experiences that situate the
technology in realistic settings”
could draw more girls into the
field [7].
[9] “Her Code:
Engendering Change in
the Silicon Valley”;
http://www.slideshare.
net/playslides/her-code-report-olsf/;
http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=JyXT4N3
K1WA/; http://www.
orange.com/en_EN/
press/press_releases/
cp090722en.jsp/
findings. When asked about gender differences in learning about
technology, Emily, a 13-year-old
student, commented: “Anyone
can learn, if they just get accustomed to it. Technology is cool
for both genders actually. Maybe
a lot of people think that boys
are more into it, but recently
with all the Girls Tech Challenge
and SD Forum promoting girls
[they are] getting them interested in science and technology.
Everyone can do it.”
January + February 2010
[10] These include
women with computer
science or engineer-
ing backgrounds,
like Marissa Mayer of
Google, Leah Culver of
Pownce, Gina Bianchini
of Ning, and Ann
Winblad of Winblad
Hummer.
Anika Ayyar, a seventh grader
at Harker School in San Jose, CA,
is exemplary of the shift toward
a more socially conscious
deployment of technology.
Ayyar is the founder of Skip-
a-Birthday.com, whose main
purpose is to “introduce philanthropy to kids.” Skip-a-Birthday
connects tweens and teens, 10
to 18 years old, whose birthdays
are at about the same time, and
gets them to “skip” an elaborate
birthday party and instead work
together to raise funds for a
worthy organization.
interactions
Research conducted in 2009
by Orange Labs San Francisco
(OLSF) provides some hope.
Guided by a historical perspective, enriched by interviews with
high-profile women executives
and journalists in technology,
supplemented by interviews
with young girls, and complemented by literature review
and secondary research, the
research project “Her Code:
Engendering Change in the
Silicon Valley” examined the
under-representation of women
in STEM fields. The project
results are available in multiple
formats: a magazine, a report,
and a video [9]. Interviews conducted by Pascale Diaine of
OLSF for the Her Code project,
highlight the technological shift
of “computing for a purpose.”
Diaine’s interviews at the SD
Forum’s Teen Tech Titans of
Tomorrow provide concrete
examples of how “a more contextual approach includes early
Since the Margolis study,
“experience with computers
between boys and girls has
equalized,” according to the
National Center for Women
& Information Technology.
Another interview at the SD
Forum resonates with these
Social Seen
In addition to young girls, OLSF
interviewed many of the female
stars of Silicon Valley who have
developed codes, started com-
panies, and funded startups
for the HerCode project [10].
These women are omnipresent
at networking functions and
online, be it news coverage,
You Tube, blogs, Flickr, or Twitter.
Their adept use of social media
provides young women with a
