Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On February 25, Susan Susan Wojcicki announced her resignation as chief executive of YouTube this week, which means that a generation of prominent female executives in Silicon Valley technology has taken a back seat. Experts believe that this will only further prove that the technology industry has not fulfilled its stated desire to create an inclusive culture and to attract and retain top talent.

When Susan Susan Wojcicki was appointed CEO of YouTube in 2014, she was as respected as other female leaders of Silicon Valley technology companies.

Wojcicki's former Google colleague, Marissa Mayer, was chief executive of Yahoo at the time. Cheryl Sandberg (Sheryl Sandberg) is Facebook's influential number two and has just published a best-selling book on corporate feminism. Meg Whitman, a former California gubernatorial candidate, once ran Hewlett-Packard, and Ginni Rometty, then chief executive of IBM, was the first female head of the company.

Wojcicki announced last week that he would resign as chief executive of YouTube, marking the end of an era. Today, the Silicon Valley technology industry has lost a whole generation of pioneering female leaders and has been replaced mostly by men.

Bridge is a non-profit organization made up of dozens of business leaders who advocate diversity, fairness and inclusiveness. "it's like we have to start from scratch," said founder Sheryl Daija.

The technology industry has long lagged behind other industries when it comes to women holding senior positions in companies. In recent years, female executives in corporate America are more likely than ever to resign, according to the latest women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and LeanIn.Org. Wojcicki's resignation comes just days after Marne Levine, chief business officer of Meta, said he would leave Meta, where he has worked for 13 years.

Currently, Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft-- the five largest technology companies in the United States-- do not have female CEOs, while Wojcicki, who used to be CEO of YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is probably the closest. But now that Wojcicki has left, it also raises questions about why big tech companies rarely promote and support female executives and what it means for a new generation of female employees in the tech industry.

In Silicon Valley, women "have to work harder" as a female employee in Silicon Valley, "you can say you have to work harder," said Sima Sistani, co-founder and former chief executive of app Houseparty. She has held leadership positions at Epic Games, Yahoo and Tumblr, and became CEO of WeightWatcher last year.

"having a network of female friends is crucial to my success," Sistani said. "I am very grateful to the women who have helped to support me and open the way."

Sistani is not the only female employee who has to work hard in the technology world. Silicon Valley has long been criticized for its "brotherly culture" dominated by male employees.

Francois Francoise Brougher, former chief operating officer of Pinterest, sued the social media platform for gender discrimination and retaliation in 2020. She argued in court documents that she had been fired after reporting "humiliating sexist remarks" to her by another company executive. Later that year, Pinterest settled the lawsuit. But the legal battle highlights that even if you are a female tech executive, you can be treated unfairly.

Today, there are still a small number of women among technology executives, although they are not well known. These include Susan Li, chief financial officer of Meta, Safra Catz, chief executive of Oracle, and Su Zifeng, chief executive of chipmaker AMD. But prominent women in the tech world, such as Vijaya Gadde, the former head of law, policy and trust on social media Twitter, have become targets of malicious harassment online.

Laura Kray, a professor of leadership at the University of California, Berkeley, said that after Wojcicki left YouTube, "the departure of such a prominent female leader is only further proof that the technology industry has not fulfilled its stated desire to create an inclusive culture and to attract and retain top talent."

Driving change for the future today, Sistani, who runs WeightWatchers, brings not only his digital expertise to the company, but also the experience of female leaders in the workplace. Late last year, Sistani, a mother of two, relaxed WeightWatchers's paid maternity leave policy, which she believes is essential to provide fair opportunities for all working employees of the company.

Clay is also director of the Center for Equality, gender and leadership at the University of Berkeley. Having women in top leadership positions is crucial, she says, because it provides an example for women who are new to the workplace and gives them the opportunity to get guidance "from leaders who may face similar challenges in the promotion process".

Clay believes that this position of female representation at the top of the company is crucial, especially for female employees in middle management. Because at the middle management level, women tend to see their career ambitions frustrated. "without the previous female executives, this transition period would have been more difficult for a new generation of female executives," Clay said. "

Daijia of Bridge adds that one lesson from the departure of prominent female tech executives is the importance of succession planning to ensure that when a female chief executive steps down, other female employees are ready to take over their careers. " When these roles are replaced by other employees of the same gender, we will not continue to lose ground, we will stick to it, we will carry forward, "she said.

Wojcicki was replaced by Neil Neal Mohan. He worked at Google for 15 years and is currently the chief product officer of YouTube.

Although Sistani said that with so many well-known women in the tech world retreating to the second line, it felt like "we took a step back," but she added, "I think it's important for us women to find a place where we can make a difference."

She points out that for the first time in history, female chief executives now manage more than 10% of the world's Fortune 500 companies.

"at these moments, we should not be discouraged, we should think about what a good example Wojcicki has set for us," Sistani added. "I think what she has achieved and the example she has set will last forever, even though we don't have a woman as chief executive of a big technology company."

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.