Innovating Women Book Summary - Innovating Women Book explained in key points

Innovating Women summary

Name: Innovating Women
Author: Vivek Wadhwa and Farai Chideya

Vivek Wadhwa and Farai Chideya

The Changing Face of Technology

15 mins

Brief summary

Innovating Women by Vivek Wadhwa and Farai Chideya tells the stories of women who fought for their place in the tech industry, and offers solutions to promote gender diversity and equality.

Topics

Simplify Podcast Diversity & Inclusion

Table of Contents

Innovating Women
Summary of 8 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Learn about the women who are changing technology against all the odds!

The women who are driving technological innovations and pioneering business today are the ones you’ve never heard of. These blinks shine a light on the breakthroughs being made by female innovators today, from their academic success to their innate knack for business, and instigation of vital social change. It also reveals the incredible challenges that women face, due to gender discrimination that is deeply – but not irredeemably – rooted in the industry. Astonishing statistics and inspiring personal tales make these blinks a fascinating read and a reality check.

In the following blinks, you’ll also learn

how 2001: A Space Odyssey and a brilliant female innovator brought live sports to your living room;
the euphemistic technical term for only hiring white male nerds; and
how sexual harassment killed a multi-million-dollar deal.

Women are vital innovators in the technology industry – yet we often only hear about men.

Think about some of the great innovators in the technology industry. Who comes to mind first? Founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, or Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame? Or perhaps, Kay Koplovitz? If you haven’t heard of Koplovitz’s groundbreaking work, here’s the reason why: She’s a woman.

Why is it that we usually associate the technological advances of recent decades with only the men behind them?

It’s not the case that women don’t have what it takes to innovate, in fact, quite the opposite. A study conducted by the National Science Foundation found that females matched males in mathematical achievement. Moreover, for every 100 men that enrol in higher education, there are 140 women.

Not only do women excel academically, they are also no less business-savvy than men, if not more so. Another study completed by Babson’s Global Entrepreneurship revealed that female-led high-tech start-ups have noticeably lower failure rates than those that are male leaders.

Despite this, the technology industry itself often praises the achievements of men only. In fact, even over the past few years, the TechCrunch Crunchies Awards (the Oscars of the tech industry), have often been exclusively awarded to men. As a result, we’re often left unaware of the achievements of female innovators like Kay Klopovitz, who you should thank if you’ve ever watched a live sports game on TV.

In 1977, Klopovitz singlehandedly brought professional sport to cable television in the United States. Inspired by a talk given by the author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke, she brought the future to life by developing the novel idea of using satellites for commercial rather than military purposes.

If only we heard more about success stories like Klopovitz, we’d see that women might even have an edge over men in their abilities to innovate. This is exactly what we’ll be exploring in the next blink, as we take a closer look at the tech businesswomen we rarely hear about.

Studies have shown that women achieve greater success as entrepreneurs than men.

Did you know that women actually have a knack for success in entrepreneurial ventures?

In 2009, a Kauffman Foundation study showed that women were more capital-efficient than men. Or, in plain English, women in business spend the money they start off with more wisely. They also see more stable or greater returns on this money.

Female-led technology businesses enjoy huge success, and still don’t receive the funding they deserve.

The CEO characters that you see in TV shows and movies all tend to look the same – middle-aged, suited-up and male. But this pop culture stereotype is far from reality – while we don’t often see powerful female CEOs depicted in the media, female-led and -owned businesses shouldn’t be overlooked.

Not only are women beginning to lead their own companies, they’re also enjoying large amounts of success. And they’re no minority either – the Center for Women’s Business Research says that as many as 41 percent of private businesses in the United States are owned by women.

Women in the technology industry have brought about enormous social change.

Not only are women making waves in technology, they’re also making a difference in the world. Many female innovators have utilized technology to address worldwide poverty and inequality. As entrepreneurs, women have a vested interest in overcoming an oppressive status quo.

Women all over the world are socially and economically marginalized, and this is particularly clear in developing countries. For example, in Mexico, the prevailing macho culture forces women into traditional gender roles and often prevents girls, particularly in rural towns, from completing their education.

Gender bias exists at all levels of the technology industry.

Right from the outset, women in technology struggle against the industry’s gender bias. In fact, this sort of discrimination begins before they can even launch their careers.

Many women and minorities are actively discouraged from pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. These disciplines, known as the STEM fields, are rife with gender stereotypes – countless women talk even of high school teachers who deemed them not good enough to make a career in STEM, despite their exceptional grades.

Motherhood and family pose unique challenges for the female entrepreneur.

It’s easy to admire the success of a high-powered male professional. But you should remember that these men enjoy an advantage: they have been free to pursue their career, unlike women, who are forced to decide between career and family in order to achieve their goals.

This is a great challenge for female professionals, especially as workplace culture makes technology industries notoriously unfriendly places for single mothers. The collective mind-sets of many start-ups are geared toward the single male rather than a woman with family responsibilities.

Workplace sexism is unfortunately still rife in the technology industry.

Although we wish it were a thing of the past, sexual discrimination is still alive and well. In fact, it’s something women have to deal with on a daily basis to varying degrees.

Remember the “female tax” we learned about earlier? Well, it also extends to what female professionals wear – make-up, style and sex appeal are all things women have to worry about before they even start the day. Some businesswomen have even internalized this, instructing younger employees to pay attention to how they dress as a critical factor in their career success.

If we recognize the issues that women face, we can change hiring policies to empower them.

From what we’ve seen of the workplace culture in the technology industry, the challenges for women are deeply entrenched. Which makes one wonder – is change even possible?

Not if we deny the problem, which only reduces accountability and maintains the harmful status quo. Instead, gender imbalances need to be discussed in a public forum, though such dialogue may not be received warmly.
For instance, in 2010, co-author Vivek Wadwha published a widely read piece called Silicon Valley: You and Some of Your VCs have a Gender Problem that exposed the shocking gender imbalances in high tech companies. It was met with a huge uproar, and many senior figures publicly attacked the author on social media. Some colleagues even emailed him, saying “there are easier ways to get laid.”
The article also brought Twitter under fire, by exposing the imbalanced demographics in the company: all of Twitter’s board members and executives were male. Its leaders vociferously attacked those that attempted to bring the gender issue to light. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo actively denied the existence of the issue.
However, in 2014, Twitter added an additional female board member, and a flurry of other tech companies followed suit. Clearly, it took a large-scale public relations embarrassment for Twitter to bring positive change to their company and others.
Positive change in the technology industry should begin with reform in a crucial area: hiring policies. If recruitment pools are broadened, there is a chance to bring about gender equality. Universities have equal numbers, if not greater numbers, of female STEM graduates than male. If firms recruit directly from graduate programs, a higher percentage of female applicants are instantly available.
Another way to increase diversity is through a quota system. This has been successful in other fields such as sports management. For example, the “Rooney rule” employed in National Football League ensures that minorities are interviewed for management positions. This could be an effective approach in the technology industry, ensuring that a certain percentage of positions are filled by women.

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What is Innovating Women about?

Innovating Women takes a critical look at today’s technology industry, which, for all its success, remains incredibly old fashioned in its gender imbalance. Statistics and case studies help us scrutinize major players in the technology industry, while personal stories give insights into the lives of talented female innovators working hard against the odds.

Best quote from Innovating Women

Women instinctively know how to play where no one else is playing.

—Vivek Wadhwa and Farai Chideya

Who should read Innovating Women?

Anyone seeking to learn more about the technology industry, entrepreneurship, or major online companies like Google and Facebook
Anyone interested in gender equality
Anyone interested in the personal stories of innovators in the tech industry

About the Author

Vivek Wadhwa is a fellow of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. Foreign Policy magazine named him one of 2012’s Top 100 Global Thinkers.

Farai Chideya is a multi-award-winning journalist and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University.

Categories with Innovating Women

Technology & the Future Society & Culture Entrepreneurship

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