Overcoming Obstacles to Success Surviving and Thriving in
Overcoming Obstacles to Success: Surviving and Thriving in the High Tech World Kelly Lopez File Sr. Competitive Strategy Manager Microsoft Corporation kellyfi@microsoft. com
Agenda n n n n Introduction How are women doing in high tech? Obstacles to success How to survive How to thrive Personal highs and lows Resources
Introduction n n 37 years old Hispanic Mother of 7 month old baby girl BS in Computer Engineering from U of W 20 years of experience: 8 software test and design n 9 software development n 3 competitive marketing n
In the grand scheme of things… Steve Ballmer Sales Products Enterprise Sales & Partners Field Competitive Strategy Technical Marketing Operations
How are women doing in high tech? n Better in pay equity n n Non high tech: $. 73 on the dollar Tech: $. 92 on the dollar 40% of Computer Science degrees awarded to women in 1994 *National Science Foundation *1998 US Census Data *2001 survey from techie. com of 106, 000 workers across 39 U. S. job markets, all levels
Top 50 Fortune Most Powerful Women 1. Carly Fiorina – Chairman & CEO, Hewlett-Packard 2. Meg Whitman – President & CEO, e. BAY 6. Anne Mulcahy – President & CEO, Xerox 23. Betsy Bernard – President & CEO, AT&T Consumer 28. Ann Livermore – EVP, HP Services 30. Linda Sandford – SVP & Group Exec, IBM Storage Systems 32. Donna Dubinsky – CEO, Handspring 47. Janet Davidson – Group President, Lucent Integrated Networks 49. Louise Francesconi – VP & GM, Missile Systems, Raytheon 9 out of 50 are at technology-related companies
Common obstacles n n Attraction to technical education Getting through the door Retaining women long enough for them to move up Individual obstacles
Education issues n Qualified female students don’t choose scientific majors n OTA report of 2, 000 9 th grade students n n n College can reduce self esteem of women n 80 high school valedictorians – 20% of both men and women ranked selves as highly intelligent n n n End of high school: 280 male, 220 females have sufficient math for scientific degree But only 16% of qualified females vs. 50% of males choose scientific majors During college, women outperformed in GPA But only 3% of women vs. 20% of men ranked selves high after sophomore year! Personal experience n n n The other two women in my program quit during 1 st quarter! Issues with a prof that wanted to flunk me out of Analog Electronics Lab partners scarce, had to be creative
Filling the pipeline n UMass College of Engineering – great work! n n n Corporate sponsorship n n Minority Engineering Program Engineering Exploration Program (SWE, Girl Scouts, College of Engineering effort) Women in Engineering Program TWIST – great way to retain women! IBM, Ford, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, Microsoft Take Your Daughters to Work Day
Getting through the employer’s door n n Hiring processes can be um, biased… Women often disqualify themselves n n n Not negotiating well starts you at a disadvantage Learn to “sell” your qualities to prospective employers On the other hand… n n Men: 20% job knowledge is enough Women: 80%! Education pipeline problems mean fewer female candidates available – they need you NETWORK, NETWORK Networking is the #1 success factor for women in high tech
Retention n Women are highest turnover group Work-life balance n Lack of mentoring and networking n Can’t fulfill ambitions, lack of professional development n “No matter how hard I try, I won’t win” n Lack of visibility to upper management n n Turnover makes it hard to find qualified female candidates for leadership roles Mentoring is key to retention
Individual obstacles n “The imposter” syndrome n Stanford study shows men more confident n n Women tend to downgrade their capabilities n n n Men more confident that they can handle the workload (2 x) Women half as comfortable speaking up in class 33% of women (vs 9% men) fear that speaking up will expose them as imposters Success attributed to “lots of hard work” vs. men who claim “innate ability” Competing can be uncomfortable Fear of the unknown, aversion to changes
How to survive n Fake it until you feel more confident!! 1. 2. 3. n n Everybody messes up Everybody feels insecure about their job performance The most successful people are not those who mess up the least Learn to speak up in many different situations Ask the right questions *Kaitlin Duck Sherwood, 1994
How to thrive n Get more comfortable with risks, change n n Mentor and be mentored n n 46. 8% of women of color cite lack of mentoring as major barrier to advancement (Catalyst Survey) 44% of women of color cite mentoring as a critical success factor UMass participates in Mentor. Net program – use it! Enjoy working with men n n My switch to sales and marketing Stepped down from manager to individual contrib role “Can do” attitude helps ensure success They say what they think They make great mentors They have wives and daughters, too… NETWORK, NETWORK
My experiences… Just like the Olympics: “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat!”
The Agony of Defeat n n n n Wanted to quit many times while working 30+ hours and FT college Couldn’t break into the “men’s club” at last company Had to fire someone for sexual harassment Presentation to German Bankers 1 st 6 months on the job at Microsoft Car and luggage stolen in Malaysia Literally 100’s of dumb questions asked In front of SVP – realized I was not prepared enough Motto: always make it to the nearest bathroom before you start crying
The Thrill of Victory n Overcame fear of public speaking! n n n Presentation to 1500+ peers at Moscone within 5 months on the job Denmark – 4 hour E-Commerce “seminar” Bangkok – followed SVP to present to 1000+ on E-Commerce #1 rated speaker in the Executive Briefing Center Making a difference n n Conference Board conference, sharing results with MS management Most Influential Women of Color in Technology award n n n Included live radio interview Mentoring and being mentored Technical accomplishments n n n Kernel mode driver development in C++ of an NFS Server Designed and implemented an API for a customer; resulted in $1 M sale Promoted to manage a team within a year at Microsoft
Working mommy moments n n n Missing my moment in the spotlight… Code word for pumping: “maintenance” Never leave your pump unattended… How to turn down international travel “opportunity” Never underestimate the effects of sleep deprivation
Resources n Contact me: n n n n n Kellyfi@microsoft. com Mentor. Net: www. mentornet. net National Engineers Week www. eweek. org UMass Women in Engineering Program (WEP) http: //www. ecs. umass. edu/wep. html Women in Technology International (WITI) www. witi. org Society of Women Engineers (SWE) www. swe. org IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) www. ieee. org/organizations/committee/women Toastmasters International www. toastmasters. com Positive Politics at Work by Mc. Kenna and Mc. Henry Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women by Virginia Valian
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