This week in our WiC roundup: A new children's book series is set to be written by Chelsea Clinton; the annual Grace Hopper Celebration is back and bigger than ever; climate change and gender equity are interlinked; and more.

Eryn Leavens, Special Features & Copy Editor

August 20, 2021

4 Min Read
WiCipedia: Gender equity and climate tech are 'inextricably linked'

This week in our WiCipedia roundup: A new children's book series is set to be written by Chelsea Clinton; the annual Grace Hopper Celebration is back and bigger than ever; climate change and gender equity are interlinked; and more.

  • If there's ever been a time to focus on climate change, it was probably about 50 years ago... but better late than never, and women need to be involved on all levels. Yahoo reports that Women in Climate Tech, a group that works to "empower" non-male voices in climate tech, has formed the Task Force for Equity in Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TECFD). The group will, in short, focus on gender equity in climate tech and develop a playbook for businesses and governments to address the shortcomings. "Climate and equity are inextricably linked," says Jamie Alexander, a participant in the TECFD program. "For example, we know gender equity is a climate solutions multiplier. So it's essential to bake equity into work underway, by companies and governments, to address climate risk." Want to read more about this topic? Check out this article about racial equity in sustainability work. (See WiCipedia: Climate tech needs more women on its team.) Figure 1: Is it too late or just in time? (Source: Pixabay) (Source: Pixabay)

    • It's that time again: The annual AnitaB.org Grace Hopper Celebration, the largest gathering of women in tech in the world, is back again and virtualized. Last year the event boasted more than 30,000 attendees and this year will likely be even larger with more opportunities to connect, learn and network than ever. The theme of this year's event is "#DareTo, because now more than ever, we are focused on living our mission to inspire ALL women and encourage them to #DareTo," an email briefing about the event, which will be held at the end of September, explains. There's going to be so much happening at this event that it's difficult to summarize all of the offerings, but we'd say we're most looking forward to the keynote speakers, including tech journalist Kara Swisher and the first openly trans WNBA player, Layshia Renee Clarendon. To learn more about the event and register, click here. (See WiCipedia: 'Gender is embedded in the job'.)

    • A new series of children's books written by Chelsea Clinton is set to be released. Yahoo reports that the books will be a continuation of the She Persisted series, released in 2017 and showcasing female changemakers in a variety of fields, including STEM. "It's always the right time to share inspirational stories about women who have persisted in science, and it feels particularly important now to shine a light on women scientists and their contributions to our shared public health, the fight against climate change, and so much more," Clinton said in a statement. The books will be illustrated by artist Alexandra Boiger and will hopefully show a new, younger audience what's possible for women's careers and the world at large. (See WiCipedia: Debugging the Gap, GE's Gender Pledge & #ShePersisted.)

    • A new article from Triple Pundit examines the complicated world of being Asian and working in Big Tech, particularly in Silicon Valley. The article dives into a Bloomberg study, which took a hard look at the percentage of Asians working in entry-level tech jobs vs. the percentage working at upper-level jobs. As they put it (and so many others have confirmed), "while it may at first be easy for Asians to start their careers in tech, climbing the corporate ladder is rife with barriers. That's especially true for women..." Additionally, based on a study from IBM, 80% of Asian-Americans have experienced professional discrimination, not to mention the constant microaggressions that women endure. Ellen Pao, author of Reset, which exposed sexism in Silicon Valley, said, "I look back, and there are so many things that happened to me because of my race that I didn't process." (See WiCipedia: How to tackle implicit bias and the 'lonely only'.)

      — Eryn Leavens, Special Features & Copy Editor, Light Reading. Follow us on Twitter @LR_WiC and contact Eryn directly at [email protected].

About the Author(s)

Eryn Leavens

Special Features & Copy Editor

Eryn Leavens, who joined Light Reading in January 2015, attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago before earning her BA in creative writing and studio arts from Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. She also completed UC Berkeley Extension's Professional Sequence in Editing.

She stumbled into tech copy editing after red-penning her way through several Bay Area book publishers, including Chronicle Books, Counterpoint Press/Soft Skull Press and Seal Press. She spends her free time lifting heavy things, growing her own food, animal wrangling and throwing bowls on the pottery wheel. She lives in Alameda, Calif., with two cats and two greyhounds.

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