Fall 2018 Leadership Round Table

Event Summary Report February 2019

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OVERVIEWTheseventhsemi-annualWomeninTechnology(WiT)LeadershipRoundTablewasheldDecember7,2018,attheUCSCSiliconValleyCampus.Themeetinggatheredleadersfromindustry,academia,andthenon-profitsector todiscussworktodateandprogressmadetoward“FacingtheData,”anongoinginitiativetopersuadeorganizationstocollectandsharemetricsregardingdiversityoftheirworkforce.ForthisRoundTablenewvoicesjoinedtheconversation with graduate student participants and perspectives from social scienceresearch.Thismadeforlivelydiscussionsduringthesecondsessionoftheday,“EncouragingWomentoBeBold.”

The day beganwithWITI@UC co-founder andDean of the College of Engineering at UCBerkeley, Tsu-Jae King Liu, summarizing the vision of these Round Table events andremindingusofthemissionofWITI@UC:Toincreasethepersistenceandsuccessofwomenin technical fields in industry, academia, and the public sector. The purpose of theRoundTablesistogatherleadersinindustryandacademiatobetterunderstandtheexperienceofwomen working in the technology industry and for leaders to develop action items toimproveconditionsforwomenintheirownorganizations.

Following the priorities identified during the 2017 and Spring 2018 Round Tables, theagenda focusedon the current stateof the industryPresentations includedoverviewsofquantitative and qualitative data across sectors and new metrics to help differentiateprogress,especiallyforwomenofcolor.Previousreportssummarizedrecommendationsformetricstomonitorandtrackprogress:2016Reportsand2017Reports.

SessionI:FacingtheDataDuringthefirstsession,organizationssharedresearchandinitiativesondiversitymetricsacrossindustriesandmorespecificallyfocusedonthetechnologyindustry.

IrinaStarikova,partneratMcKinseyandCompany,presentedresultsfromtheWomenintheWorkplace2018report,theresultofamulti-yearprobonoresearchproject,conductedinpartnershipwithLeanIn.Org.Thegoalofthestudywastoexaminethestateofwomenincorporate America, to identify the “missing” data and review progress across differentlocations and timelines. For the study, 279 companies representing13million employeeparticipantsand64,000completedsurveysonemployeeexperiences.Thisisthefourthyearoftheresearchandthefocusforthisyearwasthe#MeToomovement,sexualharassmentissues,andmicroaggressionsintheworkplace.

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There is a high correlationwith improved performance and profit for companieswith ademographically diverse workforce and leadership team. Gender-diverse companies are21%morelikelytooutperformtheirpeersandethnicallydiversecompaniesare33%morelikelytooutperform(DeliveringthroughDiversity,2018).Thepresentationreviewedthecorporatepipeline,takingacloserlookatthequantitativedata showing lack of advancement opportunities for women, in addition to their livedexperiencesofbeingawomanintheworkplace.The study found thatwhilewomen are hired in nearly equal percentages tomen, theirrepresentationdropsoffdramaticallyatthefirstpromotiontomanagerlevel.Womenfallbehindearlyintheircareersandthefirstpromotionsarethemostinequitable.Womenare21% less likely than their male counterparts to be promoted tomanager and for blackwomen thatpercentagealmostdoubles, as theyare40% less likely tobepromoted (seeFigure1).Acrossindustrieswhitewomenonlyhold19%ofC-suitepositionsandwomenofcoloronlyhold4%ofsuchpositions.

Figure1:Percentageofemployeesbylevelin2018inCorporateAmerica(McKinsey2018)Womenfareworseatsoftwarecompanies.Figure2presentsthedataforthepercentageofemployeesbylevelforsoftwarecompaniesin2018andincludesacomparisontotheoverallpercentagesincorporateAmerica.

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Figure2:Percentageofemployeesbylevelin2018forSoftwareCompanies(McKinsey2018)While a similar proportion of men and women want to be promoted (Women in theWorkplaceReport,pp24-25),womenfacemorechallengestotheirauthorityandleadershipatwork.Theseincludefeelingtheneedtoprovideevidenceofcompetence,receivinglesssupport from their managers, and experiencing microaggressions. Reflected in thequantitativedataabove,blackwomenfaceevengreaterchallengesofnotreceivingequalgrowthopportunitiesorpromotions.Theresearchculminatedinfiveconcreteactionsthatcompaniescantaketomovetowardachievingequalityintheworkplace.

1. Get the basics right – targets, reporting, and accountability: Leadershipmustprioritizediversity,quantifyimpactofdiversity,trackdiversitymetrics

2. Ensure that hiring, performance reviews, and promotions are fair: Creatediverseinterviewpanels,provideconsistentevaluationcriteriawhenhiring,recruitdiversecandidates

3. Makeseniorleadersandmanagerschampionsofdiversity:Trainleaders,choosediversitychampions,instituteformaldiversitypractices

4. Foster an inclusive and respectful culture: Implement policies, empowermanagers, encourage candid dialogue, ensure diversity of voices and inclusion indecisions

5. Make the “only” experience rare: Hire and promotewomen in cohorts, clusterwomeninteams,createopportunitiesforwomentoworktogether

Next, Amy Cross, founder of Gender Fair, presented on Leveraging Data to AccelerateEquality, taking a look atwhatmetrics are currently being tracked, those that should be

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tracked,andanoverviewoftheGenderFairdatabase.GenderFairratescompaniesontheirfairness practices across four pillars: leadership, employee policies, advertising andphilanthropy.Currently reporting on gender and diversity is not required by law in the U.S. FilingspublishedbytheSecuritiesandExchangeCommission(SEC)includethenameandageofboardmembers and named executive officers. In 2017, theUK required companieswithmorethan250employeestoreport the followingmetrics:mediangenderpaygap,meangenderpaygap,medianbonuspaygap,andproportionofmalesandfemales ineachpayquartile.By2020,thePayTransparencyActinCanadawillrequirepublicreportingofgenderwagegapsfromemployers,requiringthemtodiscloseinformationaboutcompensationofemployees.ThemetricsdevelopedbyGenderFairarebasedontheWomen’sEmpowermentPrinciples(WEPs)toensurecompaniesmeetbenchmarkinvestmentsingenderequalityovertime—internally and in the larger community they serve. Gender Fair selected about 15 of thelargestorganizationswithineachindustrysectoranduseproprietarymethodologytoratethesecompanies.Todothis,theyleveragethemostup-to-datepubliclyavailableinformationfromavarietyofsources.CurrentlytheGenderFairdatabaseincludes300consumer-facingcompanies.Ofthese,only46%reportonmaternityleave,50%onpaternityleave,51%onpercentageofwomenmanagers,35%onsupplierdiversity,and54%onemployeediversity.Amysuggestedadditionalmetricstoreportbyethnicityandgender:intake,retention,useofparental leave, retention rates after leave, use of flexibility policies, participation inmanagementtraining,promotionrates,goalsforpromotions,salarylevelsateachgrade,andspendingonwomen-ownedbusiness.Beyondreporting,toretainwomencompaniesneedtoimplementpolicies,programstopromoteculturechange,targets,andinvestmentsthatsupportdiversitywithintheirorganizations.Amysharedexamplesofcompaniesthatare“gettingitright.”

• Patagonia’s30-year-oldchildcarecenterresultsin100%postmaternityretention.• Eli Lilly increased women’s management by 3% in less than 2 years—above the

goal—andhasalsomettargetsforminoritiesinmanagementpositions.• JohnsonandJohnson’s4-5monthTalentAccelerationProcessprovidesleaderswith

avarietyofexperiences,hasaretentionrateof80%,andpromotionrate30%higherthanpeers.

• Intel’sWarmline,ananonymoushotlinetoreportissueswithmanagers,resultedin90%ofemployeeswhouseditstayingatthecompany.

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• GlaxoSmithKline’s coaching to women during a move across business units ornationalmarketsresultedin100%retentionover12months.

• L’Oréal’semployee-drivenThinkTanksaddressedgapsinfemalerepresentationinexecutive,operations,ITanddigitalfunctions;andtherecruitment,engagementandretentionofwomen.Womenexecutivesincreasedfrom10%to26%.

Closingoutthefirstsession,KristinHaffertfromUNWomenandCo-FounderofMinetheGap, presented updates from UN Women and the Empower Women initiative.Empowerwomen.org is an online platform for sharing evidence, experiences and goodpractices onwomen’s economic empowerment. Creation of theWomen’s EmpowermentPrinciples(WEPs)isacollaborationbetweentheUNGlobalCompactandUNWomen,andwereadaptedfromtheCalvertWomen’sPrinciples.TheWEPsframeworkisthemostwide-rangingsetofcriteriaaboutwomen’sempowermentthatmovesbeyondjusttheworkplacetoincludemarketplaceandcommunity,offeringsevenprinciplestoguidebusinessonhowtoempowerwomeninthesethreesectors.

• Principle1:Establishhigh-levelcorporateleadershipforgenderequality• Principle2:Treatallwomenandmenfairlyatwork—respectandsupporthuman

rightsandnondiscrimination• Principle3:Ensurethehealth,safetyandwell-beingofallworkers,womenandmen• Principle4:Promoteeducation,trainingandprofessionaldevelopmentforwomen• Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing

practicesthatempowerwomen• Principle6:Promoteequalitythroughcommunityinitiativesandadvocacy• Principle7:Measureandpubliclyreportonprogresstoachievegenderequality

WhilemanycompanieshavesignedontothePrinciples,significantimprovementshavenotyetemerged.Toaddressthisgap,theorganizationishighlightingcompaniesthataredoingwellandimprovingovertime.Nextstepsincludethedevelopmentofguidelinesthatincludeactionsandstrategiescompaniescanimplementrelatedtoeachprinciple.

LunchSessionDuringlunch,CarolineWinnett,ExecutiveDirectoratBerkeleySkydeck,providedanupdateontheaccelerator’sInclusiveEntrepreneurshipinitiative.FormedasapartnershipbetweentheHaasSchoolofBusiness,theCollegeofEngineering,andtheOfficeoftheViceChancellorforResearch,SkyDeckisUCBerkeley’slargestaccelerator.Itrecentlylauncheda$25Mfundandwillshare50%ofprofitswiththeUCBerkeleycampus.Onerecentprogramisprovidinginclusiveleadershipworkshopstotheirstartupteams.Thediscussionnotedtheimportancetoincludenotonlyentrepreneursandfoundersbutalsoinvestorsandventurecapitalfirms

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indiversityandinclusionwork.KaraSammet,FounderandPrincipalofGenderLenz,wholedtheworkshopatSkydeck,sharedinformationabouttheprogrammingfortheinclusiveleadershipworkshop.CamilleCrittenden,DeputyDirectoratCITRISandtheBanataoInstitute,sharedupdatesonWITI@UC.TheFallsymposium“WomeninTech:TheFutureofAI,”originallyscheduledforNovember16,2018,waspostponedfollowingacampusclosureduetodangerousairqualitycausedbythewildfires.TheeventisrescheduledforMarch8,2019,andregistrationisnowopenandavailableontheevent’sEventbritewebsite.TheeventwillfeaturepresentationsoftheWITI@UCAthenaAwards,recognizingthosewhohavechampionedtheadvancementofwomenintechnology.JillFinlaysonwashiredastheProgramDirectorandstartedJanuary2019. Additionally, CITRIS invites Principal Investigators from any of the four CITRIScampuses(UCBerkeley,UCDavis,UCSantaCruz,andUCMerced)toapplyforseedfundingforcollaborativeresearchinitsstrategicinitiatives,includingWomeninTechnologyforthefirsttimein2019.

SessionII:EncouragingWomentoBeBoldTheafternoonsessionstartedwithatalkfromgraduatestudentsLauraBrink,ReginaEckert,Hani Gomez, andEmilyNaviasky, from the Electrical Engineering andComputer Science(EECS) department at UC Berkeley. They aremembers of the student organization BiasBustersandtheirpresentationfocusedonAdvocatingforaChangeinSTEMCultureandWhy"EncouragingWomentoBeBold"Doesn'tCut It.BiasBusters isrunbygraduatestudents,faculty,andstafftoaddressimplicitbiasandotherdiversityissuesintheEECSdepartment.Theirgoalistomakethedepartmentwelcomingandinclusivetoall.Theyorganizeseveraleventstoraiseawarenessregardingimplicitbiases,includingworkshops,readinggroups,andaspeakerseries.LauraBrinksharedthegenderratiofrom2004to2017inEECSatUCBerkeley(Figure3).

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Figure3:EECSgraduatestudentgenderratiofrom2004to2017atUCBerkeley(UCBerkeley2018)Inarecenteffort,BiasBusterssurveyedfaculty,staff,andgraduatestudentstoassessthecurrent climateandbetterunderstandbiasperceivedbypeople in thedepartment.Theyaggregatedthedatatocategorizetheexperiencesintocommonoccurrences,whichincluded:assumptionsthatwomenandminoritiesareunabletodoscience,genderprofiling,technicalcontributionsignored,andstereotypingrelatedtorace,gender,andsexualorientation.Hani shared observations and recommendations to help improve the current culture oncampusandbeyond.

1. Thisisnotjustawomanproblem,itisaneverybodyproblem2. Diverseenvironmentsfosterout-of-the-boxthinkingandcreativity3. Formallies,reachouttoleaders4. Practicetakingaction

Group discussion touched on the importance of recognizing intersectionality whendiscussingdiversityandtorealizethatdiversityismulti-dimensionalandspansacrossrace,ethnicity,class,sex,gender,sexualorientation,andmore.Whilewecanunderstandourownexperiences,wearelessabletoappreciateexperiencesoutsideofoursocialgroup.Becauseof thislimitation,weareencouragedtoparticipate inconversationstobetterunderstandourownexperiencesandallowotherstosharefirsthand.ThepresentationendedwithanactivitydevelopedbyColleenLewis,McGregor-GirandAssociateProfessorofCSatHarveyMuddCollege, and her team as part of aNational Science Foundation grant. The activityincludes a set of cards that prompt conversation and develop techniques to respond tomicroaggressionsandimplicitbiaswhentheyoccur.ThefinalpresentationofthedaywasbySharlaAlegria,AssistantProfessorofSociology,UCMerced,titledIsItaGlassEscalatororaStepStool?:CareerPathsforWomeninHigh-Tech

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Management. The presentation featured her research on professional tech workers andinsightsfrominterviewsof45techworkers,conductedaspartofherdissertation.Whilewomen’srepresentation inscienceandengineeringat theundergraduate levelhasgenerallyincreased(seeFigure4)thesamecannotbesaidforthefieldofcomputerscience.

Figure4:Percentofbachelordegreesinafieldreceivedbywomen,1991-2010(Source:CatherineCampbell,NYTimesEconomixBlog,“WomengaininsomeSTEMfields,notcomputerscience,”11/15/2013.Datafrom"Women,Minorities,andPersonswithDisabilitiesinScienceandEngineering,“NationalScienceFoundation)Sharlanotesthat“women’srepresentationincomputingorthejobswetendtothinkofas‘techwork’hitapeakaround1990andhasfallensince.”Despiteconsiderableinvestmentfrom the federal government and technology companies, women’s representation incomputinghaddecreased.Herresearchexploreswhythisisthecase.Literature cites several reasons that women do not enter technology fields, includingwomen’s lack of confidence (Correll 2001; Cech et al 2011; Meelissen and Drent 2008;Robnett2013),desiretoprioritizebalancingfamilyandwork(Cecietal2009;Fromeetal2006), shortage of female role models (Sonnert et al 2007), and teachers and peerssuggestingtheydonotbelonginthefield(MargolisandFischer2002).Ifwomenchoosetoentertechnicalfields,severalsuggestthattheydon’tstaybecauseofamasculinecultureofteams(Guerrieretal.2009;Powelletal.2009;Evetts1998,Kelan2008,Cooper2000)and

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difficultybalancingworkandfamily(BlackwellandGlover2008,Ceci,Williams,andBarnett2009).While the technology field has grown significantly over the last decades, women’srepresentationinthefieldhasnot.Sharlapointstostructuralchangesneededtoincreasetheirrepresentation. TofindoutmoreaboutthestoriesandexperiencesbehindthedataSharlainterviewed45techworkers,32ofwhomwerewomen,andobservedinteractionsatthreetechconferences,sevenworkplaces,andonehackathon.Shefurtherexploredthecultureofengineering,itspredominantlymasculinecharacter,andjob roles where women often face hostility and invisibility. Williams (1995) uses themetaphor of a “glass escalator”which refers to the promotion ofmen overwomen intomanagement positions in female-dominated fields such as nursing, education, and socialwork.TheunderlyingprocessWilliamsdescribedisatendencytowardsmatchingnormativegender traits to gendered job expectations. Managerial work in computing requiresextensive interpersonal skills (at which women are more conditioned to excel) plusengineeringknow-how.Sharlaexamineswhetherwomenexperienceaglassescalatoreffectincomputingwork,inwhichtheymaybepromotedfromfrontlineengineeringorsoftwaredevelopmentrolesintomanagementpositions,whichmaybeperceived,paradoxically,aslessprestigiousandmakethemmorevulnerabletothechangingbusinesslandscape.Sharlafoundethnicconsiderationsalsoaffectedwomen’scareerpaths.Manyofthewhitewomensheinterviewedhadmovedintomanagementpositionsbymid-career.Theywereinjobs she calls translational because they were “translating” between the technical andbusiness-orientedpartsof their companies.Manyof thewomen inmanagementpursuedthesejobsaftersupervisorsidentifiedtheir“peopleskills”andencouragedthemtopursuethispath.Noneofthewomenofcolorsheinterviewedexperiencedunexpectedandunsoughtpromotionsintomanagementpositions.Instead,theyworkedinajobtheyhadspecificallychosenandforwhichtheyhad intentionally trained.This includesAsianwomenwhoaregenerally not considered racial minorities in tech since they are not underrepresented.Despitethefactthateachofthe13womenofcolorsheinterviewedhaddegrees,credentials,andexperiencespecifictoherjob;nonedescribedeverreceivingunexpectedpromotionsorencouragementtopursuemanagementbasedonthestrengthsoftheir“people”skills.MoreaboutSharla’sresearchisavailableonherwebsite.

NEXTSTEPSAtthecloseofeveryRoundTable,attendeescommittodirectactionstheycantakebacktotheirorganizationstohelpimprovethesuccess,experiences,andadvancementofwomen.

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Directactionitemsincluded:

• Askalumnitoself-reportgendermetricsaspartoffuturepresentations• Offerreward,credit,orrecognitionfordoingdiversitygroupwithintheuniversity• Traininterviewpanelstoincorporatethesepracticesandtotrackmetrics• Createconnectionsandcallstoactiontoreportandsharemetrics• Continuediversityworkthroughouttransitionfromacademiatoindustry• ExplorefuturepartnershipwithUCBerkeleyforWEmpower• Includemorestudentspeakersindiversityworkshopsandevents• Developfundingforresearchinthisareaandshareresultsmorebroadly• Askcompaniesandinterviewers,especiallythoserecruitingoncampus,abouttheir

genderanddiversitymetrics• Remembertoconsideralldimensionsofdiversity

TheSpring2019RoundTableisscheduledforJune7,2019,ontheUCBerkeleycampus.AllpastparticipantsoftheWiTLeadershipRoundTablesarecordiallyinvited.Contact:WITIDirectorJillFinlayson:finlayson@berkeley.eduWITIProgramManagerJenniferMangold:jmangold@berkeley.eduWebsite:http://witi.berkeley.edu