Female voices aren’t equally heard: Facebook COO
Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of social network Facebook, believes that relative to men, women’s voices aren’t equally heard.
Speaking on Reuters TV, Sandberg noted that the proportionately low numbers of women in the tech sector was as a result of low levels of women taking computer science degrees due to perpetuated stereotypes.
Sandberg was talking about her new book: Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.
“Women have had 14% of the executive roles in corporate America (in) 10 years, we are at 17% of board seats…those numbers have gone up 3% over the last 10 years – so, stagnation.”
“I think there are a lot of things holding women back. Were held back by institutional barriers, by sexism by discrimination, by a terrible public policy, but we are also held back by things within ourselves…the stereotypes we grow up with,” she said.
Sandberg said that women in positions of authority set a better example for how to manage their work/life balance. “Data says that companies who have more women in senior management roles, have better work life policies for everyone.”
“I believe relative to men, our (women) voices aren’t equally heard. We are not at the tables where decisions are being made…women are getting interrupted more, and women are getting paid 77 cents to the dollar, and none of that is ok,” Sandberg said.
“Just as the world doesn’t encourage women to lead, the world doesn’t encourage men to nurture,” she said.
Sandberg opined that Silicon Valley is more meritocratic than so many other industries, “but there are these gender biases that all of us have, all of us are looking through those lenses, and they are hurting women… we need to talk about it, admit they are there.”
Privilege
A number book reviews point out Sandberg’s position of privilege in order to get where she currently is.
The COO received $30.9 million in total compensation in 2011, making her the best-paid senior executive at Facebook. Sandberg received $381,966 in salary and bonus that year.
“I do understand that I have circumstances and resources that other people don’t have. I really understand that, I am very clear about it. I don’t believe every woman can do everything I can do, nor should they. Also I don’t believe I have this success formula for everyone,” Sandberg stressed.
Women in tech
Sandberg said that women are not in the tech sector in proportionate numbers because technology companies are almost always started by technologists, people who have computer science degrees. “We have a crisis for computer science and women in this country.
“The same stereotype that holds woman back from leadership holds women back from being in computer science. In the 1980’s women were about 35% of computer scientists in this country (US).”
“We are down to below 20%…we are perpetuating this stereotype, and if we want to see women founding tech companies, we can’t be 15% of women in computer science degrees,” she said.
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