Tech diversity push risks 'golden skirt' problem
Efforts by Silicon Valley to recruit women to company boards risk a “golden skirt” problem, whereby a small number of senior women are appointed to numerous positions, according to an op-ed in The Guardian. This pattern emerged in Norway after the introduction of quotas for women on boards in 2006. Although boards achieved a 40% female quota, the range of skills and personalities represented barely expanded. Research also indicates that a critical mass of women at executive level is necessary for change and that diversity policies must be implemented throughout an organisation.  

The competition for these women is thriving as tech companies are under growing pressure to diversify their boards. While Twitter and other tech companies have taken steps to add more women to boards, the tech industry still lags others in gender diversity. Among Silicon Valley’s 150 largest companies, only 15 percent of board seats were filled by women in 2016, compared with 21 percent for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, according to the research firm Equilar.

A lack of diversity permeates many parts of the tech industry — the overall work forces of companies like Facebook, Google and others strongly skew male — but boardrooms are a particular focus because they are power centers that can help spur broader changes. Board positions are often coveted for their prestige and big paychecks; median pay for directors at large public companies was $270,000 in 2015, according to Equilar.

Ms. Chang is one of the new generation of tech women who are now being courted to close that gap. Others include Stacy Brown-Philpot, the chief executive of TaskRabbit, a San Francisco start-up that connects people to cleaners, handymen and others who do household tasks. Ms. Brown-Philpot was appointed to her first public company board, HP Inc., in 2015.

Also in demand are Selina Tobaccowala, who runs the start-up Gixo, and Clara Shih, the chief executive of Hearsay Systems, who joined the board of Starbucks five years ago, at age 29, executive recruiters said.

“Boards are looking at diversity across multiple dimensions, such as gender, ethnicity, age and unique skill sets,” said David Chun, the chief executive of Equilar, which tracks board candidates and executive compensation. “If you can bring a number of these different attributes and perspectives to the boardroom, you’ll be in high demand.”