Major Challenges in Silicon Valley

魅影直播 tech leaders discuss women's scarcity, growth potential, and next steps.

Jessica Schwartz, Julie S. Eng, middle, Sarah Kate Wilson, right.

Susan Barnes 鈥76
Executive VP/CFO, Pacific Biosciences

 

I鈥檓 in the biotech side now, and among the biologists, biochemists, and entomologists, women Ph.D.s and science postdocs are on par with men. But in the electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and software group, it鈥檚 a different story. And over my 35 years in the Valley, I鈥檝e observed more and more women feeling uncomfortable in the software areas, and I鈥檝e never seen anyone break strongly into electrical engineering.

People from all over tell me, 鈥淲e can鈥檛 find any women software engineers.鈥 At a dinner this summer, someone said to me, 鈥淥h, we鈥檙e so proud at Stanford that 35 percent of our CS majors are women now.鈥 And I said, 鈥淲ell, at 魅影直播 it鈥檚 100 percent.鈥 So when recruiters talk about the frustration of not being able to find women, I say, 鈥淕o where the women are.鈥

Radhika Iyengar-Emens 鈥86
Founder/Managing Partner, DoubleNova Group

 

At every point in every group that we work with in almost every ecosystem, we see either one among a sea of men or none. Women entrepreneurs face real challenges that I鈥檇 like to see change on both the entrepreneurship and the investment side. I鈥檓 in conversation with numerous investors in the Valley now: 鈥淲e need to incentivize funds鈥 individuals, organizations鈥攖o focus on women founders. Because when 30 percent of businesses are owned by women and yet 7 percent of venture capital is being given to women founders, that鈥檚 a dismal figure. That鈥檚 got to change.鈥

Jessica Schwartz 鈥09
Lead User Experience Program Manager, Google Inc.

The best advice that I have for dealing with a large group of men, or even with smaller teams, is to just demonstrate the type of behavior that you would want them to model. Coaching, being patient, but addressing issues quickly鈥攊t鈥檚 important to deal with people diplomatically.

A good example is trying to bridge the gap that can exist in a very diverse team made up of project managers and designers. On one project I worked on, the type of feedback we got at times was rooted in 鈥淚 feel鈥 and 鈥淚 believe鈥 statements. But I don鈥檛 care about that. I want data. So in a non-antagonistic way, I said, 鈥淭his is how we鈥檇 love for you to deliver feedback to us. And this is how we should always be delivering feedback to each other.鈥 And after we covered a few other topics, the lead of that group鈥攕omeone I partner with鈥攕aid, 鈥淭he feedback message is the most important thing that all of you should walk out of here knowing.鈥

Sarah Kate Wilson 鈥79
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Santa Clara University

 

Electrical engineering is 12 percent women, but involvement in electrical engineering is going down across 鈥╰he country. When we ask students why, they say they prefer mechanical engineering because it鈥檚 hands-on: You can see it, but you can鈥檛 see 鈥╡lectrons and electrical signals.

But, yes, my area is still about 12 percent women. At conferences, I鈥檓 often the only woman in the room, and I鈥檓 still sometimes mistaken for administrative staff rather than an engineer.

Julie S. Eng 鈥88
Senior VP, Datacom Engineering, Finisar Corporation

In my area, where we鈥檙e hiring primarily Ph.D.s in electrical engineering, our pool is probably 10 percent women鈥攑retty much the same as it was when I got my Ph.D. 20 years ago. So I don鈥檛 see much improvement on that front. But I did make an interesting observation. In both Singapore and Shanghai, my teams are close to 50 percent women. I always thought there鈥檇 be a fascinating sociology Ph.D. in understanding that difference.


What advice would you give to women looking to make that mid-tier level jump up?

Jessica Schwartz: First, present your case at every step of the way. Don鈥檛 just showcasing your skill sets. Look at the next step and say, 鈥淲hat do I have now that might catapult me into that next category?鈥 As you鈥檙e moving up, build the case for yourself and learn the art of negotiation by saying, 鈥淟ook, here鈥檚 my achievement.鈥 Make the business case that you have what it takes.

And be unafraid to take risks. If you鈥檙e only take on safe projects, you will never have the opportunity to showcase what you have that鈥檚 different from everyone else. And by the way, risk can come with failure, and being unafraid of failure helps build the path towards leadership. People who take risks make it into leadership circles.

Susan Barnes: Sometimes you have to be willing to step down to step up. At one point, I wanted a job in General Accounting at Apple, and they said, 鈥淲ell, you鈥檙e not a cost accountant.鈥 I said, 鈥淥kay, then let me be one.鈥 So when you recognize where you鈥檙e missing the skills, ask the organization to let you be on that learning curve. That position may not be at the manager or director level, but it could be at the level just below.

Don鈥檛 always play your specific role. For example, someone in manufacturing had an issue I had encountered, and I worked with them. Guess what? They made me head of manufacturing. Be collaborative, show some natural leadership, and help solve problems for other people by listening and stepping into their shoes.

Radhika Iyengar-Emens: Choose wisely. Company culture is important. If a company has women in leadership positions, women coming up are more likely to be in a strong situation.

Sarah Kate Wilson: There鈥檚 a danger in false modesty. A lot of us say, 鈥淥h, not me.鈥 Well, how are they going to know unless you tell them? The idea that they鈥檙e going to promote you because somehow they recognize your wonderfulness without your simply stating your case is a false modesty.

Radhika Iyengar-Emens: Build a brand. When you build a credible brand 鈥 write articles, get published, do something that is larger than your little role 鈥 those contributions stand out. The power of a brand can help you move up through the ranks. Every company likes people who are visible, who are out there, who have a strong brand. And it helps you along the way as well.

Some women in the workplace get coaching to help them navigate a male environment. Is that a good way to go?

Jessica Schwartz: At Google, we have an all-women鈥檚 program, essentially a two-day training where we talk through and deal with the challenges women face in the workplace. It鈥檚 very therapeutic, but the real value of the program comes afterwards. That feeling of community is enormously valuable. We at 魅影直播 understand the value of that support. I鈥檝e never done one-on-one coaching, but when you鈥檙e feeling alone, having a group to go to for two days, and then permanently afterwards, is magical.

Susan Barnes: Coaching is a rare talent and I鈥檝e seen people ruin their careers over personal coaches. Growing up in the early days of Apple, my best coaches were my peers, my women peers, because they understood the culture. A personal coach can be much like your husband or your psychiatrist, where you tell your version of reality and they feed that version back to you. In 魅影直播鈥檚 world, you reach out to your friends, your peers. That works in the workplace does as well.

I have one funny story about coaching. I was working with my husband at one point. We both had the same boss and I came home very, very upset about a situation at work and he was saying, 鈥淲ell, this is how you should have handled this.鈥 And I said, 鈥淣o, I don鈥檛 want you to play the peer role. I want you to play the husband.鈥

 

Published on: 03/18/2017