infoTalk Podcast

At Blogher, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by John Furrier about women in technology and what we're doing at Six Apart.

Now, I'm all for podcasting, but if the rise in popularity means I have more chances to hear myself speak online, I'm afraid for the future. :) As I tend to do when I'm nervous, I ramble on a bit and don't articulate well my intended message. However, I don't say anything insane like "women are bad at math" so I'm pleased.

Some points that I do want to articulate better here:

At one point I talk about male-dominated fields like engineering versus more female-dominated fields like design and marketing. I don't make the point well at all, but I'm trying to say that it's an arbitrary societal construct that engineering is more valued than something like marketing or design. Personally, I think that the ability to communicate and understand the way people think about products is something that is incredibly difficult to learn. Likewise with design.

The second point comes later on in the podcast. I'm talking about teenage girls and technology. What I wanted to say is that with the rise of online social networking services that place a high value on posting revealing photos and being a bit trampy, it's so crucial for older, more establish women, to set a good example for these girls. Teenagers are curious about sex -- that's a given. But at the same time, as software developers, we need to create the sort of services that encourage teenagers (boys and girls) to be creative and not fall into typical roles.

There's so much we can do to encourage women to enter technology and I think it's incredibly important that the women out there set examples of what can be done. But at the same time, it's not just a women in technology problem. I think all young women need to learn that ambition is a good thing and not to be afraid to challenge all situations.