VentureBeat

A modest proposal

(Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part essay by Joyce Park. Here’s her first piece, which drew quite a few comments).

I’m not much on speculating about social problems, but if I were forced into diagnostic mode about the lack of self-taught female software engineers, I’d probably put the following rationales at the top of my list (in no particular order):

* Almost all of the male engineers I know report childhood experience “playing” with… Continue Reading

The hidden engineering gender gap

(Editor’s note: This essay comes in two parts. Here is the first part.)

Anyone who has met John Doerr knows that he is genuinely passionate about encouraging the participation of women in the venture-creation system: as VCs, as entrepreneurs, and especially as engineers. He was the first person I ever heard clearly articulate something that I think many of us suspect in our hearts but are hesitant to say.

With all love and respect to our… Continue Reading

The downfall of female role models

(Editor’s note: Joyce Park is founder and chief technology officer of Renkoo, an event Web site we will be hearing more about later at VentureBeat. Joyce has written a piece below about female leaders in Silicon Valley and wonders whether female power at Google may be a sign of change — or not)

Rolling up to the supermarket checkout line this weekend, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the Newsweek cover of Patricia Dunn,… Continue Reading