Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An accessible and timely guide to increasing female presence and leadership in tech companies

Tech giants like Apple and Google are among the fastest growing companies in the world, leading innovations in design and development. The industry continues to see rapid growth, employing millions of people: in the US it is at the epicenter of the American economy. So why is it that only 5% of senior executives in the tech industry are female? Underrepresentation of women on boards of directors, in the C-suite, and as senior managers remains pervasive in this industry. As tech companies are plagued with high-profile claims of harassment and discrimination, and salary discrepancies for comparable work, one asks what prevents women from reaching management roles, and, more importantly, what can be done to fix it?

The Future of Tech is Female considers the paradoxes involved in women's ascent to leadership roles, suggesting industry-wide solutions to combat gender inequality. Drawing upon 15 years of experience in the field, Douglas M. Branson traces the history of women in the information technology industry in order to identify solutions for the issues facing women today. Branson explores a variety of solutions such as mandatory quota laws for female employment, pledge programs, and limitations on the H1-B VISA program, and grapples with the challenges facing women in IT from a range of perspectives.

Branson unpacks the plethora of reasons women should hold leadership roles, both in and out of this industry, concluding with a call to reform attitudes toward women in one particular IT branch, the video and computer gaming field, a gateway to many STEM futures. An invaluable resource for anyone invested in gender equality in corporate governance, The Future of Tech is Female lays out the first steps toward a more diverse future for women in tech leadership

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. ix)
• Part I The Conundrum
• 1 Industries That Do Not Hire or Promote (p. 3)
• 2 The Paradox (p. 13)
• 3 Qualifications and Reservations (p. 19)
• 4 Poor Performances by Female CEOs (p. 32)
• Part II A History of Women in Information Technology
• 5 Once upon a Time (p. 43)
• 6 Basic Education: Impediments to Overcome (p. 54)
• 7 The Distant Past and Near Future (p. 66)
• Part III Solutions Advanced
• 8 Women to Try Harder: "Lean In" and Similar Recommendations (p. 79)
• 9 Mandatory Quota Laws (p. 91)
• 10 Certificate and Pledge Programs (p. 102)
• 11 Comply or Explain Regimes (p. 113)
• 12 Mentoring and Sponsorship (p. 121)
• 13 Mandatory Disclosure: The U.S. Experience (p. 131)
• 14 Proposals for Stem Education (p. 137)
• 15 The Industry's Answer: An Expanded H-1B Visa Program (p. 147)
• Part IV Solutions That May Work
• 16 Leavening Stem Education (p. 161)
• 17 Paying Close Attention to the Pool Problem (p. 169)
• 18 Enlarging the Pool: Easing Off-Ramps and Enhancing On-Ramps (p. 179)
• 19 Measuring What You Intend to Manage and Ways to Manage It (p. 190)
• 20 Adopting a Version of the Rooney Rule (p. 198)
• 21 Theoretical Feminist Views (p. 206)
• Part V Needed Fixes-Now
• 22 Reforming the Gaming Industry (p. 217)
• 23 Final Observations (p. 227)
• Appendix A Publicly Held Information Technology Companies (p. 231)
• Appendix B Women Senior Executives in Publicly Held Information Technology Companies (p. 237)
• Notes (p. 239)
• Bibliography (p. 281)
• Index (p. 287)
• About the Author (p. 299)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

According to Branson (W. Edward Sell Professor of Business Law, Pitt Law Sch.), information technology is the last industry to promote women into senior leadership roles. Citing current research, the author explores the paradox of an innovative industry with low numbers of women in upper and middle management. Branson reviews the trajectory of women's roles and the current inflection points in education that ensure success in upper management, including gateway computer games that appeal to females as well as access to STEM education and necessary advanced degrees. Branson then examines potential solutions: quota laws, pledge programs, diversity slates, and mandatory reporting that could be adapted to move businesses toward hiring more women in upper-management positions. In addition, he calls for full-scale reform of the computer game segment and its attitudes toward women. VERDICT Brandon's well-researched guide offers the necessary information to create a blueprint for gender diversity. This should be required reading for professors and students of business, law, and computer science.-Jane Scott, Clark Lib., Univ. of Portland, OR © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

In his third book examining barriers to women in corporate executive suites (see also No Seat at the Table, CH, May'07, 44-5133, and The Last Male Bastion, CH, Aug'10, 47-6956), Branson (Pittsburgh) focuses on what companies could do to address "the dearth of women in leadership roles" in information technology companies, "the most backward of major industries in promoting women to leadership positions." In five parts, each consisting of several chapters full of helpful accounts, Branson describes the problem and its origins, outlines a variety of potential solutions, focuses on those most likely to work, and then zeroes in on one--reforming the gaming industry--as the best first step because "remedying the female-male imbalance in all parts of the computer gaming industry … affects the entire future of gender diversity in information technology." Branson's expertise as a teacher as well as a legal scholar makes this thorough analysis accessible and meaningful to professionals at all levels--he combines meticulous research and thorough documentation in a very readable, thought-provoking narrative. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. --Mildred S. Myers, emerita, Carnegie Mellon University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Douglas Branson is the W. Edward Sell Chair at the University of Pittsburgh. He is author of 23 books, including No Seat at the Table: How Corporate Governance and Law Keep Women out of the Boardroom (NYU 2007), and The Last Male Bastion: Gender and the CEO Suite in America's Public Companies.