She’s Geeky ‘normalizes’ women’s love of tech
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The day’s schedule at the all-woman conference began with an ice-breaker. Participants were invited to stand and complete the sentence: “I am geeky because …”
The answers fit a general theme. Attendees said they love technology. They’re curious about how things operate. They want to change the world.
They were the exact kind of things men involved in tech probably would say. But the stark reality is that women remain vastly underrepresented in the Silicon Valley workforce. And changing that dynamic is the reason for the She’s Geeky conference, a three-day event at eBay’s Town Hall over the weekend. Women in the fields of STEM – science, technology, engineering, math – came together to network, talk about their career passions and offer each other support in their male-dominated sectors.
“We all have to do something to change the game, and putting on these conferences is a small piece to that puzzle,” said Kaliya Young, founder of She’s Geeky.
More than 230 people signed up for the conference – the 17th held around the country since 2007. And it’s not just for women. Many brought their STEM-interested daughters.
“I think She’s Geeky normalizes tech for girls and women of all ages,” said CB Smith-Dahl, a videographer and website builder who attends the conferences with her 12-year-old twin daughters. “Being a geek is the norm here. You’re not the outlier anymore. You’re in the mainstream, and that’s an interesting feeling for a woman.”
This event was especially timely. The long-running local discussion about why there are not more women in – and running – tech companies has gone national again with a recent story in Newsweek magazine.
The dearth of women in tech is especially a conundrum because studies have shown that girls outperform boys in math and science. A recently released study by researchers at the University of Missouri and Scotland’s University of Glasgow found that girls bested their boy counterparts in 70 percent of the countries they studied, using the educational levels of 1.5 million 15-year-olds around the world over a 10-year period.
The events run by She’s Geeky actually are “un-conferences.” Organizers use a free-form model in which attendees spend the first hour each day deciding what topics they want to discuss before breaking down into smaller groups delving into subjects like how to take charge of your career and tips on launching bootstrap startups.
But the most important part of the conference simply is encountering like-minded women.
“I’ve been in technology for 18 years, and I’ve always been the only woman wherever I’ve been,” said Sharon Yencharis, now a senior project manager at an aquarium.
Young said it’s a mistake to paint all of Silicon Valley with a broad brush of institutional sexism. Some companies, she said, are great workplaces for women.
“But if you love tech and have a bad situation, where do you go to find a good place?” she asked. “You come here.”