There have been a string of unfortunate stories recently regarding the role of women in the technology field, as well as studies that confirm a deep-seated bias around hiring women in science, technology, engineering, and math careers. Yet many technological organizations realize things could be better, providing outlets for networking and mentoring in an effort to expand and strengthen the field. Women of OpenStack is one such organization.

Anne McCormick (pictured, right), technical leader, software engineering, at Cisco Systems Inc., discovered Women of OpenStack at her first summit in Paris. She said that she was a little leery going in because she wasn’t sure what the attitude would be — if it would be an “us versus them” mentality. Instead, she found an extremely inclusive and encouraging community of women and men.

“It basically addresses the need for more women in technology and tries to make the community a more welcoming place; I think it takes both men and women to do that,” McCormick said.

McCormick and Sandhya Dasu (pictured, left), OpenStack engineer at Cisco, recently joined Stu Miniman (@stu) and John Troyer (@jtroyer), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the OpenStack Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. The discussed their insights on women in technology, as well as the role of mentoring. (* Disclosure below.)

Diversity strengthens everyone

When McCormick first started her career, she had received a scholarship to an engineering school. She remembered being so proud as she went up to receive her scholarship, and she heard somebody next to her say, “Oh what a waste; they’re giving it to a girl.”

She said it was funny because until that point, it had never occurred to her that there might be any kind of perception like that. Her automatic reaction was, “Well I guess all the dinosaurs didn’t go extinct.” While she easily could have been bitter about that kind of attitude, she instead saw it as an opportunity to set an example and to lead with her work and her confidence, changing the perception that gender matters when it comes to what someone does for a living. “Because I don’t believe it does,” McCormick said.

When Dasu mentors someone, she said that she gets something out of it too. Whenever she talks to a new graduate, they always have an incredible amount of enthusiasm that, in turn, helps fuel her own work. She has heard many people say that they are discouraged from entering engineering because it’s not set up for their success; she feels that is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“The more women that there are in this field, the better it is for everyone else,” Dasu said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of OpenStack Summit 2017 Boston. (* Disclosure: The OpenStack Foundation sponsors some OpenStack Summit segments on SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Neither the OpenStack Foundation nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE