equalitism

I’m in computer science because, yes, I am surprised that my adult classmates jeered at a picture of a faceless, mostly naked woman. I do not believe and will not believe that the majority of men think objectifying women is hilarious; if I believed that, I would not be able to tolerate this male-dominated major.

Our orgiastic annual spending spree feels at times as if we’re saying, “Mom, I can’t get you maternity leave, health care, or societal respect. But, um, here is a planter of petunias.”

Research shows that prime-time television isn’t a bad place to find portrayals of working women. Working moms and working women over 40 are another story.

There are many women who have started successful careers in tech who choose to put their career on hold to dedicate more time to their children and families. When these women think about returning to work, we want to help them lean back in to their careers with the most up-to-date skill set and technical abilities. The Facebook Moms in Tech Sponsorship will cover the full $12,000 tuition to Hackbright where these women will be able to refresh their technical skills and learn entirely new ones so they’re well-equipped to rejoin the workforce.

A big high-five to Facebook for recognizing that retention of adult women engineers is just as important as fostering the next generation. And for putting real resources behind it.

For comparison, when I approached Adobe a couple of years ago about possibly creating a mentoring program for women engineers, or even just introducing a networking event for women at their annual MAX conference, I was met with a lukewarm response and no followthrough. Here’s hoping Adobe takes a page from the FB playbook.

This blog takes articles and posts that are in the news and online and flips the gender or race. The point here is to shine some light on the way news organizations write about people and strive for more balanced, respectful narratives.

I have no guidance for women who want to rise through the ranks into technical management. I have led a peripatetic life, moving on when a project was done or the next thing intrigued me.

And I am not advising younger women (or any woman) to tough it out. You can lash back, which I have done too often and which has rarely served me well. You can quit and look for other jobs, which is sometimes a very good idea.

Photographer Jaime Moore from Austin, Texas, took photos of Emma emulating real women worth admiring: Amelia Earhart, Coco Chanel, Susan B Anthony, Helen Keller and Jane Goodall.

Our second thought, that men take too many risks and should ‘Lean Out’ on career decisions, is rather different than Sandberg’s message to women. She comments that “women need to be more open to taking risks in their careers” as “being risk averse can result in stagnation”. But really, our thoughts are two sides of the same coin. Sandberg believes that women need to “overcorrect” to “find the middle ground” from their current risk averse position. We argue that men need to “overcorrect” from their excessive risk taking towards a more calculated neutral position.