Not to soapbox (I have Facebook status updates for that), but this is something that struck a chord with me. For the past few years, I’ve been involved formally as well as informally, in efforts to encourage more women to get involved with technology.

It’s not because I’m heroic – it’s because I’m selfish and lazy. The more women there are who get involved in technology, the easier my work as in talent acquisition becomes. Not simply because there are more tech candidates (since, I’m not always a tech-focused talent acquisition person), but at a more meta level: the more people there are working in tech, the more rapidly we advance. New tools for talent acquisition, Better medications and technology to help us live longer.

We get to build NASA’s warp ship sooner.

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Ahem – sorry… I get a little excited when I think about how WE’RE TALKING ABOUT BUILDING A WARP SHIP THAT CAN GET TO ALPHA CENTAURI IN JUST A FEW WEEKS.

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S0. Right. Important real-world stuff time.

Do the math: over 50% of the populace in the US is female. The majority of college students are women. And yet: only 18% of college engineering majors are female. That not only makes zero sense, it’s also a major blow to us COLONIZING PLANETS IN ALPHA CENTAURI.

Google just released their internal study about diversity within the organization – and, it’s depressing. Admirably, they admit as much, and are committing to correcting the issue. (The race issue is another, and I suspect driven by similar social behaviors, issue that should trouble you greatly – we are wasting talent in so many directions…)

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Here’s the thing: it’s blow-by-blow, the way we limit our development as a species. By constantly trying to make our girls more “girly”, we are killing them. Limiting their chances at success, while also limiting our society. There’s a terrific video out by Verizon that illustrates this much better than I can – I’m embedding it below. You should watch it. And then: watch yourself. I think we’re all guilty of this at some level, and it’s time we did better. For everyone’s sake… (also, so we can go to Alpha Centauri)