Orange research from Silicon Valley documents growing role of women in technology

Paris, New research released today by Orange in Silicon Valley documents the growing role of women in leadership positions in some of the technology and communication industry’s largest and most innovative companies plus their growing influence in the technology sector as a whole.

The study, Her Code: Engendering Change in Silicon Valley, was conducted as a series of interviews in the first half of 2009 with women aged between 12- 60 years-old who were entrepreneurs, directors, product managers, marketing and communications executives, and includes profiles of many diverse and prominent women, trends data, and a chronology of the most significant careers of Women in Tech. The study was undertaken as part of Orange Labs San Francisco’s research program and ecosystem outreach, reflecting the site’s dual mission as an R&D center and a presence for the Group within the world’s most innovative territory.

The results of this study highlight the growing presence of women in high-level positions inside big companies in the information and communications technology sector, as well as their growing influence in the technology field overall.

“Orange closely studies the conditions that favor the emergence of disruptive innovations, which has a major impact on the evolution of consumer behavior and the way companies operate,” according to Georges Nahon, CEO of Orange Labs San Francisco. He adds, “Our study reveals, in particular, the powerful synergies, often overlooked, between the generations of inventors, entrepreneurs, and innovators, as well as women and men from diverse cultural origins who have made the Silicon Valley a uniquely creative terroir.” The study also shows the open-mindedness of the high-tech sector and its remarkable propensity for the adoption of the growing contribution of Women in Tech.

Just in the past year, C-level placements at companies such as Cisco and Yahoo! – where Carol Bartz has acceded as CEO of the Internet giant – have created new energy behind the innovation of the growing ranks of Women in Tech.

key findings from Orange’s report show that:
Across the board, women are demonstrating new influence at the executive suites of all of the major technology companies in Silicon Valley, including Google, Intel, Cisco, Adobe, Yahoo! and Oracle.
The traditional under-representation of women in the technology sector is being reversed with the next generation of Girls in Tech, who are prolific users of and contributors to social media platforms invented in Silicon Valley and now in use all over the world.
This ’third generation’ of Women in Tech – coinciding with the emergence of Generation Y as a profound influence on the workforce – is already demonstrating a complete lack of intimidation about being in the technology workforce.
More fundamentally, the content creation tools that come built into new devices and the social web, on sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and now the iPhone, are creating a new paradigm for producing computer ’code’, making Girls in Tech a powerful source of world-changing innovation.
Women in Silicon Valley are rethinking what Work/Life Balance means and redefining how companies approach the needs, of women in particular, at different stages of their careers and personal life.

Her Code: Engendering Change in Silicon Valley is available as a 50-page study at http://www.orange.com/hercode