The problem
Women have long faced an uphill battle in finding representation in the tech industry. Only 30% of employees in the tech industry are women. As Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said, there is a disparity between the number of men and women in the tech industry, saying there are “not enough women at the table.”
Deborah Liu is the former VP of Facebook and current CEO of Ancestry, and she has just released a new book detailing how women can fight for their place in tech.
In Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work, Liu explores the challenges and hypocrisies that are imposed on women and offers her experience for women to use as they find a place in the workplace.
“You can’t make the world fair, but you can take back your power,” says the publisher.
Backing up a bit
Liu has over a decade of experience working in silicon valley. Prior to her current position, she spent 11 years at Facebook, helped create features like Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Pay, and more, and previously worked on PayPal’s eBay marketplace team,
She is an advocate for women in tech and co-founded the non-profit organization Women in Product in 2016 to support women in helping them build support networks and find work in tech.
“So, one of the things we advocate for, it’s actually bringing more diversity to the table, how do we bring more women and minorities who are underrepresented to the table so that we can build better products that are for everyone?” says Liu.
Possible solutions
Take Back Your Power explores how to “find your voice, learn how to ask, and achieve what you want in a system that isn’t fair and wasn’t created for you,” helping women to ‘become a great leader without losing yourself in the process.”
“Liu breaks down the stereotypes and double standards that society imposes on women, equipping you with the tools to push back against them and achieve success, both in the workforce and at home.”
The book was published on August 9, 2022, by Zondervan, with a foreword by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg.
Notable quote
“Women are taught, from a young age to default to silence. The issue is not that women are too timid or insecure to speak up, to negotiate, it is that we are rational actors and understand all too well the ways we are punished for being appropriately assertive. But the cost of not challenging this status quo is a loss of agency. Deb shows how to break free of this double bind by sharing practical advice and personal experiences. A must-read, whether you’re a woman in the workplace or a man who works with women,” says Radical Candor author Kim Scott.