Celebrating Women’s History Month: Advancing Women in STEM
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on some of the women who have shaped my life – in particular, my daughter. I’ve been thinking about the world I’ve wanted her to grow up in, and how I can help us get there. I’ve been thinking back to how she led me to a big idea back in 2012.
My idea for EducationSuperHighway began with a conversation with a teacher at my daughter’s school in San Francisco.
I couldn’t believe it. My daughter – who attended a quality school in the tech capital of the world – was missing out on the opportunities of digital learning because her school had insufficient Wi-Fi. If it was this bad for her, I knew it must be worse for others.
As a parent, I wanted my daughter to have unlimited access to learning opportunities, but I knew that wouldn’t happen if the lack of connectivity in the classroom got in her way. As an entrepreneur, I wanted to come up with a solution so that every child – regardless of gender or zip code– had the tools to succeed. From there, EducationSuperHighway was born.
Why this matters
Tech jobs are some of the fastest growing and highest paying in the country, but girls are being left behind. In 1991, women held 37 percent of all computing-related occupations – but today, it’s only 26 percent. If we fail to take action, that number may continue to decline. Research has proven that the biggest drop off in interest in computer science happens between the ages of 13 and 17 – that means it’s essential that girls are exposed to technology at a young age. That can’t happen if their classrooms aren’t equipped with high-speed broadband.
Practicing what we preach
With EducationSuperHighway, I’ve made a conscious effort not to just talk the talk about access and opportunity, but to lead by example. We’ve been committed to hiring a diverse workforce. While women only make up 25 percent of the national computing-related workforce, our data team is 70 percent female and women make up half of our software team. These female-heavy teams have championed creative solutions and technologies to help us achieve our goals at every step of the way.
EducationSuperHighway shows that equity isn’t just an ambitious goal, but something we can practice every day.
Computing is where the quality jobs are now and where they will continue to be in the future, but fewer than 1 in 5 computer science graduates are women. Our talented team of female engineers is the exception to the rule. They defied the odds and chose careers in an industry that was pitted against their success. They’ve been able to thrive in STEM roles when so many students around the country still don’t even have access to the tools they need to learn these skills. I started EducationSuperHighway to bring access and opportunity to classrooms and to help ensure every girl grows up knowing she has a chance to succeed in the STEM field if that’s where she wants to be.
Your Challenge
As this year’s Women’s History Month comes to a close, I’m asking you to challenge yourselves. As a member of the business community, what can your company do to promote women in STEM? As a leader, are you doing your part to hire a diverse staff on your technology and data teams? As a parent, what can you do to encourage your daughters to consider careers in STEM fields? And as entrepreneurs, what new solutions can we think of to close the gender gap and the digital divide together?
EducationSuperHighway started with a commitment to making sure girls like my daughter have access to the bandwidth needed for digital learning. Now, we need to make sure those same girls have a seat at the table in creating the technologies of the future. I urge you to help close these divides and bring us closer to achieving a more equitable world.