Here’s what caught our attention this week. Join in on the discussion and tell us what you have been reading.
By Jordan Hunter (Editorial Intern, Women 2.0)
- Were you hesitant about giving Google Glass a try because they were simply “not your style?” Well, now you can be on trend and experience the latest technology. Diane Von Furstenberg has designed DVF | Made for Glass for Google. This high-tech fashion statement will set you back $1,800 and Google has announced that it is working with other fashionable companies for glasses such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.
- We all read Google’s breakdown of their workforce data. If Google can admit they need a change, both in the categories of gender and ethnicity, why can’t other big tech companies release more diversity data?
- Barbie has held a lot of different careers over the years. Did you know she was once an astronaut, a surgeon and a paleontologist? Neither did we. With the recent release of entrepreneur Barbie, Fast Company takes a look at Barbie’s past careers and asks the question: Can “Entrepreneur Barbie” Change Girls’ Career Ambitions?
- “I can probably say it’s because I’m a woman, but it’s also because I don’t have a technical degree.” Gina Bianchini speaks with the Business Insider Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget about the best ways to handle gender and other biases in Silicon Valley.
- Women currently comprise 60 percent of U.S. college students and 40 percent of MBA students, which Fast Company says will affect what the future of CEOs will look like. In 2040 women will represent 30 percent of all CEOs, compared to the low 4.8 percent of Fortune 500 CEO positions held by women.
- Another large corporation came out with sub-par diversity demographics. Facebook’s numbers were no better with only 31 percent of its 6,500 employees around the world being women.
- “To get rich in tech, become an accountant – especially if you’re a woman,” Quartz compares to women as CEOs and CFOs. They say companies will pay top dollar for a CFO who has financial skills along with strategic management skills, no matter the gender, which is good news for women.
- 23andme is a Google-backed genetic testing startup company that provides rapid genetic testing through a kit sent to customers in the mail. Last week, the FDA agreed to accept its first health report by 23andme putting the company one step closer to being given FDA approval and putting them back in business.
- New research done by Columbia Business School shows that hiring managers for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) jobs chose men twice as often than women, even when they had no other information about them besides their appearance or gender.
- In case you missed it: Verizon Wireless released a commercial in early June titled “Inspire Her Mind.” The video gives the message that parents should embrace their daughter’s love for science and math and stop telling her she can’t do it.
“Our words can have a huge impact. Isn’t it time we told her she’s pretty brilliant, too? Encourage her love of science and technology and inspire her to change the world.” – Reshma Saujani, Founder of Girls Who Code
- One of our favorite Women 2.0 posts this week: Every entrepreneur will tell you they had to fail a couple times before they succeeded. And some will tell you they never thought their startup would fail. In “My Startup Failed. And This is What it Felt Like.” 22-year-old Nikki Durkin, founder and CEO of 99dresses, tells her story of never giving up on her startup – until she had to.
