Earlier this year I had the pleasure of talking to Chicago high school student, Shaquiesha Davis, an intriguing young lady who developed an iPhone app, "Baby B 4 Me, " which she presented at the 2013 White House Science Fair. Davis created the app – which lets parents better communicate with their babysitters in real-time – and its accompanying business plan as a sophomore at Chicago Tech Academy, a four-year high school for inner-city teens.
As I spoke with Davis and Matt Hancock, the Executive Director at Chicago Tech, I was impressed that the young lady took what she saw as an every day challenge in her own life – based on her experiences babysitting and communicating with harried parents – and created a possible solution to it. This was made possible, of course, through the school's mission to "close the gender gap in tech," and all of its accompanying tactics for making that happen: mentorships, field trips, partnerships, scholarships and more. But still, when I spoke with Davis, I asked her,
"Are there any women in technology that inspire you or that you particularly admire?"
Her answer? "I don't really know any women in technology – and just that fact alone inspires me."
While I appreciate the intention of her answer, it gave me great pause – how do we get inspiring, smart and successful women in tech in front of young girls? How can we make technology as exciting and interesting as American Idol, nail polish and the mall? How can we get young women in general to start looking at life as something they can create, mold, and shape through their own use of technology (and I don't mean by posting selfies on Instagram or SnapChat)?
I have a few thoughts:
- Buy smarter toys – yes, girls love a good pair of ice skates, Barbies and tutus, but the next time you go to buy a young girl a gift – open her world to something she might not even know about. Instead of clicking on that pottery painting picture on the homepage of Mindware, visit the Science and Nature section and choose something from there.
- Publishers – get more creative. Young girls aren't going to read Fast Company or Wired or Inc. Magazine – so while having women entrepreneurs on the front of those is amazing - it doesn't really help in this case. I'm going to appeal to fashion and entertainment publishers – and this might rub some people the wrong way, but hear me out – to get more creative with who they're featuring. Why don't we see more women tech/business leaders featured in places like Glamour, InStyle or even Lucky Magazine? Let's apply the adage I tell my marketing clients – you need to connect with your audience around topics they already care about in order to get their attention - and make the connection for young girls that women in STEM careers are also cool, admirable – and even (gasp) fashionable. We're never going to change what tween and teen girls, as a majority, love – but we can relate to it. Imagine showing them what the inside of a tech guru's (say, Sheryl Sandberg, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson of Gilt Groupe, or even Justine Ezarik, to start) closet looks like with a nice spread in one of these fashion magazines and a headline that says something like, "Get a STEM career and you, too, could have this closet when you grow up."
- Help them learn about smarter apps – girls love Instagram. Why? Various reasons – they get to connect with friends, it's a popularity contest, they get to follow celebs and topics they are passionate about, they get to show everyone what they're wearing that day and so on. Can we please – please – please move beyond apps that focus on physicality and cringe-worthy selfies? Let's get them designing, learning, or even playing games – but with a twist to win something educational, like the chance to design and publish their own app for a celebrity, brand or publisher.
- Teach them to aspire higher and to take care of themselves - Wouldn't it be great to see society start making a connection for young girls that all those things they love – lip gloss, jewelry, clothes, shoes, etc. - are things that they'll need to work hard to earn in the future? And that earning it themselves through an amazing career – you know, like one in technology – is something to aspire to? Let's get them thinking beyond their MRS degree, please.
- Mentor – we can all do more of this, myself included. Who can you help inspire today with your love for tech? Have you volunteered to share your success story in a high school classroom, or offer a free workshop at a college? Don't wait around to be asked – go make it happen so we can inspire and educate tomorrow's generation of women, today.
I hope that the next time I interview an intelligent young woman like Shaquiesha, she'll have a laundry list of women in tech who inspired her. Let's make that happen. What are your thoughts on getting girls excited about creating – not just using – technology?
