NEWSWATCH: “A shortage of women in technology? Not in Russia” – Washington Post/ Gene Marks

April 26, 2017 JRL Russia List Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, JRL NewsBlog, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Science, Technology, Engineering

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If you’re part of the #technology industry in the United States, then you’ll no doubt agree it’s a man’s world. TechCrunch reported … on the ‘pipeline problem’ … 18 percent of undergraduate computer science degrees and 26 percent of computing jobs are … held by #women. … [and] five percent of leadership positions in the technology industry …. the share of women in the U.S. computing workforce is projected to decline from 24 percent to 22 percent by 2025, according to … Girls Who Code. Attracting and … keeping more women in technology is a big challenge for #businesses … here and in … Europe. Except Russia. … [UNESCO] found that, in Russia, 41 percent of people in scientific research are women. … women inventors in Russia number more than three times that of … western countries. * * * … For Russian girls, technology training starts at an early age. Parental encouragement is strong. Female technology role models are plentiful. There
are more female teachers than males … [covering] a more general and neutral curriculum. It’s cultural and it goes back to the Soviet era, where science was proclaimed a national priority [with] technical education … open to everyone …. young Russian girls view STEM more positively … result[ing] in a more lasting interest. ….