women in tech

It was a sunny and warm afternoon in July when I dropped by Facebook's old headquarters on California street in Palo Alto, just two blocks from Stanford University. As the editor-at-large of Mashable, I was a frequent visitor of Facebook HQ, mostly for product launches and the occasional interview.

This visit was different, though. I wasn't there as a journalist looking for a story; I was there seeking advice from one of the people I respect most -- Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

At the time, I was in talks to start and run the digital arm of a … Read more

commentary I am going to make you uncomfortable. I'm going to make myself uncomfortable. I'm going to talk about the intersection of leadership, gender, motherhood, and personality. More specifically, I'd like to talk about Marissa Mayer, who is a new breed of woman in technology and business and -- as a pregnant CEO -- a role model of the highest order.

I've been lucky enough to meet Mayer, the newly appointed Yahoo CEO and hopeful savior, twice. The first time made a lasting impression. I had just been promoted to editor-in-chief of CNET Reviews, and I … Read more

Facebook is looking to add more diversity to its all-male board, including at least one female director, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed "people familiar with the matter." But don't expect any changes prior to the social network's scheduled IPO on Friday.

According to the Bloomberg report, Facebook has brought on executive-recruiting firm Spencer Stuart to identify possible new board candidates. Neither Facebook nor Spencer Stuart commented to Bloomberg.

A couple of decades ago, women graduating from one of the thousands of colleges in India had limited options. If they went with the more popular career choices of the time, they could teach in a school, work at a bank or for the government. These days, they have another professional avenue - the IT services industry.

According to official data, India's IT and BPO services industry employs some three million workers. Today about a quarter or more of these are women, says India's industry trade body Nasscom. That is up from a fifth of the workforce in … Read more

"This is my daughter, who just turned 9. She's amazing, and I want her to grow up to be a mad scientist and to take over the world."

So begins writer Jordan Stratford's Kickstarter pitch video for "Wollstonecraft," the first of what he hopes will be a series of steampunky, historical novels for kids and young adults that will "inspire a generation of girls about imagination and science."

Stratford says he wants to give young girls like his daughter "actual historical role models that show them that math and science and imagination are incredible tools that can shape their world." And he's chosen as his two heroines Mary Shelley, of "Frankenstein" fame -- the world's first science fiction writer, he calls her -- and Ada Byron, whom some regard as the world's first computer programmer.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Even though women have taken great strides in technology, a panel of top women in the industry suggested that great role models could help them gain more.

Those role models shouldn't be merely top executives, said Cisco Systems Chief Technology Officer Padmasree Warrior, one of the highest ranking women in the industry. Young women considering pursuing careers in tech need to see accomplished women in a variety of jobs.

"We need to have successful role models at every level," Warrior said during CNET Women in Tech panel at the Consumer Electronics Show here this afternoon.

Warrior … Read more

It's not news that women don't come to CES in droves--it's always been this way.

When I bring up the topic, I often get this response from both men and women, sometimes with a shrug: "Women just don't like technology the same way that men do," or "It's like sports; men care about the fiddling with technology. Women just want it to work." The prevailing thinking is that men are from GadgetLand and women are from...somewhere else. And no one seems particularly upset about it.

We should be more upset … Read more

Single women rival single men as tech device owners, according to a Forrester Research survey released Thursday.

Obviously, to an organization filled with female tech geeks, the study was met with bemusement.

But the survey of more than 1,000 single adult males and more than 1,000 single adult females in the United States and Canada had some interesting gems.

Did you know that single women prefer laptops while single men prefer desktops? Among the adult singles surveyed, 47 percent of women said their next computer would be a laptop, and 29 percent said it would be a desktop, … Read more

When the cat's away, the mice will play! Or something to that effect. Donald is taking some well-deserved vacation this week, which gives Jasmine the perfect opportunity to run amok, spouting off on anything her little heart desires (within the confines of the MP3 player/headphone topic, of course). She opts to invite fellow female tech editors Bonnie Cha and Nicole Lee on the show to tear down or shore up stereotypes about gadget-conscious ladies and just generally gab about all things portable audio.

SanDisk announces 8GB Sansa Clip

MP3 players with dedicated volume controls… Read more