the power of #dadops for #womenintech

The Power of #DadOps for women in tech

Amanda Whaley @mandywhaley

Monktoberfest 2016

Cisco DevNet Director of Developer Experience & Evangelism

#FamilyOps

I want to talk about #WomeninTech for:• My awesome friends and peers who are also women in tech• For my company because diverse teams are better at

solving problems• For the amazing women on my team who are forging their

career paths• And for these crazy kiddos.. • I want STEM to be a diverse and fun place to work when

they get there.

Talk about WomenInTech? The topic is so big, so complicated. I’d better leave it to the experts.

Too close to home, too personal...I rather talk about containers or python!

It feels like a minefield. I am afraid I will unintentionally offend someone.

So many pieces to this puzzle... Where would I even start?

I am developer. I don’t know how to solve these kinds of problems.

Will people make assumptions about me?

?

#Iamawomenintech• B.S Chemical Engineering

• M.S Computer Engineering

Worked in Chemical Eng. Process &

Control, Civil Engineering firms creating

simulation software, many years as a

software and web developer, full time

community college computer science

prof, development lead at startups, and

now Cisco!

#womenintech#Iamawomanintech

Here’s some of my story

Disclaimer: I’m not an expert. This is non-scientific, empirical evidence, based on my personal experience …

help me try, learn & iterate

Who’s a Dad or Uncle? Who has a daughter or a

niece?

Dads have some special powers

"A report from the Girl Scouts Research Institute found that 68% of girls interested in STEM studies report that their fathers encourage them to pursue careers in those fields. Fathers – and other male champions of

change – are key factors in the participation of girls and women in STEM fields, which is fundamental for global economic progress."

But how?“Encourage” is a fuzzy word

Are there some specific ways that #DadOps can help girls get into and stay in STEM?

5 Specific Things I am glad my Dad did for me

Develop an Engineering Mindset

Try, fail, iterate…teach your daughter to deal with the unknown

The thought process is more important than a specific technology.

School is predictablePredictable, rules, defined outcomes

Few opportunities to learn to fail, try, iterate in school.It is important to build this mindset at home.

• Lawyer & Doctor

• Telescopes• Cameras• Audiophile• Machine

Shop• Bicycles• Vintage Cars• Ukes!

He gave me many examples of learning

something newMany examples of iterating on the unknown

Many examples of things not always working perfectly

He didn’t let me sit on the side lines of this

learning“Come over here and solder this wire…”

Bring your daughter into the project, share the journey and the iteration

Owning technology starts with the

technology @ homeWhat technology is your house?

What technology do the girls in your house “own”?

Here’s your stereo!

Let her be the sysadmin (and give supportive guidance)

Some people giving it a try…

Debate with your daughter

About anything…Star Wars, Minecraft, Scrabble Rules, Music etc.

And listen to what she says...

Help her learn to communicate her ideas effectively to her peers… even if she is the only woman in the room.

Let’s end the “Woman in a Meeting” meme

Its ok to break away from the pack

Choosing a technical field, is a choice, and it is counter to what most of your friends will choose…

To inspirit, hearten, embolden, to mean to fill with courage or strength of purpose.

This is the “encourage” part

“They are not my friends, they are just my age.”-- my middle school self

Have that important and awkward talk with your

daughter about…

Calculus

Women 1.5 Times More Likely to Leave STEM Pipeline after Calculus Compared to Men: Lack of Mathematical Confidence a Potential Culprit

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0157447

Women 1.5 Times More Likely to Leave STEM Pipeline after Calculus Compared to Men: Lack of Mathematical Confidence a Potential Culprit

Ellis J, Fosdick BK, Rasmussen C (2016) Women 1.5 Times More Likely to Leave STEM Pipeline after Calculus Compared to Men: Lack of Mathematical Confidence a Potential Culprit. PLoS ONE 11(7): e0157447. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157447http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0157447

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0157447

Table 2. Switchers’ reasons for not intending to take Calculus II.



Fig 5. Projected participation of STEM if women and men persisted at equal rates after

Calculus I.



What can we do?• Prepare with “the talk”• Calculus is important because it is a gateway to bigger, better things. • An “80” is OK• One class does not determine if you should continue in STEM or not.

• Share stories• Building a set of stories from people about experiences that affected their

mathematical confidence and how they kept going

I want to solve this problem. Do you want to

help?MathIsNotTheProblem.com

5 Specific Ways to “Encourage”

• Develop a “Try, Fail, Iterate” Mindset• Owning Technology begins with the tech at home• Debate with your daughter• It’s OK to breakaway from the pack• Have the “Calculus” talk

Mandy Whaley@mandywhaley