Incumbents like to keep control, Dyson says.

Question: Why are there so few women in technology?

Esther Dyson: Because technology is like every other field Incumbents like to keep control and I was just in South Africa interestingly where there is an issue now between local South Africans especially black ones who come from typically a back ground where they didn’t have a lot of education and blacks and barbarian refugees who have a very good education and so they would get a lot of the IT jobs except that they can get working papers so who ever has got control of the resources is going to use what ever excuse they can to keep other people out and it is not men going of specifically and keeping the women out but the culture the are well boys club all these traditional things plus if you like learned of origin to technology and science especially among women and girls and so are these things interact.

Question: How do we change that?

Esther Dyson: A good role models and just time and there is a problem now with it is not just women it is, it is men as well not being interested in good solid scientific technical, mathematical education which is key for all of these.

Recorded on: 03/21/2008