Category Archives: women in technology

Building a Successful Technology Career

Today, I’m giving a talk at the USENIX Women in Advanced Computing (WiAC) Summit about Building a Successful Technology Career. While the presentation is targeted at a female audience, I think that most of it applies to anyone working in technology careers.

I’ve uploaded the presentation (with notes) if you want to read the materials, and I hear that it’s being recorded, so the recordings should appear on the USENIX site at some point after the event.

Update 7/11/13: The audio and video files are now available on the WiAC website.

Abstract:

Building a successful career involves way more than just doing the technical work that is your primary responsibility. In this presentation, we’ll talk about the following topics: having a plan, but not letting it get in the way of serendipitous opportunities; applying for jobs when you don’t have all of the “required” skills; getting paid what you are worth; volunteering for additional assignments without letting people take advantage of you; and becoming known as an expert.

Women Dominate Prestigious National Math and Science Contest

This is just really nice to see.

winner picture

In a first for the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology for U.S. high school students, girls walked away with top honors in both the individual and team categories.

Siemens Foundation President James Whaley says the percentage of girls entering the competition has increased each year; this year, 48% of the contestants were female. Eighty percent of this year’s competitors were from public schools, and one team of finalists consisted of home-schooled girls. Many of the schools whose students were represented also have close ties to nearby universities or research labs. “There are very few [high] schools that have the resources or labs to support this high level of research,” Whaley notes.

(Quote from Business Week)

I’m hoping a good percentage of them will head into math and science careers.

Props to Todd for sending me the link.

Women in Technology (The Book)

All of the articles written for O’Reilly’s Women in Technology series, including my article about careers in technology, will be included in a book scheduled for publication in October.

All of the proceeds from Women in Technology will be donated to the Alliance of Technology & Women (ATW), a non-profit organization providing scholarships and other encouragement for women and girls preparing for careers in technology. I also just learned that we have a chapter of ATW right here in Portland!

You should pre-order now and buy a copy (or two). 🙂 It’s a great book supporting a great cause.