speaker reflects on how perceptions of women in tech roles have evolved from the clerical view in the 1960s to the high-skill recognition today. Stohs-Krause outlines how women's programming was initially seen as clerical work and how this perspective shifted as the industry matured, often leading to exclusionary practices that have affected women's presence in tech roles.
Celebrating Historical and Current Changemakers: The presentation highlights numerous influential women in tech history, starting with figures such as Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper, and moving to contemporary innovators like Erica Baker and Sophie Wilson. Each story illustrates the significant impact women have made on technology, from early computing to modern advancements.
Call to Action: Finally, Stohs-Krause calls attendees to action by encouraging them to support women in tech, volunteer with coding bootcamps, and advocate for diverse hiring practices. She provides resources for further engagement, such as curated Twitter lists and organizing Wikipedia edit-a-thons to improve visibility for women in tech.

The main takeaway from the presentation is the importance of recognizing and uplifting women in technology to not only honor their contributions but also to improve the overall landscape of the tech industry. By fostering diversity, the tech community can enhance innovation and success across the board.

00:00:13.429 I'm going to get started just because we don't have a lot of time and there's a lot to go through. Sorry to cut the conversation short! Hello! I'm Hilary, and this is "We've Always Been Here: Women Changemakers in Tech." I work as a full-stack developer at TenForward Consulting in Madison, Wisconsin, and you can find me on Twitter at HilarySK.

00:00:31.170 All right, so I'm going to cover four basic sections in this talk. The first is "Who Needs Women Anyway?" Then, we’ll look at how women’s roles in tech have evolved from clerical to cool. I want to start with some changemakers you might have heard of before, those who are more celebrated. After that, we will move on to women who are doing exciting things currently in the field, as I believe they are worth paying attention to. Finally, the last section is about how to wake others up to this issue.

00:01:03.740 So, it’s great that you came today, but I hope this helps keep the momentum going in your life and tech career. If you want to follow along, I have the slides online at tinyurl.com/women-changemakers. I want to give a quick disclaimer: there are hundreds of women I could have included in this talk. This isn't a definitive list but rather women whose stories I found particularly interesting.

00:01:33.740 So, who needs women anyway, right? We've had a lot of men in computer science and programming, and it seems to have been fine. But I really like this quote: "It really amazed me that these men were programmers because I thought it was women's work." This was from a woman hired in 1953, and it shows how attitudes have changed since the early days of programming. We wouldn’t have many things we take for granted today without contributions from women in technology.

00:02:30.150 So basically, if you have a more diverse company, you make more money. Reports from 2015 and 2017 indicated that diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform non-diverse companies, 45% more likely to report market share growth, and 70% more likely to capture new markets. That’s pretty impressive!

00:03:10.860 Now, everyone loves better software, right? We’ve all seen the consequences of homogeneous engineering teams leading to poor products. For example, there were airbags in the 80s tested primarily on male-sized dummies, which resulted in injuries and fatalities for women and children. Then there’s facial recognition that failed to see people of color and voice recognition software that couldn’t understand women. All of this could have been avoided if just one person on these teams was from a different background.

00:03:39.810 A study by the Harvard Business Review in 2017 found that software teams that have at least one member of the client's assumed ethnicity can understand their clients' needs 152% better. These are real, measurable impacts!

00:04:38.100 Mentorship and role models are important. There's a cyclical issue: we don’t have many women in tech, partly because there aren't many visible female role models. A global study released in March showed that 48% of women currently working in technology cited a lack of mentors as their biggest barrier to advancing in their careers.

00:05:16.800 When we elevate women, we elevate everyone. Eliminating worldwide gender gaps in labor participation, hours worked, and productivity could grow the world economy by 26%, translating to an astonishing $28.4 trillion lost each year due to the underrepresentation of women in the workforce. It’s not just about money; these are good jobs with great lives, and women and people of color deserve access to them.

00:05:54.310 During World War II, attitudes toward women in computing changed because of a male shortage and the idea that women could be employed for lower wages. They began hiring women for computing roles, and it seemed that the more physically attractive a woman was, the more likely she was to get hired in these positions.

00:06:17.470 As late as the 1960s, many believed that computer programming was a natural career choice for savvy young women. In fact, the original computers were largely female, as seen in the film "Hidden Figures." Initially, programming was viewed as a low-skill clerical function, akin to typing or filing.

00:06:55.760 However, this perception began to change in the 70s and 80s when more men entered the field post-war and the perception of programming began to shift toward being a more male-dominated field. We started seeing stereotypes that ridiculed and sidelined women in programming, associating the field with male genius.

00:07:53.840 As more men entered the industry, the prestige and pay associated with programming increased, while the opposite occurred for women. For instance, throughout the 70s to now, we've seen how other industries that gain female participation often see a drop in prestige and pay.

00:08:34.670 Despite social conditioning, many women defied the odds. Ada Lovelace is one of the most famous examples. She wrote what is often considered the first computer program and envisioned computers as tools capable of creating music.

00:09:13.270 Grace Hopper, also widely recognized, created the first compiler and advocated for programming in natural language instead of complex mathematics. She earned a PhD in mathematics and, at age 79, was retired by the Navy, but due to her crucial contributions, they gave her special permission to continue working.

00:09:49.348 Dorothy Vaughan, another pivotal figure who worked at NASA as the first black supervisor, became an expert in Fortran. She observed transitions from human to electronic computing and made a conscious effort to adapt by learning a new skillset while advocating for other women.

00:10:32.330 A remarkable story involves the ENIAC project, the first all-electronic digital computer, programmed by six women. Their efforts went largely unacknowledged during the unveiling ceremony, where no women programmers were invited, highlighting the erasure of women from tech history.

00:11:06.720 Moving on to Marjorie Lee Browne, one of the first women to earn a PhD in mathematics, who secured a computer grant at North Carolina Central University. She championed initiatives encouraging women and students of color to pursue math and computing.

00:12:05.490 Radia Perlman, known as the "Mother of the Internet," created spanning tree protocols, which laid the groundwork for the Internet. Her early exposure to programming through her mother undoubtedly influenced her groundbreaking career.

00:12:43.439 Margaret Hamilton worked on the Apollo missions, coining the term software engineer and pushing for rigorous testing. Her innovations saved astronauts' lives during crucial missions by implementing safety checks for human error.

00:13:16.359 Karen Sparck Jones, one of the earliest contributors to information retrieval systems, created the concept that underlies search engine algorithms we use today. Simultaneously, Mary Kenneth Keller earned the first doctorate in computer science in the U.S. and was pivotal in developing the BASIC programming language.

00:13:53.000 Kareem Yuyama, a trailblazer working on game programming, space shuttle program technology, and now Amazon drones, exemplifies the ongoing contributions by women in tech. Similarly, Sophie Wilson designed one of the earliest microcomputers while still an undergraduate and created the ARM processor core, foundational technology for modern devices.

00:14:30.080 Window Snyder, dubbed the 'sheriff for the Internet,' has been instrumental in security for major tech firms while advocating for diversity and women's leadership in the field. Tracy Chou used her platform to highlight the importance of tech diversity data, creating a movement that tracks tech industry's diversity statistics.

00:15:09.410 Erica Baker, who created an internal salary spreadsheet at Google, aimed to expose wage discrepancies but faced backlash for her initiatives. Today, she leverages her experience towards diversity work at Slack, a company committed to improving representation.

00:15:46.430 Yoky Matsuoka, a founder of Google X, has worked on groundbreaking technologies like self-driving cars and the Nest thermostat. She's a MacArthur Genius awardee and serves as a powerful inspiration for women in the tech space.

00:16:10.360 Presa Tabriz, the "Browser Boss," leads a team of engineers at Google Chrome, showing that women who rise in tech often break barriers and assumptions in place against them. She did not grow up with computers but has become a leader in a field that still struggles with representation.

00:16:48.590 Finally, I want to highlight an ongoing call to action. If you’re interested in supporting women in tech, consider following inspiring individuals on social platforms, organizing Wikipedia edit-a-thons, supporting local women in tech groups, and, of course, hiring women, particularly women of color. They deserve opportunities, representation, and acknowledgment.

00:17:51.339 There are still countless women doing remarkable work that we didn't cover today, and the landscape is always changing. To help keep the momentum going, I’ve created a curated Twitter list of women in tech who are doing amazing work, and I encourage you to connect.

00:18:31.080 In closing, I would like to thank you for your time today. We've discussed the remarkable contributions of women in technology and their ongoing importance in shaping the tech landscape. I know we have some time for questions!