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Overcoming Obstacles to Success: Surviving and Thriving in the High Tech World

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. Introduction How are women doing in high tech? Obstacles to success How to survive How to thrive

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Overcoming Obstacles to Success: Surviving and Thriving in the High Tech World

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  1. Overcoming Obstacles to Success: Surviving and Thriving in the High Tech World Kelly Lopez File Sr. Competitive Strategy Manager Microsoft Corporation kellyfi@microsoft.com

  2. Agenda • Introduction • How are women doing in high tech? • Obstacles to success • How to survive • How to thrive • Personal highs and lows • Resources

  3. Introduction • 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 • 9 software development • 3 competitive marketing

  4. In the grand scheme of things…

  5. How are women doing in high tech? • Better in pay equity • 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

  6. Top 50 Fortune Most Powerful Women 1. Carly Fiorina – Chairman & CEO, Hewlett-Packard 2. Meg Whitman – President & CEO, eBAY 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

  7. Common obstacles • Attraction to technical education • Getting through the door • Retaining women long enough for them to move up • Individual obstacles

  8. Education issues • Qualified female students don’t choose scientific majors • OTA report of 2,000 9th grade students • 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 • College can reduce self esteem of women • 80 high school valedictorians – 20% of both men and women ranked selves as highly intelligent • During college, women outperformed in GPA • But only 3% of women vs.20% of men ranked selves high after sophomore year! • Personal experience • The other two women in my program quit during 1st quarter! • Issues with a prof that wanted to flunk me out of Analog Electronics • Lab partners scarce, had to be creative

  9. Filling the pipeline • UMass College of Engineering – great work! • Minority Engineering Program • Engineering Exploration Program (SWE, Girl Scouts, College of Engineering effort) • Women in Engineering Program • TWIST – great way to retain women! • Corporate sponsorship • IBM, Ford, Raytheon, Texas Instruments, Microsoft • Take Your Daughters to Work Day

  10. Getting through the employer’s door • Hiring processes can be um, biased… • Women often disqualify themselves • Men: 20% job knowledge is enough • Women: 80%! • Not negotiating well starts you at a disadvantage • Learn to “sell” your qualities to prospective employers • On the other hand… • Education pipeline problems mean fewer female candidates available – they need you • NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK Networking is the #1 success factor for women in high tech

  11. Retention • Women are highest turnover group • Work-life balance • Lack of mentoring and networking • Can’t fulfill ambitions, lack of professional development • “No matter how hard I try, I won’t win” • Lack of visibility to upper management • Turnover makes it hard to find qualified female candidates for leadership roles Mentoring is key to retention

  12. Individual obstacles • “The imposter” syndrome • Stanford study shows men more confident • Men more confident that they can handle the workload (2x) • Women half as comfortable speaking up in class • 33% of women (vs 9% men) fear that speaking up will expose them as imposters • Women tend to downgrade their capabilities • Success attributed to “lots of hard work” vs. men who claim “innate ability” • Competing can be uncomfortable • Fear of the unknown, aversion to changes

  13. How to survive • Fake it until you feel more confident!! • 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

  14. How to thrive • Get more comfortable with risks, change • My switch to sales and marketing • Stepped down from manager to individual contrib role • “Can do” attitude helps ensure success • Mentor and be mentored • 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 MentorNet program – use it! • Enjoy working with men • They say what they think • They make great mentors • They have wives and daughters, too… • NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK

  15. My experiences… Just like the Olympics: “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat!”

  16. The Agony of Defeat • 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 1st 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

  17. The Thrill of Victory • Overcame fear of public speaking! • 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 • Conference Board conference, sharing results with MS management • Most Influential Women of Color in Technology award • Included live radio interview • Mentoring and being mentored • Technical accomplishments • Kernel mode driver development in C++ of an NFS Server • Designed and implemented an API for a customer; resulted in $1M sale • Promoted to manage a team within a year at Microsoft

  18. Working mommy moments • 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

  19. Resources • Contact me: • Kellyfi@microsoft.com • MentorNet: 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 McKenna and McHenry • Why So Slow: The Advancement of Women by Virginia Valian

  20. Congratulations! Enjoy the new Microsoft Center for Women in Engineering and Science Questions/Comments?

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