Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)

A firsthand look at efforts to improve diversity in software and hackerspace communities Hacking, as a mode of technical and cultural production, is commonly celebrated for its extraordinary freedoms of creation and circulation. Yet surprisingly few women participate in it: rates of involvement by technologically skilled women are drastically lower in hacking communities than in industry and academia. Hacking Diversity investigates the activists engaged in free and open-source software to understand why, despite their efforts, they fail to achieve the diversity that their ideals support. Christina Dunbar-Hester brings together more than five years of firsthand research: attending software conferences and training events, working on message boards and listservs, and frequenting North American hackerspaces. She explores who participates in voluntaristic technology cultures, to what ends, and with what consequences. Hacking Diversity reframes questions of diversity advocacy to consider what interventions might appropriately broaden inclusion and participation in the hacking world and beyond.

Statistically, women are a disproportionately small percentage of the technology industry. How did we get here, what is changing, and what can future generations of women in STEM expect? In Crushing the IT Gender Bias, author Kellyn Pot'Vin-Gorman applies her two decades of experience in tech to these meaningful questions, plus many more. As a mentor and sponsor of women in the database and development communities, Pot'Vin-Gorman uses experience, visualizations of hard data, and industry interviews to describe the many challenges that women face in STEM.

Contrary to popular belief, tech careers are diverse and fun--and they go far beyond just coding. This book will show you that today's tech careers are incredibly dynamic, and you'll learn how your soft skills--communication, public speaking, networking--can help you succeed in tech. This book will guide you through the process of cultivating strong relationships and building a network that will get you were you want to be. You'll learn to identify a strong, knowledgeable support network that you can rely on for guidance or mentorship. This step is crucial in getting young women of color into tech careers and keeping them there. Whether you're just considering going into tech or you want to take your current career to the next level, Women of Color in Tech will show you how to uncover the resources you need to succeed.

Our new 2015 Edition of O'Reilly's Women in Data report reveals inspiring stories of success and insights from four women working in data, across the European Union. Now featuring a total of 19 interviews with women who are central to data businesses, authors Cornelia Lévy-Bencheton and Shannon Cutt uncover strategies for success for women in the field of data, and anyone interested in pursuing or advancing their career in data. While women are still an underrepresented minority in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), women in data and technology are no longer outliers. With this report, you'll learn how a remarkable group of women in data achieved their current level of success, what motivated them to get there, and their views about opportunities for women in the field.

This book is a ground-breaking deep-dive into the work experiences of women in the political technology field in the United States. Political technology sits at the intersection of two fields dominated by men - politics and technology - and has become a cornerstone of operations inpolitical campaigns and political institutions more generally. Drawing on a unique dataset of 1004 staffers working in political technology on presidential campaigns from 2004-2016, analysis of hiring patterns during the 2020 presidential primary cycle, and interviews with 45 women who worked on 12different presidential campaigns, this book reveals the underrepresentation of women in political technology, especially leadership positions, as well as the struggle women face to have their voices heard within the "boys' clubs" and "bro cultures" of political technology. This book aims to help political practitioners create more gender equitable and inclusive workplaces, ones that value the ideas and skills of all those who work to get candidates elected.

For women in tech, Silicon Valley is not a fantasyland of unicorns, virtual reality rainbows, and 3D-printed lollipops, where millions of dollars grow on trees. It's a "Brotopia," where men hold all the cards and make all the rules. Vastly outnumbered, women face toxic workplaces rife with discrimination and sexual harassment, where investors take meetings in hot tubs and network at sex parties. In this powerful expose, Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang reveals how Silicon Valley got so sexist despite its utopian ideals, why bro culture endures despite decades of companies claiming the moral high ground (Don't Be Evil! Connect the World!)-and how women are finally starting to speak out and fight back.

For decades, women who studied or worked in engineering were popularly perceived as oddities, outcasts, unfeminine (or inappropriately feminine in a male world). In Girls Coming to Tech!, Amy Bix tells the story of how women gained entrance to the traditionally male field of engineering in American higher education. As Bix explains, a few women breached the gender-reinforced boundaries of engineering education before World War II. During World War II, government, employers, and colleges actively recruited women to train as engineering aides, channeling them directly into defense work. These wartime training programs set the stage for more engineering schools to open their doors to women. In the 1950s, women made up less than one percent of students in American engineering programs; in 2010 and 2011, women earned 18.4% of bachelor's degrees, 22.6% of master's degrees, and 21.8% of doctorates in engineering. Bix's account shows why these gains were hard won.

Tech companies such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft promote the free flow of data worldwide, while relying on foreign temporary IT workers to build, deliver, and support their products. However, even as IT companies use technology and commerce to transcend national barriers, their transnational employees face significant migration and visa constraints. In this revealing ethnography, Amy Bhatt shines a spotlight on Indian IT migrants and their struggles to navigate career paths, citizenship, and belonging as they move between South Asia and the United States. In particular, Bhatt highlights women's experiences as workers and dependent spouses who move as part of temporary worker programs. Many of the women interviewed were professional peers to their husbands in India but found themselves "housewives" stateside, unable to secure employment because of visa restrictions. Bhatt shows how women's labor within the household is vital to the functioning of the flexible and transnational system of IT itself.