Article by aashia mehta

BY: AASHIA MEHTA

“MIND THE GAP” WOMEN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AT GOOGLE

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placidly make my way to the AP Computer Science room and take out my laptop anxiously waiting to learn about the new topic for the day--Java arrays. I load my coding compiler, Eclipse, and my screen flashes a myriad of numbers and letters, which would seem like gibberish to any other student outside the class. The piece of source code becoming a useful program reminded me of myself and how I would eventually fulfill my dreams of developing into an impactful computer scientist through the knowledge of programming. It amazed me how something as simple as numbers and letters could

potentially code for the latest technology. Suddenly, I feel the breath of the annoyingly witty “class clown” on my shoulder and swiftly turn around. He smirks, “you should really wear glasses.

Women don’t C#.” I furiously pivot back to the front of the classroom and slam on my keys pretending to be occupied with my code, while occasionally glancing from side to side to witness any judgmental stares. Why was it that I was one out of the three women in AP Computer Science? Why did the girls in my grade not enjoy technology as much as I did? As I pondered these questions, the five minute bell rang and class

had

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officially

started.

here are prominent women technologists that have been impacting people all around the world and empowering the next generation of female leaders. However, there is still a large gender gap; therefore, Google is trying to promote diversity in its workforce. Three particular women have changed the field of computer science in the Google Maps department in Local Search: Elizabeth Reid, Gaurangi Tilak-Abhyankar, and Claire Cui. Reid applied to Google in 2003 and is currently an Engineering Director working fulltime with two

children. On the other hand, Tilak-Abhyankar is

K A L I T I G N A R U GA

CLAIRE CUI

ELIZABE

TH REID

INSPIRATIONAL WOMEN

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a Software Engineer that has been working for Google for 6 years after becoming interested in the company through an internship.

Cui, a Software Engineer and current Distinguished Engineer, graduated from Stanford with a PhD in computer science and immediately joined Google to write computer programs, do research, and develop products. These women are significant parts of the corporation because they “aren’t building a product for a very small slice of the world. [They] are actually building a number of

and Microsoft followed suit (Feloni). The wage gap has also been an issue; in November 2 0 1 4 , “according to the American A ssociation of University Women, female workers in the computer science field make 77 percent what their male peers do one year out of college” (Fung).

Nonet h eles s, Google has s u cces s f u l l y become more diverse in terms of females. According to Fortune Magazine, in January 2015 “women now make up 18% of Google’s technical employees, up one percentage point from last year” (Kokalitcheva).

products used by a billion people everyday” (Reid).

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he gender disparity of women in computer science has been a constant problem of the past.

According to USA Today, in 2012, women received only 12% of computer science undergraduate degrees (Weise). This pervasive bias was apparent when Google started collecting data on the gender makeup of its employees in Spring 2013 and decided to publicly release its diversity reports in May 2014. Avoiding the risk of bad press, major technology companies such as Facebook

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iversity in the workforce is very important to represent different perspectives, but the stereotypes associated with this career lead to a lack of women. Elizabeth Reid asserted, “you need it from a business reason because you won’t build the right products, but I also

want to see other people supported and not feel excluded. There’s diversity in actuality and there’s diversity of the culture” (Reid). Conventionally, stay-at-home moms are more likely than stay-athome dads and computer science has been known to be a career for men.

Most of the women that Reid had known in college switched to a computer science major because someone encouraged them.

However, she concluded that convincing women to join a field that has been stereotyped for so long would be difficult. She exclaimed, “we just don’t have enough women in tech to then show people what women in tech could look like. If we start to tip it, hopefully it will change” (Reid). Lastly, the women claimed work-life balance is tough when it comes to women because

they have children they not want to be the weakling have to tend to. Women and delay the progress of at Google would bring in her projects. Nonetheless, she had to re-evaluate her priorities because writing code required an extensive amount of focus. She also took a short-term disability from work during her pregnancy and the projects she was leading had to be given to others, which she felt was a right decision for the company. As a - ELIZABETH REID mother, producing the same results as men in complementary skillsets and the workforce is challenging. lead to an impressive culture However, over the years and productivity, which Google has provided benefits is why Google stepped for working moms to solve up to make computer these issues and allow for a science a career for all. more inclusive environment where every Googler has ive years ago, Cui had to the opportunity to work work at home because to their fullest potentials. her first daughter was The Google DayCare for born and she had to nurse her children set up by Susan child while coding until 2:00 Wojcicki, the YouTube AM in the morning. She did Senior Vice President, has

“We just don’t have enough women in tech to show people what women in tech could look like. If we tip it, hopefully it will change.”

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helped countless women.

Cui believes that if Google “build[s] things that attract women and solve[s] their problems, then [the women] will help [them] solve the company’s problems” (Cui).

The company also offers a three months pregnancy leave, which gives plenty of time for women to recuperate after childbirth.

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that stood her in good stead with her peers, regardless of gender” (Beyer). TilakAbhyankar described her experience at the conference in Houston as being overwhelmingly amazing.

She had attended a panel of NASA women in high-level positions: an astronaut, chief information officer, and CFO. Through this

oogle celebrates diversity by having annual programs such as Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and pays for travel

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sponsorships f o r this event, attracting m a n y women. Grace Hopper was an American computer scientists, who invented the first compiler and the computer language COBOL. She had “programming knowledge and expertise

opp or t un ity, she felt inspired by these senior women that were doing very well in their fields. Along with gatherings of women technologists, Google has found more ways to stop biases from occurring, while making women feel safe and appreciated. All employees have to take a mandatory course on addressing unconscious bias. In the

interview and hiring process, Google tries to make sure that women interview other women to make them feel more comfortable and assure them that they have women colleagues they can depend on.

Google g uara nt e es to ensure fair ness a n d

e quity for both g e n d e r s (DiversityGoogle). Furthermore, a network for women called Women@Google, an employee resource group comprised of 4,000+ female Googlers committed to providing networking and mentoring opportunities, professional development, and a sense of community to Googler women across 27 countries, was created.

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couple years ago, Ti l a k - A b h y a n k a r volunteered at an event hosted by Google where she taught Android development to high school and middle school girls and

held a small competition.

She stated that when Google allows “students to collaborate and meet with other people in the industry… [it would] get them motivated to join STEM” (TilakAbhyankar). In the future, Google plans to make more of an effort to become more diverse by tackling the younger generation and fixing the problem of women wages being higher than men. Influencing perceptions of computer science starts in middle and high school, so sparking interest earlier in the the education cycle rather than at the time of hiring would be very helpful. According to Cui, “STEM is not very flashy,

it is not very colorful, it is unconscious bias.

The not very visual, sometimes industry at large has a wage it’s very abstract. You have problem and the challenge is how to fix it (Reid).

“Computer science moves us forward to the next generation because it develops so fast and makes things that were impossible possible today.”

- CLAIRE CUI to go into it to discover the beauty of it” (Cui). If media portrays computer scientists in a more diverse light, this may solve some of the current issues and increase access and exposure as well (“Diversity --Google”). Reid brought up how Google is looking at questions around pay and promotion to avoid

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ust as Reid, Cui, and TilakAbhyankar became successful at Google in their department, I aspired to become successful as a woman in computer science.

By starting off with simple pieces of coding, I can unfold an entire project.

Cui advises girls interested in computer science, “Art and culture are the anchors in our society, but computer science moves us forward to the next generation because it develops so fast and make things that were impossible possible today” (Cui).

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WORKS CITED Beyer, Kurt. Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age.

Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2009. Print.

Cui, Claire. Personal Interview. 18 March. 2016.

“Diversity - Google.” Diversity - Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.

Feloni, Richard. “Google’s Diversity Chief Explains Why the Company

Decided to Release Its Bleak Diversity Numbers Last Year.” Business

Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Fung, Brian. “Top Male Engineers at Google Make Nearly 20% More than

Their Female Peers.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26

Nov. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Kokalitcheva, Kia. “Google’s Workplace Diversity Still Has a Long Way

to Go.” Fortune Googles Workplace Diversity Still Has a Long Way

to Go Comments. Fortune, 01 June 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

Reid, Elizabeth. Personal Interview. 25 March. 2016.

Tilak-Abhyankar, Gaurangi. Personal Interview. 22 March. 2016.

Weise, Elizabeth. “Google Discloses Its (lack Of) Diversity.” USA Today.

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Gannett, 15 Aug. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.