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The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology mission is
to:
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increase the impact of women on all aspects of technology,
and
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increase the positive impact of technology on the world’s
women.
Since 1997, ABI has developed tools and programs designed to
help industry, academia and government recruit, retain and
develop women technology leaders. ABI delivers programs that
are changing the world for women and for technology.
ABI calls its strategy The Virtuous Cycle:
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Women in our society are encouraged to embrace engineering
and technical professions and through those professions,
learn the skills of leadership. Women use their leadership
skills to influence the ways in which technology is designed
and implemented, focusing on significant practical solutions
to problems that trouble them – energy, food, clean water,
health, literacy, environment—and a host of other issues
confronting the world.
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As products and services result from their innovations and
permeate the global market, the capabilities of technical
women are demonstrated, and new generations of women follow
in their footsteps, in a profession that grows increasingly
more supportive of women.
ABI has a great
staff and boards, and some great technology company
partners.
Its
annual report is a great place to learn about IWT
activities.
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The
Grace Hopper Regional Consortium (GHRC) brings
together students, academics and industry leaders
to broaden the participation of women in
computing. A partnership of the ABI,
ACM Women’s Council (ACM-W), the
National Center for Women & Information Technology
(NCWIT) and funded by a three year grant from
NSF, the GHRC seeks to develop emerging technical
leaders by creating and supporting local
communities which meet at regional conferences.
Regional conferences—modeled after the
Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing
Conference – focus on the recruitment,
retention, and advancement of technical women.
Regional participants have the opportunity build
their networks, present individual and
collaborative research, gain exposure to
mid-senior level computing role models, develop
mentoring relationships and explore a myriad of
technical career paths. Additionally, by expanding
local technical communities, the GHRC allows
students who do not have the resources to attend
national conferences to obtain the skills,
professional development and inspiration needed to
achieve their technical vision.
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The
Women of Vision Awards Banquet, hosted by the
Anita Borg Institute
Board of Trustees, honors women making
significant contributions to technology. One
winner is selected in each category: Innovation,
Leadership, and Social Impact. |
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Co-founded by Dr. Anita Borg and Dr. Telle Whitney
in 1994, and inspired by the legacy of Rear
Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the
Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) Of Women In
Computing Conference brings the research and
career interests of women in computing to the
forefront. The GHC Conference is the world’s
largest gathering of technical women in computing.
Over the last decade and eight GHC Conferences
more than 7,400 women have attended and nearly
1,300 scholarships have been awarded to students.
Presented with Association on Computing Machinery
(ACM) the GHC Conferences offer opportunities for
mentoring, motivation, networking, technical and
career development.
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Systers is the world’s largest email community
of technical women in computing. It was founded by
Anita Borg in 1987 as a small electronic
mailing list for women in “systems”. Today,
Systers broadly promotes the interests of women in
the computing and technology fields. Anita created
Systers to “increas[e] the number of women in
computer science and mak[e] the environments in
which women work more conducive to their continued
participation in the field.” (Read
Why Systers?) It serves this purpose by
providing women a private space to seek advice
from their peers, and discuss the challenges they
share as women technologists. Today, systers is
curated by the current Systers-keeper, Robin
Jeffries. Many Systers members credit the list for
helping them make good career decisions, and
steering them through difficult professional
situations. Systers’ is a forum for all women
involved in the technical aspects of computing.
The list has over 3,000 members in at least 54
countries around the world. We welcome technical
women of all ages and at any stage of their
studies or careers to participate.
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Climbing the Technical Ladder: Obstacles and
Solutions for Mid-Level Women in Information
Technology
As part of the Anita Borg Institute’s goal to
increase the number and influence of technical
women, the Anita Borg Institute, in collaboration
with the National Center for Women and Information
Technology (NCWIT),
is partnering with the
Clayman Institute for Gender Research at
Stanford University on a groundbreaking study
about the barriers and facilitators of technical
women’s advancement in industry.
Silicon Valley has captured the national
imagination as a place where innovative thinking
leads to valuable new technologies and products.
Yet when it comes to providing opportunities for
women, reports suggest that high-tech firms lag
sharply behind those in other sectors. The overall
percentage of women in the IT workforce is on the
decline, from 41 percent in 1996 to 32 percent in
2004. Women in technical leadership positions are
even scarcer, comprising only one-fifth of science
and engineering managers. In addition, recent
statistics show that women constitute a modest 9
percent of the Boards of Directors at high-tech
Fortune 500 companies, as compared to 12.4 percent
among all Fortune 500 companies. The study is
designed to help companies better understand
technical women’s career opportunities and
constraints in the IT industry. Our research team
will examine key barriers faced by technical women
at mid-career, and identify specific practices and
policies that promote career advancement.
Our study seeks to answer five key questions:
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How
do women advance up the technical leadership
ladder?
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What
are the key career decision-making issues for
women at the mid-career?
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What
are the main structural obstacles to their
advancement?
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How
do structural and cultural characteristics of
the high-tech workforce contribute to women’s
decisions to leave their jobs?
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What
successful strategies increase the retention of
technical women within a particular company?
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Savvy Geek Chix brings together technical
women interested in building upon their existing
networks and gaining key leadership skills to help
them achieve their technical vision, advance their
careers and become leaders in the technical
community. Savvy Geek Chix evening events provide
time for busy technical professionals to gather
together to network, attend engaging panels and
keynote presentations and acquire professional
development skills to specifically meet their
needs as technical women. Programming content for
Savvy Geek Chix stems from ABI’s highly rated
TechLeaders curriculum, which is rooted in
research on the barriers to advancement for
technical women including ABI’s ground breaking
study
Climbing the Technical Ladder: Obstacles and
Solutions for Mid-Level Women in Technology.
Technical women of all levels and women interested
in re-entering the tech sector are highly
encouraged to attend.
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ABI Research provides data-driven actionable
insights on the recruitment, retention, and
advancement of technical women in organizations.
Through original research as well as through
partnering with peer organizations, we provide
knowledge for changing the culture of technology
into one that leverages gender diversity for
greater innovation. There are some great reports
here!
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ABI Resources are incredible. They include
links to many organizations committed to advancing
women and technology, including:
ABI
bookmarks and tags web sites for organizations,
articles, blogs, and other useful information.
In this area, ABI also provides:
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The ABI Video section of the website includes
videos about ABI and women in technology.
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Connect is a section of the website where
people can learn other ways to learn about ABI and
what it is doing, including:
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This is a great organization doing great work and a great
resources site for improving the number and roles of women in
ICT.
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