Transcript: TechCrunch Disrupt “Women In Tech” Panel [From The Archives]

MICHELLE: The pathway to getting into dudedom is not necessarily saying, “We love women!” I worked at Dell in Sales. I was like “Ok, I don’t know how to talk to these guys because they’re a bunch of nerdy tech guys.” And my in was I’m really good at ping pong. So I just got to meet people playing ping pong and then everyone got to know me. And then they notice, “Michelle’s really rockin’ the Salesforce; she’s doing a good job.” So I think that part of it is going to be on the behalf of men to kinda say, “Hey, women can do this stuff too, and maybe I shouldn’t make this gibe because she could be my boss one day.” Which is true. But on the other hand women need to come in and say we’re not that intimidated of men. We’re gonna do the same stuff and on the same plane. I think it takes both sides.

OFF-CAMERA: It’s confidence.

SARAH: Ok, we’ve got about one second left of this misery. So let’s go down the line—I mean, all you’ve done is just watched us squabble and we could have done that back stage so I appreciate you all being patient—

OFF-CAMERA: Total catfight.

SARAH: So let’s go down the line and I want everyone to say one last sentence about this issue and something that hasn’t been said a million times before. That—if we do recognize this as a problem, which, look, I do think it’s a problem. As I said, I mentor a ton of young women, I would love to see more women in our field. I just don’t think having a panel helps. So just go down the line and say either your takeaway point or what you think this audience needs to hear to actually to make a change in this, not just having a bunch of people bitching about the issue.

MICHELLE: Well, software development and technology is a noble career for both men and for women. And that’s it.

LEILA: I feel like this discussion is a little funny for me to be part of because I work in the field of poverty alleviation and the plight of women globally is something that’s hard to imagine sitting here in Silicon Valley. I feel like we’re focused on changing the wrong ratio.

SARAH CHIPPS: I think that if I was going to say anything to this particular crowd—there’s a lot of people in media here, and first of all thanks for taking the time to listen to us squabble. And second of all, let’s get some stories out there about the people who are doing it, not because they’re women, not because they need it, but because they’re awesome. And hopefully we can inspire a whole new generation of women after this one to come and kick some ass.

CYAN: I think we should focus on being good parents. I got into computer programming because I learned Logo when I was 8. And so I think that if we expose children, both boys and girls, to computer programming at an early age, you’re actually going to start seeing more and more women and men interested in technology.

LAUREN: Next year I hope TechCrunch Disrupt names this panel something more specific like “Solutions that are working to get more younger girls into tech.”

RACHEL: To Leila’s point, 4 of the 8 Millenium Development goals for the UN are integrally related to Millenium Development goal number 3, which is gender parity and female empowerment. And I firmly believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. And just for the record, I love dudes. Dudes are our allies.

SARAH: And I guess my final word would be—I haven’t talked to Tim Armstrong, he flew back. So I don’t know if in the AOL world, I still have a job at TechCrunch. But if anybody else is out there, please don’t hire me because I’m a woman.

Fin

NEXT: If you still haven’t had enough, this *was* videotaped.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.