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Interesting post on heightened presence of the Girl Scouts at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2016; they have a Cookie 2.0 personal website and app to assist cookie sellers/buyers and encourage girls to go into STEM fields.

Mattel is using AI to turn Barbie into a young girl's friend. Hello Barbie is the new incantation of the doll that appeals to 3 - 10 year old girls. Hello Barbie can react to what a young girl is saying to her, and is programmed with thousands of responses. Unlike the toys that had pull strings, Hello Barbie transmits via wifi so the girl's voice is read and then sends Barbie a response to the keywords in the voice data within a second. Hello Barbie has thicker thighs to accommodate the batteries necessary for all this. Interesting research on girls who play with Barbie have lower self esteem than those who do not, and feel they have to be think, have large breasts, and be blond and blue eyed. Scary!

How one person created a comic book to educate young girls and women about menstrual periods, a topic previously avoided by everyone, including biology teachers in schools in India. Previous ignorance led to girls/women using unhealthy hygiene practices and being isolated from society participation--very good

Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, on reframing the term bossy for not just girls and women, but everyone to be based on competence and caring. Others look up to those who are, and see them as leaders, not bossy people.

A Data-driven approach to gender equality shows that although some gains have been made, not enough have been. Since 1995, the baseline data year, shows mixed gains. For example, some women still don't have the right to vote, 1 in 4 girls was married before her 18th birthday, girls and boys test similarly in math and science yet women are still not entering those higher paying fields. On the plus side, more women are surviving childbirth and the general health of women has improved.

Attempt to interest girls in tech careers by Silicon Valley. Interesting in that this is a business decision, not just an altruistic one. Women are not a big factor in the app design field, and it is felt they would design different apps than are currently being produced.

Good career choice for the future

An article view by Jenna Wortham at the New York Times of different online learning sites for mastering computer codes and programming, March 27, 2012. Mentions Codecademy, Girls Develop It, Treehouse, General Assembly, etc. Excerpt: "Peter Harsha, director of government affairs at the association, said the figure had been steadily climbing for the last three years, after a six-year decline in the aftermath of the dot-com bust. Mr. Harsha said that interest in computer science was cyclical but that the current excitement seemed to be more than a blip and was not limited to people who wanted to be engineers. "To be successful in the modern world, regardless of your occupation, requires a fluency in computers," he said. "It is more than knowing how to use Word or Excel but how to use a computer to solve problems." "

want to watch this 22 minute presentation by Bryant, Black Girls Code founder, on biases

This article provides some wonderful tips to women in the business world who find it necessary to approach others to sell products, ideas or services. "I've always had a pretty good relationship with the idea of being a salesperson.  For some reason, even from an early age, I had it in my head that sales was simply about finding people who wanted what I had to offer. So, for instance, selling Camp Fire Girls candy in grade school held no terrors for me: I'd go around and ask people if they wanted to buy it, and if not, I'd ask the next person.  I figured there was no harm in asking, even if they didn't want it - and them not wanting it didn't have anything to do with me; maybe they didn't like candy, or were on a diet, or had already bought some from somebody else."

Soroptimist web site. Soroptimist means "best for women" A service group with local chapters that fund and direct projects to benefit women and girls. An international organization.

Fabulous 2 minute video of 9 year old girl in Holland who taught herself how to sing opera from YouTube videos

women's professional crises; we are not brave enough; we have not learned how to stand up for what we want to be, do, etc. girls go underground when they enter puberty--stop thinking they can be a leader, become reoccupied with their image, go underground. Crisis emerges--on average, most women (70%) face three crises at a time. 1) can't speak up 2) can't get out of crushing competition 3) can't break cycle of mistreatment by narcissists 4) can't heal chronic illness 5) can't do work that I love. See bravely, speak bravely, shine bravely is way to change one's life. How are you special? What are your amazing gifts? How are you precious and valuable in this world? "The talents that come easily to you are just the ones the world needs." Are you leveraging the talents that come easily to you? Women are viewed more negatively than men when they are perceived as forceful. Sharing who you are is not bragging. 20 facts of who you are and what you have done, and why it's important. Way to attract people who need you. Own your authority but ground it in value and respect. ground forceful statements in one of your values. Frame it with a value, then explain position. All ideas have value. Shine bravely--

press release on Accenture study looking at how digitally savvy women are helping to close the gender gap in the workplace, March 3, 2016. 

Published 1/7/2013 Basic stats and some surprises, too.

good background on how social informal networks lead to promotions and new opportunities for its women members, Fortune

article by Jenna Goudreau, Forbes staff, April 26, 2010 on how women are more social and specific action oriented while men are more strategic in their use of blogs, networks, etc.

article by Jenna Goudreau, Forbes staff, April 26, 2010 on how women are more social and specific action oriented while men are more strategic in their use of blogs, networks, etc. 

article by Jayne Cravens, February 20, 2015 on virtual volunteering moving from asynchronous to synchronous interactions, virtual identities including pictures, lack of recognition by some nonprofits of how they are using virtual volunteers.