Co-authors: Farai Chideya (L) and Vivek Wadhwa (R)
Innovating Women explores the world of women in the technology industry, and other fields of innovation, but told from the unique perspective and first-hand experience of women in the front-line. This extraordinary collection of personal, highly candid interviews and essays from hundreds of technology executives and entrepreneurs, gives an insight into the challenges faced by women in this sector, and how they have achieved success despite the odds.
It is an amazing statistic, but today in the US, only 14% of engineers are women, although half of the population is made up of women. The problem for society is that the future of technological advancement depends on the full and active participation of both men and women working together to find the solutions to the many challenges in the world. So, why are more women not encouraged to go into the tech sectors as a career path, and what are the barriers to success facing those that do? These are just some of the issues addressed through the powerful anecdotes and essays collected by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya and writer and advocate, Vive, Wadhwa, in this incredibly powerful new book, Innovating Women. These fresh perspectives, shared by hundreds of women working in STEM fields, gives an insight into the challenges facing women in this growing and important sector, the strategies they have to employ in the workplace to get ahead, and the interventions needed to support the career advancement of women in technology. This is a powerful discussion on how to accelerate much needed change in the technology sector for women, both now and in the future.
Women in technology are on the rise in both power and numbers, and now it’s more important than ever to not lose that momentum, to “lean in” and close the gender gap.
About The Authors:
Farai Chideya spearheaded the story collection and writing of Innovating Women. She is an award-winning journalist and professor, who has worked in print, television, radio, and digital media. Now a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, she began her career as a fact-checker at Newsweek magazine and was promoted to a Washington-based reporter. Chideya has been a producer for MTV News, an on-air political analyst for CNN, a reporter and guest host at ABC News, a host at Oxygen Media, and the host of the NPR program “News and Notes”. She is the author of four books: Don't Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans; The Color of Our Future; Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters; and the novel Kiss the Sky. She currently blogs at Farai.com; is a contributor to New York Public Radio; and appears on cable television programs and radio programs regarding politics.
Vivek Wadhwa is a a longtime advocate of diversity in STEM-related fields. He is Vice President of Innovation and Research at Singularity University; Fellow, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Stanford University; Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University; and distinguished visiting scholar at the Halle Institute of Global Learning, Emory University. He is a prolific writer and author of The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent – which was named by The Economist as a Book of the Year in 2012. Learn more about Vivek at wadhwa.com
Why LoA loves it:
This is a unique book on many levels and well worth a read. Firstly, Farai Chideya and Vivek Wadhwa used the powerful mechanism of crowdsourcing to encourage women in the technology sector to share their stories and experiences. Particularly interesting are the essays written by some of the USA’s most powerful women in the technology industry such as Megan Smith who is the US Chief Technology Officer, and Mary Grove who heads up Google for Entrepreneurs. Innovating Women is a rich source of information, optimism and inspiration for all those women who look to make a real contribution to the future of technology and build meaningful careers at the top of their chosen fields. A really compelling and inspirational read. -- LoA Editor