Celebrating Women In Computing

When Anna Wichansky, Oracle senior director for User Interface Engineering, started in the high-tech industry more than 25 years ago, she was used to often being the only woman in the room. But when she attended the Anita Borg Institute’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in October 2006, the opposite was true: She was in the company of 1,300 women who were also leaders in their fields or bright up-and-coming innovators.

“It was nice to be able to get good support from fellow women colleagues,” Wichansky says. “We’re all juggling the same kinds of issues, such as taking time off for child rearing or being working moms. We’re often looking for mentors or opportunities to go back to school and improve our career. So getting encouragement from other women who’ve been there is valuable.”

As part of the conference, Wichansky also participated on an expert panel, “The Role of User Research in the Product Development Process,” with women from other leading companies. In addition, fellow Oracle veteran, Leng Tan, vice president of Database Management, helped lead one of the conference’s Birds of a Feather sessions called, “Embrace Your Duality as an Asian Woman to Leader.”

Along with the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, which Oracle plans to support again in 2007, the company also sponsors the institute’s annual Women of Vision Awards gala, which recognizes significant contributions to technology in innovation, leadership and social impact. Both Wichansky and Tan appreciate that Oracle sponsors such events and gives them the opportunity to attend, network, share their expertise as panelists and—perhaps most importantly—to identify mentors, “mentees” and a wider support network.

“Being able to go to this conference and see all these women that are doing what I’m doing—and to see that we are not alone—was very empowering,” Tan says. “It was inspiring to see executives whom I aspire to be like and to learn how they got to where they’re at.”

Tan’s impression is exactly the kind of experience the Anita Borg Institute hopes women will take away from its events, says Chuck Walrad, development director for the institute. Yet support from community partners such as Oracle is key to fulfilling this goal. “It gives the women who attend hope for the future because when we have companies like Oracle participating they see that these companies are hiring women,” she says. “For Oracle, it shows their women employees that they are committed and care and provides an opportunity for them to offer attendance as a perk to reward women. It also opens sponsor’s eyes to the quality of resumes they can get.”

And that is another benefit of Oracle’s sponsorship of Anita Borg Institute events—getting to tap new talent as part the company’s overall commitment to diversity, says Kristin Jackson, Oracle compliance/diversity manager. “In high-tech, women need these opportunities to have a dialogue so we can be successful,” she says. “It’s also an opportunity for people such as Leng and Anna to speak as leaders to a larger audience.”

Wichansky and Tan alike agree that Oracle’s participation in Anita Borg Institute events is validating and essential in the effort to improve women’s representation in the high-tech industry—and retain them for the long haul.

“Anything that strengthens employees in terms of teaching them things, giving them professional support, enabling better networking and allowing them to discuss work-life balance is a good thing,” Wichansky says.