Claiming back the role of women in technology | Melina Masnatta | TEDxRiodelPlata

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

In social debates about gender equity, we wonder how we can achieve representativeness in each of the relevant sectors. Melina Masnatta describes how in the area of ​​technology it is not about wining ground, but about recovering it and shows how a greater involvement of women in technology will have effects in various spheres of society. Melina Masnatta was born in Chubut (Patagonia Argentina) is Ashoka Fellow (2018), co-founder and executive director in Girls in Technology, member and founder of the interdisciplinary collective of digital art A.Mo.Ver, professor and researcher; national teacher of classical dances; Bachelor of Education Sciences (University of Buenos Aires, honor diploma), Master and specialist in Educational Technology (University of Buenos Aires, graduated with special mention). She has been awarded a scholarship to carry out the Global Competitiveness Leadership Program at Georgetown University and also the International Visitor Leadership Program with a focus on Education and Technology, from the State Department of the United States government.

I need you to follow me on this game.

It's called a career in technology.

To win we have to collect 1000 points.

If we succeed we might make millions.

Let's start.

Like all games, we have a character.

Our character is a 17 year old girl.

She's very curious and she's got
the best marks in her class.

But you know what?

In childhood she was given a little kitchen
and her brother, a computer.

And at school she never learned

that women could work on technology.

You know what?

That's why we start with -100 points
in technological skills

and -100 in aspirations.

It doesn't matter, we are a bit behind
but eager to continue.

Here's our next mission:

Make a group of people congratulate us

because we decided to study
Systems Engineering.

The game is taking us first
to her group of friends.

Let's see what the group of friends says.

"It is a career for guys,
it will sure be difficult."

Let's go to the family,
they never let you down.

Your mom says: "Why don't you play safe?
Lawyer or teacher."

(Laughter)

We've just lost another 70 points.

Good news anyway, we begin college.

Now our mission is to finish our studies.

Let's see how this level goes.

We attend classes on the fifth floor.

But there's only one ladies room,
in the first floor.

For showing up late to class
we lose another 50 points.

How does this continue?

We have the same teacher
in three subjects.

Whenever a girl makes him a question,
he doesn't answer.

For not being able to clarify our doubts
we lose another 30 points.

Anyway, I want to tell you
that we still keep moving forward.

We manage to get our degree.

That year we are one of the few women
that graduated in that career.

And we get a job.

Although a couple of people tell us

it's because there is a lot of demand
in this industry

for this type of profiles;
not because of your marks.

Now our next mission is to get a raise.

We are the only female in a group.

We work twice as much, we strive.

On top of that, they give us
the most difficult projects.

However, one day in the cafe,

we find out that our male partners
earn more money.

So we go talk with our boss
and he tells us:

"It's your fault because you never
asked for a raise."

This game is exhausting.

And I imagine that you, just like me,
don't want to keep on playing.

This is no longer a game.

These are the phrases from testimonies
of the few women

who work in technology in Argentina.

Last year we ran an investigation
because we wanted to understand

why with more technology,
less women want to study or create it.

They told us that these were
some of the routes and trajectories

they had to go through during their lives

to be where they are today.

There is no doubt that everything
we do today with technology

sets the pace of our lives.

From what we buy

to meeting again with that group
of high school friends.

89% of what we do on the Internet

has to do with a mobile app.

But only 6% were created by women.

Neither Tik Tok, nor Instagram,
nor Facebook.

Maybe that's why so recently

a woman's emoji appeared with a computer.

In Argentina in Computer Sciences,

there are only 11% of women today.

But this was not always so.

50 years ago, if we visited a classroom
of this career we would've found out

that 75% of people studying were female.

Women were not only a majority,
they also stood out.

In fact, thanks to them
everything we do on screens is possible.

Starting with the first person
in history who programmed

that was a woman, Ada Lovelace,

to the one who invented what today
we use as Wi-Fi, Hedy Lamarr.

Or check this out, the person who created

the software that managed to take Man
to the moon was Margaret Hamilton,

--quite ironic, right?--

This is a subject that keeps me busy
and also worries me.

Because it's not a territory
that women have to conquer.

They are territories
we were in and we left.

The more technology turned into

a place for the distribution of wealth,

of power, of creativity,
we stopped having access.

Working on technology today
not only means earning 30% more

than in any other industry.

Working on technology today
is to create the architecture

of what all the other systems do.

Whatever we do, it will be there.

The lack of diversity on that table

where it's decided what we will do
with those screens

brings consequences for all people.

For example, let's take
the virtual assistant,

that with a female voice asks us,

"how can I help you?"

And we tell them, in a moment of despair,

"assistant, I want to kill myself",

the assistant tells you the right line
for your country;

the software locates where you are
and gives you that exact number.

Now, until recently if we told them,

"assistant, I was raped",

your assistant would tell you
"I don't understand what you ask me."

After many complaints

now the assistant suggests a link,

a website about domestic violence,

but do you know where is it from?

The US.

That technology today
is defined by a single group

brings consequences for all people.

And that is something we have
to keep in mind

because, again, we have to start to think

that women need to be back
in that decision-making table.

In 2015 a group of women
coming from different fields

--but all crossed by technology--

decided to create an organization
and be there where we have to be today.

Motivating, training and accompanying

the next generation of women
leaders in technology.

We don't just teach them
technological skills,

we also teach them different skills

that have to do with entrepreneurship,

with being able to develop
other strategies to lead.

Because you know?

When they make it, we don't want them
to be like Steve Jobs with a wig.

When we started
this organization we realized

that this was the easiest,
believe it or not.

The most complex thing was to work
with schools, with universities,

with companies,

so they begin to understand
and see them as leaders.

But also to prepare
the space to receive them.

On this journey we understood
that the first we had to do

to measure impact was to have data.

And we started looking for them.

We started researching for how many women

are there in technology today
in Argentina, for example.

And that data did not exist.

So, although that was not our craft,
we had to investigate.

Today, for example, we know that
in the last five years

out of every 100 people who
sign up for these careers,

only 16 are women.

And maybe you think, well, that fact

only renders useful to the organization.

The truth is, no.

When we published it a lot of ministries
started writing to us

even investment groups,

to thank us and tell us
that they were using that data.

Thanks to that now they could project.

Because where you cannot
guarantee diversity

innovation will not come to pass.

And technology feeds on innovation.

What we learned during this time

is that it's not enough to teach girls
to get around these barriers.

We have to understand
what they are made of,

why they are there
and why they still persist.

That's not only going to help them.

It will also help other minority groups

or those who don't have a seat
at the decision-making tables.

It's key that women recover the place

we used to have in technology.

It's not merely our task alone.

It's a collective responsibility.

Because if we succeed

it will no longer be just one group
designing the future,

while the rest of us remain caught up
or out of the game.

(Applause)