Women Of The Channel Connections: Inspiring The Next Generation Starts In The Classroom (And Not Necessarily The Math Or Science Lab)

The key to closing the gender gap in the channel isn't in the channel itself -- it's in the classroom.

While there's a lot of focus on the current gender gap in the channel, executives at The Channel Company's recent Women of the Channel conference in New York agreed that it is just as crucial to develop the next generation of female leaders in technology.

"I think it's equally important to continue to enable and encourage current women of the channel as well as the next generation. We want to make sure the progress of those who came before us is carried over into the next generation," said Jessica Lemmon, Symantec team manager at SHI.

However, that might be easier said than done.

The vast majority of 12- to 18-year-old girls, upward of 95 percent, said they like to use technology, a recent CompTIA survey found. However, only 9 percent said that they would pursue a career in the field. That's a huge problem, said Mary Ellen Grom, Synnex vice president of U.S. marketing and executive council member for CompTIA's Advancing Women in IT Community.

"There's this perception that you have to be good at science and math to be in technology," Grom said, adding that despite being a high-level executive at Synnex, math and science are her two weakest subjects. "At the end of the day, it's about pursuing what your passion is and applying it to the industry of technology."

The gap is reflected in the number of high-level tech executives that are women. Looking at just the numbers, only 10.8 percent of Silicon Valley executives in 2014 were women, compared with 15.5 percent overall, according to a recently released study on gender diversity in technology by Fenwick & West. That works out to only about half of publicly traded Silicon Valley companies having any female executives at all. Silicon Valley companies aren't rushing to fix the gap, the study found, with the growth rate number of female executives at almost half the rate of the overall market, with 120 percent growth as compared with 260 percent for large publicly traded companies.

It starts with a conversation, Synnex's Grom said. She regularly speaks to younger girls about careers in technology and how they can transition interests in writing, business, communications, marketing and more into a strong tech career. That's a connection that a lot of young girls don't always make on their own, she said.

Grom said she thinks any conversation can naturally segue into one about the tech industry and its opportunities for women. For example, Grom said she recently spoke to a team of teenage women's volleyball players about giving 100 percent in the game, but transitioned into a conversation about careers in technology and how much fun it can be. That's the ideal age to be reaching out to girls about careers in technology, Grom said, saying the "sweet spot" is between 12 and 18 years old.

"The whole purpose is to create the awareness and get their brains thinking about how they could apply their skill set and interests [to technology]," Grom said.

OPENING THE DOOR TO OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND ENGINEERING

Part of the key is helping young women realize the many career options there are in technology, the executives said. The girls don't have to pursue degrees in engineering or computer science, but can join a technology company doing marketing, sales, human resources, communications and business development, among others.

Chris Wolff, vice president of THE Global Cisco Alliance at Dimension Data, said that she came to the technology industry "by accident," after getting a degree in history. Now, she said she encourages her 20-year-old daughter and interns she has recruited to keep an open mind to a career in technology, no matter what type of career they are interested in.

"I think the girls I have known have been curious about technology and have realized I'm not a "techie." The industry doesn't require you to have an engineering background or to be curious about how transistors work or switches," Wolff said.

Westcon Group CMO Katie Dumala said she mentors a lot of friends' daughters who have just graduated college and are looking for their first job. She said many of them don't have technology at the top of their lists. Dumala said that she encourages the girls to check out opportunities offered by the colleges, such as women in technology forums.

"I would say that not all of them are thinking about technology -- I certainly didn't at all," Dumala said. "I certainly didn't think of something called the channel."

When she talks to young women, Dimension Data's Wolff said she emphasizes how a career in technology can offer benefits such as workplace flexibility, competitive salaries and travel.

On top of that, Wolff said that there is rapidly growing demand for the skills that women can bring to the table, such as communication. That is especially true as technology penetrates further to nontechnical line-of-business users within clients. That demand unlocks a huge opportunity for young women.

"The big trends that are hitting our industry really demand that organizations like [Dimension Data] have people who understand people. There's a real premium on hiring talent that can speak to those needs. If there's any message I can spread to young women early in their careers: We're a growth industry, with workplace flexibility, excellent compensation and there's a premium on communicators," Wolff said.

Next: Leading By Example

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Rebecca Handley, Avnet national sales director, and Jessica Yeck, vice president of sales for Avnet's HP Solutions group, both said that the importance of leading by example really sunk in when they had their own daughters.

They said it is especially important to reach out to girls when they are very young and get them excited about technology.

"I think it starts at a young age what you expose children to," Yeck said about the male-dominated STEM (science, technology engineering and math) fields.

Handley said that she now goes to her daughter's third-grade class to talk about technology. She said she sees it as key to exposing the girls to strong women and career options in technology early on, before they get stuck in a particular mindset. Yeck said she has had the same experiences when talking about STEM in education to young girls.

"I'm part of the solution here. I need to be at home and encouraging my daughter in science experiments or math or not talking about dolls and princesses and really having that impact not only with my daughter and within her school system. Being a strong female in a business world is a good thing and you can do it," Yeck said.

Sherri Liebo, vice president of global partner marketing at Cisco Systems, said she reaches out to women who are early in their careers as well as those coming up through the ranks. She said it is important for women, or anyone really, with budding careers in tech to see examples of strong leaders across all facets of the business that they can look up to. Leading by example helps "build a bridge" for young women between their interests and skills and a career in technology, Liebo said.

"They need to see people that have done it. What I think is really important is sharing that you can actually be very innovative and creative in technology and in marketing. We need those types," Liebo said.

The job isn't over yet once more women land jobs in the tech industry -- that's just the first hurdle, the Women Of The Channel executives agreed. After that, mentoring becomes key to help encourage the women and help them deal with hurdles along the way, such as work-life balance.

"The thing that keeps me awake at our company is not getting women into our business, but keeping them past the five-year mark," Dimension Data's Wolff said.

That mark is where women tend to run into barriers such as career development or work-life balance, Wolff said. To counteract that, she said she works to identify high performers and build a network of women leaders to support and sponsor them throughout their careers.

This article originally appeared as an exclusive on the CRN Tech News App for iOS and Windows 8.