Women in Technology: Advice from a ConnectCentral 2018 Panel of Experts
Recently at RingCentral’s ConnectCentral 2018 cloud communications conference, we held our first-ever Women in Technology luncheon in which I moderated a panel of some prolific women speakers, including: Claudia Fan Munce, Member of Board, CoreLogic; Maureen Coughlin, CIO, Teachers College, Columbia University; Victoria Livschitz, Founder and CTO, Grid Dynamics; and Jenni Murer, CIO, Gant Travel.
Before opening the panel for questions from participants, we discussed our panelists’ paths to their careers in technology as well as their thoughts on how to inspire more women to pursue high tech careers. Responses from our panel were as varied as they are. Claudia Fan Munce studied computer science and began her career in R&D. She spent 15 years at IBM, attaining an MBA along the way, and shared that she felt like sticking with her path and career there long-term had been worthwhile. Jenni Murer, by contrast, studied communications in college and wanted to convey to the crowd that there is space in tech even for those with non-tech backgrounds. Maureen Coughlin is a New York Maritime graduate, 1 of 6 women out of 150 in her class, who began her career at age 22 building submarines and managing a crew of fifty welders. She credits this with giving her a thick skin early. Maureen transitioned into communications after her Coast Guard career and has spent 21 years at Teachers College. Victoria Livschitz began her career with GM in Detroit and shared how underground tunnels accessed via men’s restrooms connected buildings there, so she used to drive between buildings for warmth during the winter while men walked underground. Making sure that space is free and equal is something she’s been mindful of as she’s grown her companies.
Our panelists shared lots of valuable advice for how to get women into tech as well as how to convince them to stick with it. Maureen shared that Teachers College takes the lead on this in a lot of important ways as a school of education, always considered an equalizer when it comes to opportunity. She feels like it’s important to urge girl’s and women’s growth in areas that are hard to teach, like self-promotion. As a manager, she shares books and conference recommendations with her staff with an eye out for growth opportunities that will help them advance, whether they’re male or female. Claudia wants both women and men to know that they can be fantastic at their jobs and still not be rewarded with career opportunities unless they actively seek them out. She also wanted to share that, as successful as her career has been, she’s had “screw ups,” and her career hasn’t been linear. Growing up between two brothers, constantly having to fight for position, is part of what made her comfortable standing up for herself. She advocates saying “I can do that and more” when asked to take on new responsibilities and also urges women to take the glass ceiling out of our own heads. Ultimately, though, she acknowledged that the conversation is frustrating; as mother of two daughters, she knows that they’re having the same conversations that she was having as a girl and that it’s a problem when something like 2% of $85 billion goes to funding women. She feels a strong need for men to amplify a case for women’s advancement, sharing that once the stigmas are broken, parity will become organic. As for breaching these final tech frontiers, I threw out there that when we watch sci-fi movies, the voice of the future is most often a women’s voice. Victoria thinks that’s no accident because as tech shifts more and more toward the use of AI, we’ll move from how to solve problems to what problems one wants to solve -- questions that women will excel at answering.
We concluded our session with some last pieces of advice for women. Claudia shared that an important piece of advice given to her was that she can have it all, but she can’t do it all. She translated that advice into outsourcing what she could in her personal life to have more focused time with family. Maureen shared that it’s important not to need to be the loudest person in the room but also not to let anyone finish your sentences (and to be comfortable standing up against that). In response to audience questions, panelists urged women to be authentic and transparent, including by not hiding time spent away from work, as it could be viewed as a strength. All agreed on the importance of both being a mentor as well as seeking one out if necessary.
We considered our first Women in Tech luncheon a huge success and greatly look forward to next year’s, one in which we think we’ll need a bigger room based on the amount of interest and likely will make more time for more questions, too. Networking among women is something for which I strongly advocate, and, in the coming year, I hope you, too, will look for and foster such opportunities at your companies. I’m grateful to the panelists and the audience who spent this time discussing women in technology.
Originally published in LinkedIn