This is the 10th annual WIT luncheon! We’re in the big ballroom where the keynotes were this morning, now filled with tables and the sound of silverware.  First up is moderator Wendy Pastrick – simply one of the best people in the community, bar none.

Remember that you can watch the live stream of this luncheon here: www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/

Today’s topic: Where have we been, and where are we going?
This is a great topic. Give me a minute to type and I’ll tell you why….

The immediate thing that pops to mind (my mind, at least) when one hears “women in technology” as a movement or a group is, “yeah, but what for?” I’ve had many interesting conversations about this over the last three years, and I’m absolutely delighted that this is the topic today. Look for some good ideas from today’s talk!

@DataChick: WIT issues are societal issues. Not just “women’s problems”. #SQLPASS That’s why men and women need to work to resolve them.

The Panel

See all the information on the panel on the PASS Summit website’s WIT Luncheon page. In short, we have:

• Stefanie Higgins – PASS board member (2000-05), a WIT luncheon founder, Sr. DBA at Disney.

• Kevin Kline – SQL Server MVP, a PASS founder and former president.

• Kendra Little – A Brent Ozar PLF, LLC founder, MCM and MVP.

• Denise McInerney – Data Analyst at Intuit, PASS Director-at-Large, PASS WIT Virtual Chapter founder.

• Jen Stirrup – SQL Server MVP, Bachelors degree in Psychology and two Masters in Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science. European WIT coordinator, SQLServerPedia blogger.

Note: While live blogging, I may use a shortened version of each person’s first name to attribute quotes, e.g., Stef: [says a thing]. Den: [says a thing].

@AirborneGeek: Fathers need to have their daughters come and sit with them while they’re doing DB work -@kekline

@DataChick: One of the things we can do to engage girls to think STEM careers is to ensure they know that IT is more than programming. #SQLPASS #WIT

Question and Answer
Q: He’s hired 8 DBAs, only 1 was a woman. What can I do to encourage more women to encourage that?
Den: Ask them what’s stopping them. One on one mentors might help, a lot of women have never programmed before/intimidated by all the men in their classes that have programming experience.
Kev: Same question came up elsewhere. I’m taking about this in my session later “how to influence people.” One lady said she wasn’t motivated by the pay (that’s usually a big selling point). The thing that turned women off of IT was that they thought they’d be a cube drone, but they wanted to help people. “Save the world.” [Commentary by Jen: THis is something we talk about too, wanting to be impactful in a major way.] “Data is the lifeblood” of an organization. [YES!]
Stef: Get rid of some of the myths about the job by talking to people in the field.

[That’s one of the cool things about this field; we do sometimes have the ability to make a really major difference to a lot of people. A great DBA in the health care field helps save hundreds of lives, no joke.]

Q: {discussing exposing kids to technology} And share this information with your local chapters.
Wendy: Share wit.sqlpass.org, which has a lot of resources. You can also email wit@sqlpass.org to share events/information, or with questions.

Q: {Buck Woody} “I do have a daughter, and she is going into a science/engineering field It’s largely because I brought her to SQL Saturdays…one of the reasons she’s not afraid of bringing the Microsoft lunchbox to school is because of” women like Jen Stirrup.

Q: {about life-work balance}
Jen: Employers that aren’t sensitive to life-work balance don’t tend to retain workers very long. “I worked for one company like that who kept scheduling meetings at 6:30 in the evening, and I only worked for them for about 9 months…” For her, the answer was starting her own business which allows her to set her own schedule and work from home. “It may not be the answer for everybody.” Another employer was good about work-life balance; she could get back online and work after her child went to bed.
Kendra: “I have a couple of techniques…now that I have employees, I want them to stay motivated and engaged…. so how do I do that and still give them the ability to work with clients…” Some of her tips: Track where you spend your time, “use data”. “there are great free tools online to allow you to track…” Track, and make proposals about making your job more efficient. “You can also use that data to show your management that you’re really paying attention to what you’re doing.” If you’re working from home, use webcams for all your meetings; it shows them you’re actually working. Use webcams and visibility tools to show you’re not “chillaxing by the pool”.
Den: “THis question is a major concern for employers if they want to retain talent. … Lack of flextime is one of the top 3 reasons” why women leave jobs.
Kev: There’s a real cost to employees in attrition. // Part of your proposal is that yo’ure more effective at home than at work (at work you’re in meetings all the time). “Make your productivity demonstrable.” Ask to try the schedule for one month, so they can back out of it.

Q: I do a lot of DB development. I don’t see a lot of young ladies going into this field. I would like to share my knowledge with ladies in North Carolina; looking to start a group to start teaching some of these things. Advice on how to start up a group to get young ladies interested in that?
S: I would say talk to Lynn (Langit), she’s started a wonderful program in California. DigiGirls.
D: Others as well…

@lynnlangit: teach a girl to program – FREE for middle school aged kids (both boys and girls) t.co/z43O5f9k #WiT @SQLPass #summit12

[I’m going to have to pause for a moment for my question, and to play catch-up after. I essentially suggested that PASS and PASS’s local chapters get involved at the university level – perhaps to sponsor database clubs. Getting kids into computers young is great, but the more immediate action might be to help young professionals-to-be with their looming careers.]

This will be me talking from here on. One of the questions was about the team building in one woman’s office: they were always very active things like white water rafting, and the consensus between the asker and the panel was that it’s an example of the “small, subtle things” that men do to exclude women. I find this somewhat offensive, and a bad conclusion to leap to. It’s entirely possible that these office mates are trying to exclude their female coworker, of course I’ll acknowledge the possibility. But I wouldn’t say that IS what it is. For one thing, I’m a woman and I’d LOVE to go white water rafting. For another, a very energetic activity like that excludes the sedentary and the disabled; not women specifically. So while I’d agree that the office must absolutely turn to activities that are more inclusive, it’s not a given that they’re being bigots.

Wendy just lobbed this question (not hers): “How do we silence critics of women’s movements?” Denise answered it very well: Not to silence, but to invite them to the conversation and find out what’s the issue. [My addition: Never silence critics; it empowers them and weakens you.]
Kendra: “Haters gonna hate!”

During this luncheon, I’ve been hacking a lot (on Twitter) on the generalities people keep saying: men are more analytical, women are more empathetic, women don’t like overly energetic team building excercises, women in technolgy are less emotional. I consider all of this total bullcrap, for one.

I had a short debate with Sean over whether you can have a women in technology discussion without getting into the psychology of men/women differences. I think you can. I think we SHOULD, because the conversation isway more productive if we don’t spend the whole thing pointing out differences over and over.

The message: Women are just as capable, intelligent, and useful in technology as men. Individuals may be more or less suited to one field over another, of course. The differences between individuals are far, far greater than the differences between large groups.