WIL EVENT REPORTS

WIL session in Washington on “Global Networks for Empowering Women in the Digital Age”

Posted in WIL event reports
09 November 2010 - Washington

As you know, the WIL and GlobalWIN networks jointly hosted a lively high-level session, as part of the much awaited annual event Global Forum in ICT (Nov 9th). An eager audience of 100+ joined us to hear about tested practices empowering women in the digital age.

 

Global Networks. An On-Ramp to Modernity.

Melanne Verveer, US Ambassador-at-large for Women’s Issues, set the scene with highlights on how women reached the cusp of their potential by connecting with one another, whether to advance their own business, large or small, to improve their skills or to acquire more knowledge.

TechWomen, a program pairing Middle Eastern professionals with their counterparts in Silicon Valley, as well as mWomen, an initiative meant to lift up women’s status in developing countries by giving them access to mobile phones, were the Ambassador’s cases in point. As these programs unleash their stories, it becomes clear that other women will benefit from their counterparts’ progress, by sharing knowledge and resources.

In the more developed world regions, women may be better connected, yet their career prospects are still not as advanced as their male counterparts. In order for women to truly achieve career equality, they need to try alternative solutions. The panelists also agreed women need to seek professional mentors. This mentor relationship will allow women to make the shift from the support functions where they are crammed to the business side where the real power of decision making lies.

 

The Pipeline behind the Pipeline.

Asking themselves why women are not present in the board rooms, government bodies and large companies went to the root of the issue and installed various mentoring programs and succession preparation programs for women.

The roots of these inequalities can even be seen in early education experiences. While both female and male fourth graders show a similar interest in STEM classes, by the end of the eighth grade, girls’ participation drops by half and participation continues to fall in college. Girls perception that math and science teachers prefer boys as well as their discontent with inferior grades, as compared to boys, deter their interest in such studies, argued Linda Zecher, Corporate Vice President Worldwide Public Sector, Microsoft. 

Companies such as Microsoft and Verizon invested in programs (Digigirlz, Global Marathon) which connect girls with various specialists and managers whose role is to broaden the girls’ horizons towards jobs in which they can’t project themselves.

However, these kind of programs need to be supported by public policies that support ‘STEM’ initiatives; such as creating scholarship programs for girls suggested Jacqueline Ruff, Vice President International Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Verizon.

Kathleen Turco, Associate Administrator for the Office of Governmentwide Policy, explained that the US General Services Administration is encouraging retired employees to mentor current female employees to help empower women in their own career development. This mentor relationship gives women a resource with year of experience that will help prepare them for leadership positions.

These mentoring relationships are extremely well received, although the results will only be visible over time, as girls and young women go through the leadership pipelines. In order to increase success of these relationships, it is necessary to make a wise match between mentor and “mentee”, as Elena Bonfiglioli, CSR Director at Microsoft noted.

Sharon Nunes, IBM’s Vice President for Smart Cities Strategy & Solutions, described how IBM is identifying and preparing executive women for the boardroom. Taking into account female employees’ career prospects, these programs showed that the (in)visibility of key positions, the exclusion from groups of decision makers, work/life balance, lack of sponsors and mentors were factors influencing the pipeline shrinking. Hence, what was needed was a strategic investment in preparation programs for women. Executives’ participation was a requisite, along with creating clear stages for monitoring and evaluation.

It is debatable if one aspect of succession preparation should mean adapting women’s communication styles to make them better prepared for the current male-dominant environment. Sue Watts, Head of Americas Outsourcing Services CapGemini, argued for women improving their authority styles, by making their voice heard. Nevertheless, it is clear that men need to be prepared to work more effectively with their female counterparts.

 

Using IT to Hinder Gender Stereotypes.

Networking and mentoring in a globalized world are dependent on the digital revolution. Yet, how can women become more involved when the digital era is male-driven?

Edit Herczog Member of the European Parliament noted that innovative products and services can be developed by involving those who are subject of the innovation. Therefore, women must be among the 400,000 researchers that Europe is seeking.

Ruth Milkman, Chief Wireless Bureau of the US Federal Communications Commission spoke about the government’s efforts to develop a digital infrastructure so as to increase the civic engagement. Access to broadband and teleworking solutions would enable citizens to be more engaged and eventually both women and men would have equal opportunities to meet other professionals, balance their work and personal lives, and access unbiased information.

Research by Dr. Heller, Professor in the Computer Science Department of the George Washington University, on “blogging” behaviors illustrates that people’s old habits can endanger IC&T’s neutrality. Women’s voices online are less listened to than men’s, even though the Internet is the media channel where women are the most visible and active.

Beatrice Covassi, newly appointed Digital Agenda Counselor for the EU Delegation to the US, is trying to build more bridges between European and US stakeholders by putting together practices encouraging women in technology.

AT&T is the sponsor of the afore-mentioned mWomen program. In low and middle-income countries, 300 million fewer women are mobile phone subscribers, because men still have a monopoly over technology, explained Ellen Blackler, Executive Director-Public Policy.

In a nutshell, to broaden women’s participation in economic, social and political decisions, the digital age needs to be driven by both women and men. These leaders also need to act as role models for girls and young women. Reinstating the value- and gender-neutrality of technology is a key part of bringing women in developing countries on the ramp to modernity and to increase career opportunities for women executives in the more developed countries of the world.

 

Audience Survey Results. How Women Network.

We took advantage of the top get-together (with 80% female participation), to take a survey evaluating our audience’s interest in networking opportunities. Ninety percent of our respondents are part of a network, mostly professional networks (see figure 1). However, only 18% of female respondents belong to a women’s network outside their organization and only 8% to an internal women’s network.

The benefits that are sought from a network are personal development, finding information and meeting professionals. The majority of respondents described their networks in positive terms (caring, helpful, giving insights, relevant, innovative), while networks which don’t bring the expected benefits are described in terms such as populous, inconsistent or having a limited relevance.

The majority of respondents engage with other members of their network(s) through email, direct meetings and networking events, while online platforms are used in a lesser degree. 25% of respondents meet with at least one member of their network once a week, while 32% once every two weeks.

85% of respondents work in organizations which have established gender equality policy initiatives. They range from career advancement policies such as gender quotas and appointing women in high-level management positions to recruitment and retention policies such as blind vetting of work sample applications and tenure clock policies. In half of the cases, these policies are considered somewhat effective and very effective in only a third of the cases.

 The session was followed by a GlobalWIN reception where Beatrice Covassi was the guest of honor. The reception was opened by Debra Waggoner, GlobalWIN Board of Directors Member and Director Global Government Affairs, Corning Incorporated as well as by Dorothee Belz, WIL Board of Directors Member and Associate General Counsel, Microsoft, and provided an excellent opportunity for all attendees to deepen their dialogue and broaden their network.

 

Keynote Speaker:

 

Panellists:

Tags: Edit Herczog, Beatrice Covassi, Career Women, Elena Bonfiglioli, Women in IT, Networking Events, Microsoft, Thaima Samman

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