The key to more women in technology | Marianna Budnikova | TEDxBoise

Have you ever wondered why programming is seen as a man’s game? Where are all the women software developers hiding? Marianna Budnikova is a software engineer at Microsoft. Back when she was in college, she set upon a quest to find out why there are so few women in tech. In this talk, Marianna shares her discovery about what takes young girls and women away from technology and gives some suggestions for tackling the problem.

Marianna Budnikova is a professional hacker (aka software developer) at Microsoft. With bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science, Marianna fell in love with programming as she started building mobile apps, mocking with video game making, rendering 3D graphics, and using artificial intelligence to solve the world’s largest problems. Originally from Russia (“the greatest hacker community”), Marianna was amazed at how few U.S. women pursue technology as a career. So she began a quest to solve this problem by founding the Association for Computing Machinery Women’s Club at Boise State University. She also contributed weekly entries to a blog called CodeBrave and co-founded (and is currently a chapter leader of) Girl Develop It Boise, a local chapter of a national nonprofit that provides affordable technology education to women.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Ten years ago, I used to come up
to my dad and say,

"My computer doesn't work.
Can you fix it for me?"

My dad would sigh, sit down
at the computer, and fix it.

Raise your hand if a similar situation
happens to you at your home.

That is a lot of hands.
It happens a lot, doesn't it?

Later on, a geeky teenager,
I rebelled against the world,

and declared computer science as my major.

Why exactly was I rebelling?

Well, it's easy to see
if you look at the numbers.

When I took my first
Introduction to Computer Science course,

I was the only woman in a class of 30.

Looking beyond the classroom,

I discovered that most
Idaho technology companies

do not have any women software developers.

Only 22% of software developers
in the United States are women.

As my teenage rebellion
quieted down a little bit,

and I entered
this analytical state of mind

in which you ask yourself,
"Why does the world work the way it does?"

I wondered, "Why are there so few
women software engineers out there?"

And then I wondered,

"Was that somehow connected
to me asking my dad for computer help,

when I could have easily
fixed the problem myself?"

And then I wondered,
"Was I born with this innate desire

to ask for computer help any time
I was having computer problems?

Or was it derived?"

However, it has been a while
since I was a little girl,

so I couldn't figure out
the answer on my own.

Instead, I decided to set up
an experiment.

I started volunteering at events

to encourage young children
to pursue careers in STEM,

Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math.

Hundreds of children attend those events,
many of whom are little girls.

At the end of those events,

those girls are asking more questions
than the little boys.

Clearly, the girls are truly interested
in computer science.

The question we have
to ask ourselves then:

What happens to those girls

during their early experiences
with computer science and technology,

that takes away their desire and interest

to learn technology and computer science?

Here's what I found out.

At one of the events that I volunteered,

I saw a little girl
and a little boy come in,

sit down at the computer
to solve a programming question.

Then suddenly, the boy snatches
the keyboard away from the little girl

and starts solving the problem himself

while the girl passively sits there
and watches the boy code.

How rude and frustrating.

Later on, during the same event,
I saw a different situation.

A little girl and a her dad walk in,
sit down at the computer,

so we are doing great so far.

However, as it often happens
in software development,

at some point the little girl
encounters a bug,

a problem in her code
that she has to fix.

She is barely able to analyze the bug,

when the dad snatches away
the keyboard from her

and starts fixing the bug himself.

That was a very bad day for little girls.

(Laughter)

But it was a good day for me.

I realized something.

This is exactly what happened to me
when I asked my dad to fix my computer,

when I could have easily
fixed the problem myself.

And then I started seeing this pattern
happening to women everywhere:

keyboards stolen away from women
in technology classrooms,

in technology competitions,
and in women's own homes!

But what do I mean by
"keyboards stolen away"?

Do women have to be afraid
when they go and pick up

that new keyboard from the store,

that someone will run up to them
in the parking lot,

grab their keyboard, and run off?

Probably not.

What I mean by "keyboard"
is a more abstract term for technology.

A keyboard can be anything:

your phone, a virtual reality headset,
a nuclear reactor, if you please.

Whatever technology truly makes you happy,

makes you who you are, is a keyboard.

But what happens when that keyboard,
when that piece of technology

that you love using so much
is taken away from you?

How would you feel?

At first you would probably
feel very angry.

"How dare they take this piece
of technology I love using so much?"

But with time, that anger
will turn into something else.

As the girl's attempts
at using technology fail,

due to those unexpected
and uncontrollable events

such as that boy stealing away
the girl's keyboard,

the girl starts to internalize
the failure.

She starts to believe
that she cannot be good at technology,

and she gives up all the subsequent
attempts at learning it

and becoming better at it.

In psychology this kind of event is called

"learned technological helplessness,"
as Dr. Joy Harris has coined it.

What would the world be like

if we got rid of learned
technological helplessness?

Where would we be today?

Of course, there would be more
women software developers out there.

That would not only improve
the current state of the US economy,

it would decrease the ever present
gender pay gap.

Just imagine if more women

made the median software
developer's salary of $95,000.

But apart from empowering women
in their work lives,

getting rid of learned
technological helplessness

will empower those women
in their everyday lives.

With those keyboards,

the women will feel like
they can do anything in this world.

So, how do we get rid of learned
technological helplessness?

How do those women
get their keyboards back?

First, teachers, parents, boys, and men:

keep the women in your lives accountable.

If you see a woman or a little girl,
don't take away her keyboard.

It may be tempting, but don't.

My husband knows about
learned technological helplessness,

so anytime I come up to him
and ask him for computer help,

he looks at me like this and says,

"You have a bachelor's
and a master's degree in computer science,

you can figure it out."

And he's right.

And I sit down and figure out the problem,

and it's normally a very easy
problem to solve.

But the most important way for us

to get rid of learned
technological helplessness,

is to keep ourselves accountable.

The other day, I was installing
a Linux operating system

on my virtual machine,

and I was having trouble
with the screen being too small.

I struggled a bit for a while,
and at some point I got so frustrated,

I said, "I am just going to wait
for my husband to come home

and fix the problem for me."

But then something clicked.

And I said, "No,
I am not going to do that."

I sat down, I persevered,
and fixed the problem myself.

And then I wondered,

"Why the hell did I think
I needed a man to fix my computer for me?"

(Cheers)
(Applause)

So take it from me, girls and women.

Keep working on that bug, create software,

and never, ever let anyone
take the keyboard away from you.

Thank you.

(Applause)