Tag Archive | Woman
January 7, 2015  

Je suis Charlie : no innovation without free ideas

JeSuisCharlie

There is no way with integrism and destruction of people and ideas.

There is no innovation without free idea and ability to think what women an men want to think.

There is no possible solution if there is not the indignation of every citizen facing human barbarity.

Freedom of thought must be defended by all.

January 25, 2014  

How to innovate to reduce discrimination against women

SalaryHerHis

Is there really a discrimination again women?

The film shows what kind of images are showed by some commercial medias. The film showed American medias but in all industrialize countries, we can found these movies that gives this women’s vision.

Beyond medias, is there really some discriminations against women, and especially in industrialised countries ? Simple fact allows us to see the evidence; in Europe, in Russia and Australia, Women are less paid from 17% in comparison with Men, in United States 19%, in UK 21%, in Japan 33% and in Korea 38%. There is no country without any discrimination against women but Scandinavian and New Zealand countries have low discriminations.

But there are other discriminations that have higher consequence.

What are the ratio of Women who have Top Board responsibility?

The best, in Norway, 39% of Board seats are attributed to Women. In USA, 15,7%, in France, 12,7%, in UK, 12,5% and in Germany 11,2%. In the BRICST countries, Brazil, 5,1%, Russia 5,9%, India 5,3%, China 8,5%, South Africa 15,8% and Turkey 10,8%.

Women managers are 20% less paid that men in France; average salary discrimination is around 17% for all categories of Women jobs. Higher the level in the hierarchy is, higher the inequality is.

Anyway, progress is there but the equality will be long to obtain in the current trend…

In 1980, 25% of managers were female; in 2010, 38%.

25% of worldwide countries have legal restrictions on women’s right to work. There is some reductions of restrictions, decade after decade.

Around the world, almost 20% of national parliamentary seats are now occupied by women, up from 17.2% five years ago.

It will take more than 50 years in the current trend to reduce completely the discrimination against women. Can we accelerate the trend? It is up to all of us, women and men to be informed and to make some concrete actions to reduce them.

Check this very interesting blog with a lot of statistics about women’s discrimination

http://filipspagnoli.wordpress.com/stats-on-human-rights/statistics-on-discrimination/statistics-on-discrimination-of-women/#2

June 17, 2013  

Women in Science & Technology: Critical for Innovation

women-in-tech

Since 2001, the National Science Foundation has invested more than $130 million to support ADVANCE projects at nearly 100 institutions of higher education and STEM-related, not-for-profit organizations across the U.S. CONNECT@RIT (Creating Opportunity Networks for Engagement and Collective Transformation) focuses on improving conditions for female STEM faculty, with a unique emphasis on women who are deaf and hard-of-hearing at the university. RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) will address issues of recruitment, retention and advancement of female faculty through reassessment of some of its academic and human resource policies, expanding a newly established faculty mentoring program and increasing professional development and leadership opportunities.

Part of the NSF research included looking inward at RIT where a climate survey and examination of HR data trends led to the identification of barriers for women faculty. These ranged from the recruitment and advancement of women faculty to balancing work and life. RIT had only 23 percent of its female tenured and tenure track faculty in STEM disciplines, below the 30 percent average represented in U.S. colleges and universities, even though the number of female faculty had tripled at RIT over a 15-year period. Further data revealed gender-based, average salary gaps existed at each faculty rank, and that women left the faculty ranks at a rate nearly twice that of their male colleagues. These findings mirrored national trends for women in STEM careers in academia and in industry.

Among the Connect@RIT project goals includes attracting 30 percent female applicants for RIT STEM faculty positions, at least 75 percent of STEM departments achieving a critical mass of female faculty, retention rates for female faculty that closely mirror those of male faculty, and an increase in the percentage of women in academic leadership positions to a level which maps to their overall representation at RIT. The finish line for the project is five years out and the researchers have plenty of work ahead. But we are confident they will have a similar finish to last year’s race team.

In summary, a diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial for attracting and retaining top talent. This is especially true for colleges and universities, like RIT, that specialize in innovation. RIT has historically been a leader in developing new technologies, systems and approaches. RIT faculty and research teams often partner with business and industry leaders on research and development initiatives. In order to effectively continue in this capacity – to cultivate the best and brightest minds and to be an innovation resource for industry – everybody must proactively encourage diversity.

Diversity isn’t an altruistic aspiration; it’s a competitive demand.

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April 11, 2013  

Homegrown Efforts to Recruit Women in Silicon Valley 

HomegrowEffortWomenSillicon 
Margit Wennmachers, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz

Language in job description to exclude women

When Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital firm, wanted to make sure its job postings were reaching the most diverse audience possible, its partners did what most people in Silicon Valley do when they spot a problem: they turned to software.

They used programs that analyze the language in job descriptions to catch phrases that might turn off certain types of applicants:

  • Looking for a candidate who is “off the charts”? Chances are, not that many women will apply.
  • “That’s just not how women talk,” said Margit Wennmachers, a partner at the firm: “They say, ‘Must be highly competent.’ ” .

It is an example of many homegrown efforts across the Valley to change the face of the tech industry. There have always been big organizations hosting conferences and networking events for women. But newer efforts are springing up from inside companies.

To coach women leaders in Silicon Valley

There are programs to teach girls to code, like Girls Who Code, for which companies like Twitter and Google lend office space and teachers. CodeChix, started by engineers at companies like VMware, hosts coding workshops that promise to be “non-alpha.”

The Club is an application-only group trying to provide an alternative to golf courses and men’s membership clubs by coaching women leaders in Silicon Valley. It was founded by Annie Rogaski, a partner at Kilpatrick Townsend, a Valley law firm.

Rachel Sklar, who started a group called Change the Ratio, is introducing an organization called The List where members who pay have access to other women for advice, financing and conference speaking gigs.

“It’s to achieve the function of the classic old boys’ club, which funnels very easy advice and access and opportunity,” Ms. Sklar said.

People to review all job descriptions

At Andreessen Horowitz, the firm asks real people, not just software, to review all job descriptions, too — so in addition to the hiring manager, people who are women, African American and from other minority groups in Silicon Valley have input.

The firm also has a partner in charge of diversity who helps acquire a broad set of candidates for the firm’s talent agency, which its 200 portfolio companies tap for engineering and leadership roles. Despite those efforts, all of the firm’s investing partners are men.

“There’s a huge talent war going on, so we are doing a lot of things to try to surface all kinds of diverse talent and bubble that up to our portfolio companies,” Ms. Wennmachers said.

See articles from Claire Cain Miller

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April 7, 2013  

How will we be able to touch virtual surface in the future?

Why you should listen to her

Could technology be more touchy feely? Mechanical engineer Katherine J. Kuchenbecker answers this question with a resounding ‘yes’. Katherine researches the design, control and performance of robotic systems that enable a user to touch virtual objects and distant environments as though they were real and within reach. These interfaces combine electromechanical sensors, actuators and computer control, allowing for technology that can fool the human sense of touch, otherwise known as ‘haptics.’

Imagine a tablet computer that lets you feel fabrics and textures, robotic surgical tools that let doctors use their incredibly well-honed sense of touch, video games that allow you to feel hits and computer programs that teach you the movements of a sport. By researching these areas — as well as applications in stroke rehabilitation and assistance for the blind — Katherine seeks to improve our understanding of touch and uncover new opportunities to use it in interactions between humans, computers and machines.

She graduated from Stanford University. She started as assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2010, Katherine has been named to the Popular Science Brilliant 10. She is also an avid photographer, and played volleyball at Stanford for two seasons.

The future of touch screens in USA

As we are used to communicate by screens and keyboards a lot of the perception of the world misses the real touch. No matter that the surface of smartphones‘ touchscreen always feels the same. No matter if we look at dog, a mountain, a tree, a baby, a cake, the usual playing cats or a volcano. All we can feel with our hands is a touchscreen.

Without the representation of the haptic experience, a lot of perceptions cannot be appreciated. Have a look at this inspiring TED talk by Katherine J. Kuchenbecker about the technology of touch to see how innovative technology can leverage the sensations the world produces on our skin and how our bodies orient on them.

Learn about the field of haptics, and how it could change everything from the way we shop online to how dentists learn the telltale feel of a cavity. Maybe these ideas will be the basis for touchscreen that really let us touch the world.

Virtual reality you can touch in Europe

Researchers at the Computer Vision Lab at ETH Zurich have also developed a method with which they can produce virtual copies of real objects. The copies can be touched and even sent via the Internet. By incorporating the sense of touch, the user can delve deeper into virtual reality.

VirtualTouch

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