Nov 2, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 5 min read

When considering the gender imbalance in technology-related professions, consider the words of a British man who goes by “Replicant Fish.”

“Men will always have a bigger, more natural connection with tech than women will. It’s not a sense of men keeping women out. Men are more naturally into these things,” he states amid the recurring misogyny of one of his YouTube posts, while alleging that women prefer the confines of, say, the cosmetics industry.

“I listened to this with my kids sitting there,” Amy Halter said after playing a portion of the video for her audience at Crowne Plaza Suites Pittsburgh South in Bethel Park. “I was just boiling inside. What are we talking about here? This is craziness.”

Halter, vice president of operations for technology solutions company Accion Labs, joined two other speakers recently for Impactful Women: Technology Summit, hosted by the South West Communities Chamber of Commerce.

Audrey Russo, Pittsburgh Technology Council president and chief executive officer, and former Washington resident Erica Peterson, founder and owner of Moms Can: Code and Science Tots, also shared insight about their careers and how women, indeed, can find success in technology.

The Replicant Fish rant elicited strongly negative reactions among those in attendance, which was Halter’s intent.

“This kind of really drove me forward in understanding what I believe in and really kind of reignited that fire for me: why I’m here today, why I go out to the schools and what I hope to accomplish,” she said, referring to her frequent talks with students, especially girls, about what technology has to offer them.

She quoted statistics from the National Center for Women and Information Technology: “By 2026, 3.5 million computing-related job openings are expected. At the current rate, only 17 percent of these jobs could be filled by U.S. computing bachelor’s degree recipients.”

Halter contends that such numbers represent tremendous opportunities for women, despite Replicant Fish’s observations.

“Here, we have a tremendous talent shortage, and this guy is saying: Go to the makeup industry. Just stay over there. Really?” she said. “This video was everything, to me, that I’m trying to push against. I’m trying to remove those gender barriers.”

In a field where men outnumber women four to one, Russo has led the Pittsburgh Technology Council for 11 years.

“There’s this need for massive, massive, continuous skill acquisition,” she said about the industry’s outlook. “So the opportunity for all of us women is: how are we ‘upskilling’ each other? How are we developing new skills, and what’s the method to that, both formally and informally?

“Here’s what I tell women all the time: Learn finance,” she continued. “Learn how to read spreadsheets. Learn how to read balance sheets. Understand profit and loss. Have conversations about that all the time. It’s the best skill that I’ve learned.”

Peterson, who has two young children, founded Science Tots to connect families with instruction and tools to provide early learning about subjects related to science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. Her latest project is Moms Can: Code, a global community and training program that features online classes.

“If you are somebody who’s considering a path as an entrepreneur, my advice is to always go for it, because it can be life-changing,” she said. “And I am definitely proof of that.”

She pointed out that women already have a leading role with regard to technology.

“We own the most mobile phones. We use them the most. We have the most buying power, too,” Peterson said. “You are all in business and using tech daily, and it has enhanced either your business lives or your personal lives.”

Erica Peterson, founder and owner of Moms Can: Code and Science Tots, offers these tips:

• Start to learn more about technology by using technology, such as websites and apps that make your life easier.

• Enroll in technical classes, which are available through various community resources and at www.momscancode.com.

• Read books about technology, including those written for younger readers.

• Subscribe to technical sites and magazines.

• Listen to tech podcasts, including locally produced pghtechfuse.com/techvibe-radio and www.pitchwerks.com/podcast.

• Watch videos at code.org.

• Try an hour of code.

• Check out apps for kids, such as codespark.com and www.gethopscotch.com.

• Check out apps for adults, such as Google’s Grasshopper for learning Java Script.

• Visit the toy aisle at stores for tech-oriented activities.

• Share what you know with others, including through social media.

• Follow female tech influencers on social media: @PittsTechAudrey, @FounderMama, @WomeninTechPGH.

• Support female-founded and -led companies.

• Connect with the larger tech community through www.eventbrite.com, www.meetup.com and www.pghtech.org.