If you were in Houston last week at the Grace Hopper Celebration, you wouldn't believe our industry could possibility have a pipeline problem with women. There were 12,000 women -- engineers, computer scientists, technologists and more -- all ripe for hiring, promoting and engaging with for ideas and innovation.

It was a pretty inspiring sight. And I know others shared my point of view because some companies, like Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) and Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC), were hiring these women right on the spot through a job fair colocated with the event. (See No Frat Party Here: 12,000 Computer Scientists Convene in Houston.)

For me, someone who has been attending male-dominated telecom conventions for ten years now, this was unlike any convention I've ever been to. The men I met with said they finally understood what it was like for women in our industry as they politely waited in line for the men's room overrun with women. And the women left feeling inspired and a little less alone. (See Mentor Monday: Anita Borg's Elizabeth Ames.)

I also left with a notebook full of ideas to improve our own Women in Comms initiative and help advance women in our industry. Some of the most interesting insights I garnered had to do with improving the pipeline of women and under-represented minorities that apply for jobs, which is one facet of many that contributes to the lack of women in our industry.

Light Reading is hosting its next Women in Comms breakfast in London on November 5, ahead of the OSS in the Era of SDN and NFV: Evolution vs. Revolution show. Please join us for the free and fantastic morning by registering here.

Recruiters often say there simply aren't women applying for jobs, which is often the case, but the reason isn't as simple as women not being interested in jobs in this field. Rather, speakers at the Grace Hopper Celebration shared some reasons women may not be applying for jobs, and it often comes down to how the job description is crafted. (See A Vast Valley: Tech's Inexcusable Gender Gap.)

Kieran Synder, a PhD in linguistics and CEO of Textio, which helps companies craft better job descriptions, shared some advice and a few examples of how a job description can sway the applicant pool:

Fixing the job description is a great place to start, but Joelle Emerson, CEO of Paradigm, a strategy firm focused on making tech startups more diverse, suggested companies use data to find out where their biggest problems are first. For example, one startup she worked with decided to anonymize all the names of their applicants to avoid unconscious bias. Data from their applicant tracking system, however, showed that disparities weren't coming into play until the phone screening process, suggesting the company's problem wasn't at the resume level.

In fact, unconscious bias comes up the most often at the on-phone or in-person screening portion of the interview process. Women often get dinged for their communication style or for, vaguely, not being a good "cultural fit," Caroline Simard, research director of Clayman Institute for Gender Studies at Stanford University, said.

"We use the term 'culture add' instead," Emerson added. "Who will bring what we need to the company, not fit within the construct we already have?"

The Paradigm CEO also said that between 65% to 80% of offers made go to referrals, and 70% to 80% of referrals are white or Asian men, so it's on employees to think more broadly when they suggest candidates for new positions.

"A lot of companies incent with greater bonuses if they hire a woman or minority, or others say they want one minority candidate for every slate, so people often build a slate then have to add a woman or minority. By that time they lose all their candidates," Simard added. "You need to front load. Add females first then add male candidates."

Synder also suggested to keep in mind that the most qualified person isn't the same as the person who went to Stanford or who matches the pedigree of people at our company. Mimi Fox Melton, director of program development and implementation of Code 2040, even suggested implementing a "school-blind" resume review process. If an applicant can pass the technical portion of an interview process, that's all that should matter, she said.

The pipeline problem in tech is inextricably linked to the culture problem at tech companies. As Simard said, "the most crucial factor to hire women and minorities in positions is to have women and minorities in that position." If you don't see people like yourself at a company, it's hard to see yourself working there. Improving the pipeline is an important aspect, but it's only one of many. (See Championing Change: It's a Cultural Thing and McKinsey: Women Less Likely to Advance at Work.)

YouTube Inc. CEO Susan Wojcicki shared the stat that by 2020 jobs in computer science will grow more than two times faster than the national average, totaling near five million jobs. She also noted that female representation in technology was actually higher in the mid-1980s. While other fields like biology and chemistry have since improved, ours seems to be getting worse. (See More Women in Tech Is Critically Important.)

Obviously, we can't continue to leave out half the population from these and related jobs. Improving the pipeline should be a top concern for all companies, and the Grace Hopper show not only provided some great, practical advice about how we can all be doing a better job, but at least 12,000 reasons why we should be.

— Sarah Thomas, , Editorial Operations Director, Light Reading