21 Responses for "Lady “TechStars” wanted!"

1. Brian February 27th, 2008 at 12:18 am 1

   I know! I’m a guy, and I’m seeing the same thing at school. I’m majoring in Mechanical Engineering, and the second intro class deals with competitively building Legos, which is my dream class. There were a few girls in my class at first, but all of them changed majors, just because the class is geared towards guys. This was pretty disappointing, considering it is just an intro class, and far from what higher level engineering courses are all about. Sometimes I think it’s doubt that gets people.

2. Bane February 27th, 2008 at 12:52 am 2

   I’ve never quite understood why this was, I know there’s nothing fundamental about tech or engineering that prevents it. I work in software, and both in school and out there’s always been a pretty huge difference in numbers, but at the same time some of the best programmers I know are female. Here’s hoping some find TechStars.

3. Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy February 27th, 2008 at 1:23 am 3

   Randomly came to your twit page via a twit from Italy, then your blog - and I see we are basically talking about the same things! I am organizing the Girl Geek Dinner here in Italy for the same reason….where are the women? I blogged about this today…There is GGD in the Bay Area now, maybe that’s a good place to look.

4. Jackson February 27th, 2008 at 9:16 am 4

   So if there were more women than men would you be sad for the men? There will always be more than one or the other. You are never going to have total parity.
   The fact is that women and men are different. I know those words anger many people but it is true. They are physically different. This includes mentally. To expect them to be and act exactly the same is just ridiculous. Yes, men and women are equal, but it is just naive to expect them to be the same. Men and Women are not the same. I don’t know how else to break it to you. And therefore there will be some things that one or the other group has a tendency to do more than the other. Society backs that up to some degree but we are talking about two groups of different beings. Until you accept that obvious fact you are going to be frustrated that your desires and reality do not meet up. Sorry.

5. Veronica February 27th, 2008 at 9:25 am 5

   Jackson, I’m not trying to make some kind of “statement” with this post. All I’m saying is that if there ARE women who are interested in doing a program like this (and I know they exist) they should go for it. I’m just spreading the word.

   You, on the other hand, seem vaguely angry that I would even suggest that women would want to work in the technology field, because they’re “just not the same” as men. Yes, it’s an old argument, and not one that I wish to become embroiled in at the moment, but I think you’re reading into the post a little too much.

6. Anders February 27th, 2008 at 10:49 am 6

   Jackson> I don’t think that anyone expect that we can get the (computer) tech industry to be 50/50 about men and woman. But as it is right now, it’s 99/1 (maybe .. my own little experience) and that thats sad.

   Yes, men and woman think differently.

   But what if the real number of tech interested woman was three or four times higher than we think and the only reason they don’t go after a technical job is that only so few other woman are doing this. Maybe they think something is wrong when them, that they like this kind of work, because its only guys that works with the tech-stuff.

   That why I think its a good thing that we put focus on woman in tech. And that works the best way, if it is woman that is already in the tech business that promote it.

   Other jobs might want some more men, but I only care about tech.

7. Megan Burleson February 27th, 2008 at 1:30 pm 7

   I agree! Being a web programmer and a designer, I find when I apply for jobs or projects I get the “Oh! your a girl who likes to program?!? That’s awesome!” And I usually end up working with mostly men. I just think that girls like me who grew up with an interest in technology are pretty rare. I think that technology should be presented to todays little girls as an exciting and creative industry. The technology sector could use more of a feminine touch.

8. Vance February 27th, 2008 at 2:52 pm 8

   Veronica, not on topic, but did you know that someone has named a song after you? Check it out:

   http://www.myspace.com/thecarps

   And here is what he said over at the BOL:

   “That’s my band actually. I’ve been listening to BOL for a long time, and when I was writing one day, I had been in the habit of naming songs after people, and Veronica popped into mind!”

9. Mike February 27th, 2008 at 3:35 pm 9

   Why is it sad? If computers isn’t a field women tend to like, so what? I don’t see anyone pining over there not being enough men in HR. It’s not a field that men generally like. Is _that_ sad? No. It’s just people doing what they like to do.

   If you like computers, work with computers. It doesn’t matter what gender you are. No one’s going to kick you out of a computer class because you’re female. In fact, the computer people I’ve known over the past 15 years rarely care at all what gender, race, height, etc. you are.

10. Haig February 27th, 2008 at 3:36 pm 10

    I don’t think it’s a question of man vs. woman here but rather choosing the person best suited for doing the job. I believe true equality rests on encouraging both men and women alike to become their best. Education, practice, and life experiences can have a hand in transforming a person into their best no matter what their gender is. Everyone deserves the aforementioned and I believe Veronica is encouraging the best of both sides here. Good job V!

11. C.A.Carr February 27th, 2008 at 4:15 pm 11

    Surely a higher percentage of men who happen to be interested in things tech (and math, engineering, and so forth) — compared to equally interested women — manage to do it for a living. This is a cultural/societal effect that could and should be changed. I think I’ve read that a much higher percentage of graduating engineers in China are women, as compared to the US.

    The disparity is mostly, however, a matter of evolutionarily generated differences in cognitive skills/orientations between men and women. Many fewer women are interested in this sort of stuff. Contrary to the dogma of social “scientists,” we are not born a genderless tabula rasa — for instance, women tend to do much better than men in tests that measure the ability to remember 3d arrays of objects, whereas men *tend* to be better at rotating 3d objects in their heads. Women tend to have better language skills generally, but men tend to use (often misuse) more words than women, and so forth.

    Having said all that, it’s a good thing I’m not the president of an ivy league university. I would no doubt be out of a job in short order.

12. Gwen Bell February 27th, 2008 at 4:42 pm 12

    Full disclosure: I’ve been involved with TechStars in some way since summer ‘07. When I first heard that the best of the best would be in Boulder for the summer, my heart skipped a beat. I knew very little about TechStars at the time but the more I hung out with this young, hip, tech crowd, the more I loved them.

    Each day I do a little outreach to women in tech. There are a lot of groups that do this exclusively (NCWIT is one of the best I’ve seen), and I think that’s amazing. Megan, you mention making tech look exciting and creative to little girls. I’m totally with you on that. It’s never too early to start showing girls that technology is rad. Planting the seed early & often w/little girls is a big part of my personal mission as a technologist & entrepreneur.

    Thanks for posting this, Veronica.

13. Brian February 27th, 2008 at 7:04 pm 13

    Nice post, Jackson. Idiot.

14. Dave Peterson February 27th, 2008 at 9:27 pm 14

    I’m a developer on a large software project at a very large aerospace company. Bucking the trend, I’d say a good half of my co-workers are women, but interestingly, they are (all but one) over 40. Almost all the twenty-somethings are men. So I can’t say from my experience that women aren’t interested in logic work and computers, but it does appear to be strangely generational. Maybe all the newly graduated women developers are at small start-ups?

15. Ann Bernard February 29th, 2008 at 11:32 am 15

    At one point WhyGoSolo had more women on the team then men. Being that as the Founder and CEO I’m a woman it’s easy for me to attract other women to join the team. The ratio has changed but that’s mostly because we are unfunded and some folks had to go looking for paying gigs. I’m sure once we are funded we’ll get our team back to what it was. We’re too far along to apply for a program like this, but I do hope more women get in the web/tech industry. It’s a great place to be.

16. Time to Come Up with a Tech Company « The Somewhat Manly Nerd March 2nd, 2008 at 3:30 am 16

    [...] to Come Up with a Tech Company Thanks to Veronica Belmont’s blog, I was made aware of some entrepreneur opportunity called TechStars. Corny name, but the $15,000 [...]

17. Emily Olson March 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm 17

    Thanks for the great post Veronica. We do need more women entrepreneurs and women in technology. I am happy to say that there will be at least one female TechStar applying. I have applied with a business I have developed with two other founders, http://www.foodzie.com. I definitely think some women could add a new dynamic to the Bunker and bring a new perspective. I will be heading out to Boulder to learn more about the program next week. Are there any other TechStar applicants heading out to Boulder for “TechStars For A Day” on March 5th?

18. Chris March 2nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm 18

    Veronica,

    My wife is in the IT field as am I. We’re both not in the identical field which makes it bearable. It’s probably the last thing we want to discuss at the end of the day, although its great to be able to find out what the other company does to solve various challenges.

    I believe that the barrier to women in the tech industry, whether it be technology (analyst, it managers) or business leaders (CIO’s, IT Director) is the rampant geek-cho (geek - macho) that some males tend to exude when they’re around somewhat tech-savvy women. I’ve interviewed a couple female technical candidates in the past (>5 years ago) and whilst they look good on paper, they may not in person (technically). I noted that once my fellow interviewer delved into the bits and bytes of the job, then responses were quite plain.

    I’ve noticed this in my company and friends too. I don’t know if its really true, but I sense geek-levels increase when such a TSW are around. In my wife, I see her shying away from such conversations, and then start having a wonderfully deep and well thought out conversation with me when they leave.

    I’m quite lucky to share my technical-love of iPod Touches, Blackberries, GPSes and net-neutrality with life-love, my wife.

19. Kamilah March 3rd, 2008 at 5:01 pm 19

    I’m not really sure what some of the people’s points were who replied to this…it makes me a bit sad though. I’m a female computer science graduate student, and I know from experience that the further along I go, the less women I see. In undergrad, the hardest computer science classes had the least amount of women. Why? I’m not sure. This is a good starting point Veronica, though I’m pretty sure that the problem of not enough women in tech starts at least in in middle school. A lot of people don’t realise what computer science actually is, and my gut feeling is that more women drop out of computer science in college than men when they realise what it is.

20. Sherry Smith March 10th, 2008 at 7:25 pm 20

    WOW!!!

    I am shocked that the numbers are so small. I knew they were bad but, come on!! I’m shoutin out to the ladies to get on top of that. I’m blessed to be in a startup company where 2 out of 3 are of the female gender.. (I mean we do need a male perspective.)

    But, guys you need our perspective too… What do you think the only consumers in this world are men?? Thanks for sharing this.

21. Bronwen Zande March 14th, 2008 at 4:10 pm 21

    I know the feeling, it has been almost 3 years since I’ve worked on a project where i wasn’t the only female..not that i mind that much..pretty used to it.

    I started http://www.geekgirlblogs.com late last year, with the aim of promting and finding some other ladies out there which has been really good.