Over the last five years, I have taught more than 300 really smart students. One of the smartest, at the Masters of Engineering Management at Duke University, was Viva Leigh Miller, a black woman. She had the ambition of moving to Silicon Valley after she graduated last year. I expected she would become a hotshot CEO. But Viva couldn?t get a job in the Valley?despite introductions that I gave her to leading venture capitalists. I have never understood why. During my tech days, I would have hired Viva in a heartbeat. She had the determination, drive, and education that all tech companies look for. It raised a red flag in my mind. You can?t take one anecdote and extrapolate from that. It could just be that Viva didn?t connect with the right companies at the right time. But the harsh reality is that there is a dearth of women in tech. Just look around Silicon Valley?you don?t see many blacks there, or Hispanics either. Until recently, I didn?t know of even one black woman CEO (though I had heard a rumor that one or two existed). Yes, I know that few women and members of ethnic minorities study engineering; that some women can?t deal with the stress and just want to raise children; and that this is not Mike Arrington?s fault. It is noteworthy that blacks and Hispanics constitute only 1.5% and 4.7% respectively of the Valley?s tech population?well below national tech-population averages of 7.1% and 5.3%.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/ut_XzNc014M/
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