Why Are Women Largely Absent In The World of Hi-Tech?

Whether we acknowledge it or not, every company has a particular culture (as does every group of humans, actually). As a corporate anthropologist, I have always been deeply interested in the role culture plays in business, studying the ways it can propel a company forward or hold it back. Along those lines, I’ve lately started looking into how culture helps or hinders the advancement of women in business, and conducting research on the type of cultures in which women prefer to work. (For more details, read the article I wrote for Forbes in June of this year.) 

Where are all the women in business?

Apparently I hit upon a hot topic! I have had several interviews lately on radio shows where our conversation turned from “What is anthropology, anyway?” to “What do you see happening to women and corporate cultures today?” And by the way, where are those women in the Silicon Valleys of the world? Is their absence a reflection of the cultures that arise in male-dominated world of hi-tech?

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Middleton for the San Andi Simon and Jason Middleton for the San Francisco KGO 810 Techonomics showFrancisco KGO 810 Techonomics radio show.

It was a wonderful discussion about things that really matter to Jason — like why there are so few women in hi-tech firms. And why aren’t women finding more VC monies to start their own businesses? And if hedge funds run by women do far better than those run by men, why aren’t more of them, and more companies in general, for that matter, developing women for those C-suite jobs?

But rather than steal the whole show, I invite you to listen to our radio podcast — Jason produced two of them (highly unusual, I’m told) — and then tell us what you think. Just click on the links below.

We look forward to hearing from you at info@simonassociates.net.

Maybe a little anthropology could help your business?

At SAMC, we help organizations grow and thrive amidst today’s changing times. A major way we do that is by using the tools and methods of corporate anthropology to analyze and then adjust a company’s culture. Contact us for a free consultation. We’d love to talk with you.

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From Observation to Innovation

Andi Simon
Corporate Anthropologist | President
Simon Associates Management Consultants