GHC09: The fight or flight moment: understanding why we leave or stay in industry

This is the last presentation I attended at Grace Hopper 09. Maybe not the best way to end a series of inspirational talks, but it is definitely thought provoking.

The presenter summarized and interpreted the results of 3 prestigious studies about why women in technology has a staggering 52% attrition rate. She also has some recommendations for what companies can do to help combat the attrition.

First, the presenter showed a few reasons why retention is an important issue to address:

- SET growth is 5x other fields

- demand outstripping supply, IT supply shrinking

- fewer visas since 2001

- emerging economies - 75% Chinese students go home vs. 20% in prior years

- baby boom retirements

- highly trained, expensive to replace

Of those leaving (or considering leaving), here are some reasons they cited:

- extreme job pressure - hours, stress, health

- culture not woman-friendly

- compensation

- feel career is stalled

- lack career paths, sponsors, mentors, role models

- feel isolated

Lastly, here are some things she recommended to help with retention:

- 10% female management: culture change from the top, less isolation, more role models

- flexible workday and career track timing

- career paths, mentors, and sponsors

- opportunities for altruism

- on-ramps for women who left for a few years to come back

One interesting thing to note is that when comparing boomers to GenX's to GenY's, we are seeing a decline in whether they feel they have barriers in their career. Now whether that's because the younger folks haven't gotten to a point where they feel they can't advance, or if the environment is actually shifting to promote more young women to stay in SET industry, I don't know. It is encouraging finding nonetheless.

That's the end of my Grace Hopper adventure! You can read about all the sessions I attended and blogged about here.