#Allison Creekmore on Technology

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The Tech That Might Change How Concussions Are Handled in the NFL

Concussions are a huge risk in football, and it is important to do anything possible to recognize and diagnose them as soon as possible. The NFL takes concussions seriously, and rightly so. A concussion affects the brain’s ability to focus and react to stimuli. If a player goes back on the field with a concussion, he may have trouble perceiving where another player is, which can lead to collisions and further injury. The NFL has a concussion protocol in place, but a new technology called Eye-Sync just might be a game-changer for spotting concussions.

What Is the Eye-Sync?

Basically, the Eye-Sync is a headset, similar to those used in virtual reality, that will administer tests to the player who may have a concussion. In the past, doctors would diagnose concussions by tracking eye movements. A concussion makes it hard for a person to focus, so if the doctor moved his finger back and forth, the patient would not be able to follow it steadily. 

The Eye-Sync uses embedded infrared cameras to track the patient’s pupils as they move. If the pupils jump around, they will know that the patient has a concussion and can administer treatment right away. In addition, the likelihood of a player with a brain injury returning to play and possibly sustaining further, more dire damage will be reduced.

Why Should the NFL Use it?

The answer is simple: the NFL should use it so that they can diagnose concussions quickly. If a player suffers a concussion and doesn’t receive treatment, he may return to the field with a brain injury. There are potentially serious long-term consequences to an untreated brain injury. Not only that, but the player could suffer further damage.

After the FDA cleared the Eye-Sync in 2016, the NBA began using it to detect levels of fatigue in players. In addition, college football teams around the country have started using it. The NFL could benefit greatly by adding the Eye-Sync to its Concussion protocol. 

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The Best High-Tech Athletic Equipment

High-tech athletic equipment is fast becoming mainstream. Modern technology enables the production of smart sports gear that can provide athletes with specific feedback to improve performance. 

High-Tech Balls

Athletes can use a smart basketball or soccer ball to track how they are training. The ball has a sensor inside, and it connects to an app on the athlete’s smartphone. Wilson has a basketball that tracks total time played, how many shots were taken, and how many points were scored. The soccer ball from Micoach can detect speed, spin, strike, and flight path data, and it will even provide tips for improvement.

High-Tech Racquets and Bats

Both tennis and baseball have equipment with smart technology that will help players improve their game. A tennis racket from French company Babolat is battery powered and tracks serve speed and the number of shots taken. In baseball, Zepp Labs has a mountable sensor that goes on the bat and connects to a player’s smartphone and tracks bat speed. It can even show the player’s swing in 3D on the app. They also make a sensor for golf clubs and tennis rackets

High-Tech Running

There is a wide variety of high-tech equipment for runners. Under Armour plans to release a pair of running shoes that tracks the distance traveled, stride length, and pace, and it will transmit the information to an app. Nike already has a clip-on sensor that serves the same purpose. Sony has a different approach. They use a wireless headset to track the run. In addition, it has a voice coach who will provide information on heart rate and distance traveled.

High-Tech Golf

As mentioned above, Zepp Labs has a mountable sensor that attached to a golf club. In addition, Game Golf offers a sensor that can be affixed to the player’s belt and provide feedback on the golf swing and fairway accuracy. 

Technology is advancing rapidly, and high-tech athletic equipment is growing in popularity. The ability to keep track of practices, analyze form and technique, and even receive tips is invaluable. 

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How the Sports Industry Uses AR

Augmented reality is becoming more and more of a reality. It is used in many industries to improve and enhance professions and experiences and will only continue to grow. AR has entered the sports industry and shows no signs of slowing down. Here are some of the ways that the sports industry uses AR.

Enhanced Viewing

AR developers are working on technology that will completely change the experience at the stadium. By wearing AR glasses, a fan will have detailed information that he or she would have on the television at home. Sports broadcasters are already using AR technology to show viewers replays with 3D animations or the line of the ball with virtual drawings. 

Sports Training and Marketing

Augmented reality is used to enhance videos during athletes’ film review sessions. As they are watching video, they can see statistics and data that give relevant information on a player’s strengths, weaknesses, and other characteristics. They also use realistic 3D simulations to improve their training sessions. There are even AR apps that will connect to a player’s smartphone and assess a session through a sensor in a ball. 

AR has taken sports marketing to new levels. One of the biggest ways that AR has changed this field is that advertisements that are located in a stadium can be replaced with an LED system to show different ads in different television markets. This way, the advertising is relevant to the fans watching the event. Teams can use AR to generate greater fan interest by allowing users to click and share selfies with 3D snaps of their favorite players or by offering custom filters for photos that people share on social media.

AR Games

Finally, AR is being used to create games and tournaments. For example, a Japanese startup, Meleap Inc., has created an AR Techno Sport called HADO where players wear a wrist sensor and AR headset, and they throw virtual energy balls and block with virtual shields. AR allows people to experience many things that could not otherwise be done.

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Virtual Reality Uses in Sports

Virtual reality technology is becoming more and more widespread. Basically, VR is a constant technological system that tracks body movements. In essence, virtual reality replaces an athlete’s or a viewer’s senses with ones generated by a computer. As this technology develops, it is used in sports more and more, primarily to simulate game play in training and enhance fans’ viewing experiences.

Training

Virtual reality is an incredible asset in training for many sports. From football to Nascar to just about any sport out there, virtual reality is helping athletes train for sports through simulations. For instance, three NFL football teams and three college teams are using virtual reality in practice. They can simulate weather conditions and possible scenarios to improve their play. 

In addition to football, virtual reality can be used to simulate any game or performance situation. Athletes can incorporate virtual reality into film studies to improve their training. Nascar drivers can strap on a VR headset to simulate different tracks and conditions. 

From Nascar race tracks to ice rinks to riding arenas, athletes can use virtual reality to learn how to handle different conditions, different plays, and ultimately improve their game.

Viewing

Another way virtual reality is used is to enhance fans’ viewing of different sports. For example, using virtual reality, a fan can watch a soccer match as if he or she is at the stadium. Teams can provide behind-the-scenes views of the game that allow viewers to experience more of the action. 

With a VR headset and an app, fans are more and more able to view sporting events as if they are right there watching live. On-player cameras allow viewers to experience sports from the players’ perspectives, which is a completely different experience.

The NBA, while it already uses virtual reality for training purposes, plans to use this technology to enhance the viewing experience for its global audience. As virtual reality becomes more and more mainstream, fans and viewers can expect to enjoy different aspects of sports and feel more involved and connected.

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Five Ways Technology Is Transforming Sports

Technology has dramatically changed everything people do, from how they watch the news to how they protect their homes. Not surprisingly, technology has transformed many aspects of sports, including how sports are played and how fans interact with teams and athletes. Here are five significant technological changes to sports.

Clothing and Equipment

Technology uses motion capture and 3D modeling to improve the design of clothing, footwear, and equipment. Baseball bats, tennis rackets, golf clubs, helmets, and much more have been completely revolutionized to be safer, give more power, and allow greater precision and control.

Training 

Technology is also revolutionizing how athletes train. Smart equipment evaluates athletes using sensors and computers. This equipment assesses skill and body function and helps to determine an athlete’s capabilities. Athletes are able to make small changes to improve their swing, stance, and a number of other mechanics.

Fans Are More Connected 

Fans have a greater connection to teams and athletes. Both small market teams that have a presence on the Internet or websites with comprehensive athlete stats enable fans to learn everything they want to know about their favorite teams. In addition, fans can watch nearly any game from their computers, televisions, tablets, or even their phones.

Tickets and Stadiums

Today, fans can purchase tickets online in a mobile format. Fans can also select their seats by looking at a virtual stadium. The stadiums offer a more luxurious experience with giant high-def screens and incredible sound. Some venues even have heated seats and wireless in-seat food ordering.

Media and Television

Fans learn the details of the game because of advanced technology. In football, the first down line on the screen makes viewing much easier. The high-def TVs make the action so real that fans feel like they are at the game. The score is displayed on the screen, and the replays can show what happened, what could have happened, and even what they wish had happened. Sports analysis can virtualize any concept to show fans the intricacies of the game.

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One Way That AI Is Being Used In Sports

With the advances in technology, it should come as little surprise that artificial intelligence developers are attempting to implement robots in human sporting events.

There are actually two modern leagues: Roborace, an in-development autonomous motorsport series that is headed up by Formula E driver Lucas Di Grassi; and The Drone Racing League, which uses drones with first-person-view to race around obstacle courses. They are investing heavily in technologies that could see cars and AI drones not only compete with humans but potentially beat them.

Both leagues have yet to have a robot defeat a human but there have been significant gains from the AI side of things. The hope here is that advancements in the field of autonomous drones will benefit other industries and not just those in the sports field.

The Real Use of Autonomous Drones

The thought here is that AI drones could actually be used in search-and-rescue missions or in an emergency response situation. There is also hope that these autonomous vehicles can do what electric vehicles have and create a space to push the boundaries of car technology.

The largest independent automotive testing area, the Transportation Research Center in Ohio, just recently opened a state-of-the-art $45 million connected and automated vehicle-testing facility known as SMARTCenter.

The oval track in this facility is 1.2 miles long and sports an urban network of intersections, roundabouts, and “oblique intersection scenarios” that are movable. These tests are meant to test autonomous cars in conditions that can mimic public roads.

How AI Drones Work

These AI drones use sensors, machine learning, and cameras to perceive the world around them. And because of the customized level of design, there are definitely advantages over their human counterparts.

Field of vision is one of these. To see a full 180-degree view, a person must turn his or her head left or right while the drone has a full-scope view. This is just one of the ways that drone technology is being used to an advantage over human abilities.

AI has come a long way and manufacturers are hoping that this is just the beginning.

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Comparing Instant Replay Systems Across Different Sports

The five words that are sure to elicit groans, hope, and bathroom breaks among sports fans everywhere:

“The play is under review.”

Over the course of the past two decades, instant replay has come to be adopted by all of the major sports. The idea behind it is simple: with TV technology, viewers often get a better view of the action than the people calling the game, which is clearly absurd. Why not give the refs the tools that they need to get the calls right? Well, as logical as that point may seem and for as many calls as instant replay has fixed or confirmed over the years, it’s still a long, boring, and often frustratingly vague process.

Major League Baseball

After years of fighting it, there’s a whole host of plays that can be called under review in MLB, though not nearly all. That alone causes confusion. Balls and strikes aren’t reviewable because bad though those calls may be, were they to become reviewable, an already-long game could take ages. As it is, replay has added to MLB’s already-long length of game, demonstrating the tricky tightrope that leagues have to walk between getting calls right and keeping games interesting.

In addition, players taking their hands off the bag for a split second and the elimination of the so-called “neighborhood play” at second base have been accused of altering the spirit of the game.

National Football League

The NFL just can’t seem to win when it comes to instant replay. After the Non-Pass Interference Heard Around the World put the wrong team in the Super Bowl last season, the NFL changed the rule to make pass interference reviewable. That hasn’t stopped review controversy and endless questions over what is and isn’t a catch.

Pro Tennis

“That ball was on the line!”

John McEnroe’s famous temper tantrum is one of the big calls people point to when instant replay comes up. While it may not mollify McEnroe (what does?), tennis may have it the best of the sports impacted by instant replay. The Hawk Eye in the Sky mostly gets it right and there are fewer theatrics than the angry coaches and players in MLB and the NFL treat us to. That said, that also deprives us of moments like McEnroe’s, which is easily one of the sport’s most memorable.

It’s a tricky line between correct calls and entertainment value. MLB, the NFL, pro tennis, and other leagues such as the NHL and NBA try to get it right. And when they don’t?

Well, they’ll take it “under review.”

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The Role of Technology in Coach/Player Communication

The relationship between coach and player is an important one. The coach is there to teach and to guide the players to success. The players are there to learn, listen, to grow into their skills, and refine them into a successful tool.

When communication between the two parties is disjointed, the coach’s message can get lost, and the player can feel as though they are on an island all to themselves. This can curb the learning process and stunt the growth that the player experiences.

Through technology, the way that players and coaches are able to communicate has changed exponentially over the years.

How Technology Has Changed the Coach and Player Communication Role

One of the most challenging aspects of coaching can be to convey just what it is that the coach is seeing. How it is perceived in their heads may come out verbally in a much different manner. This can lead to ineffective communication, which can lead to frustration by both parties.

Advanced data and statistics have helped to eliminate some of those communication issues. This data can help to visualize what it is the coach is seeing and allow him or her to explain it to the players with strong visual numbers.

For instance, perhaps a player plays faster during games than during practice. Before that was something that a coach could perceive, but with data and statistics, the coach can actually calculate that number and use it as an example.

Video Is Changing the Game

Another way that coaches can communicate differently is through the use of video. Perhaps the coach notices something in the technique that could use improvement. With video, that coach can accurately display to the player where the issues in his or her technique might arise.

This is a great study aid for players as well. Coaches can devise a game plan around a specific opposing player and give it to their players to allow them to visualize and see the strengths and negatives of that player. This allows for a whole new level of preparation.

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How One Technology Is Improving Sports Officiating

One of the most consistent complaints about sports has nothing to do with winning and losing. It has to do with the way that games are officiated. Technology has come a long way to allow officials to get more calls right than ever, but there are still egregious human errors that get made.

For some, this can significantly impact their view of and have a negative impact on their enjoyment of that game. There is nothing more frustrating as an athlete than feeling as though the officials have gotten a vital call wrong and cost your team.

But there is one piece of technology that has come to the forefront of sports to assist the way that youth sports are officiated. That piece of technology is known as Silbo, an AI-powered, digital referee marketplace.

What Is Silbo?

Created by three friends from Raleigh, N.C., Silbo is now a network of 7000 officials that spans a dozen sports and 20 cities across seven different states. Silbo provides personalized recommendations of referees for games.

Silbo was, in part, created due to a nationwide shortage of referees. This decline in officiating comes from the abuse and poor sportsmanship that many umpires and referees have faced while working games. This includes fistfights and even police being called to events. Who would want to deal with that?

Silbo tries to eliminate favoritism, bias, and other factors by using geolocation to help make the proper official assignments. This helps to manage weekly payments as well as ensure that officials check-in at the games.

That aforementioned digital payment system has helped to eliminate hours of writing checks that previously muddied the officiating process. Being able to streamline the way that officials get paid and assigned has helped.

But most of all, it puts a system into place that fairly assigns officials and puts them into a position to be successful at their jobs. And at the end of the day, that is what is the most important aspect here.

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Technology is Changing the Way People Watch Sports

  Advanced technology creates many advantages, and this also translates into how people view and interpret sports. Not only can you watch sports on different media, but technology has added numerous factors to make it more enjoyable for viewers. While game rules mostly remain the same, the following aspects have changed how consumers watch sports, especially live events.

Improved Sound and Video Technology

The sound quality and the crispness of the picture keep improving. You can see a remarkable difference over broadcasts from just a few years ago. Since broadcasts use high-end microphones, they eliminate unnecessary sounds for good clarity. Additionally, cameras transmit even tiny details for superior quality.

Real-Time Updates

Players, teams, fans, and franchises have become more connected because of social media sites. They use Facebook walls, Instagram pages, and Twitter feeds to communicate. This engages the fans like never before. It also gives teams the chance to keep the audience involved, especially when they run contests during games and matches. Since many of the portals share instant updates, it can help keep fans informed, even when they can’t watch the game.

Advanced Replays and Reviews

Reviews and replays have been around for a while, but advancing technology keeps upgrading them. At one time, umpires and referees had to base their decisions based upon footage from a single-angle view. However, new inventions have made it easier to review plays. The advanced functions can significantly lessen judgment errors made by referees and umpires. That’s why they have become popular among sports viewers.

Instant replay also allows players to assess their performance instantly and can lead to game-changing performance improvements. The methods used include slow-motion cameras, on-field mikes, different camera angles, and jimmy jibs. While this technology mainly helps the sports officials, it also changes how people watch the sport because they can see what factors contribute to the decision-making process.

Live Streaming

At one time, you could only watch live matches on television or follow a live radio commentary. If the game was on when you didn’t have time to watch it, you had to wait for highlights on the news or sports commentary. Nowadays, many people watch games on OTT platforms. These allow you to stream just about any events on the go via internet connections.

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Tech is Improving The Diversity Of Startup Founders

  Statistics from CB Insights indicate that only about one percent of founders of venture capital-backed startups are black. When Latino or black women are analyzed, there are even fewer of these demographics in founders positions. Often, this occurs due to the difficulty for these individuals to access training programs or networks that can assist them with the steps that need to be taken to obtain startup funding.

Founder Gym Supports Underrepresented Demographics

With many jobs or careers, there is some type of training that a person is able to take so that they gain the knowledge that’s required to be able to perform their job. For example, if an individual wants to become a heart surgeon, they’ll go to medical school, and if they want to become a real estate attorney, they will attend law school. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case for people in the underrepresented demographic who would like to be venture startup founders who are capital backed, but that may be changing in the future due to a training program that is known as Founder Gym. The program is the first of its kind, which is creating a curriculum that is tailored towards meeting the needs of underrepresented founders.

Differences Are Strengths

The Founder Gym focuses on the uniqueness of the founders who are in the program. They are taught that their differences are actually strengths. Where they grew up and who they grew up with taught them how to handle certain situations. How they view the world and solve problems was developed all throughout their lives. The founders are taught that this gives them a competitive advantage. Individuals who are from affluent backgrounds don’t have the same life experiences as these founders, and they handle problems in a different way. Founders in this group are taught that this can be an advantage for them as it adds new insight and a different perspective into situations.

Online Network Building The program is only accessible online, which some thought would make it difficult for networking to occur. Yet, this hasn’t been the case at all. In fact, a great deal of networking has already taken place in the program. By being in the same space and working with like-minded individuals who are also focusing on their dreams, it’s created a passionate community where members of the group support each other through peer training and affinity groups that are held on a regular basis.

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CLEAR is Changing Your Game Day Experience

Biometrics was once seen as a technology of the future, but tech advances quickly these days, and we’re starting to see it finding its way into not just professional security but also our personal lives. Fingerprint scanning is now a feature available on all of our phones, and the company CLEAR is taking strides forward to make it a part of our everyday lives.

Sporting events are a promising place to test out the benefits of fingerprint scanning in the retail industry. The huge amount of visitors to sporting venues means that drink and food vendors have to process a large number of customers in a short amount of time. CLEAR is betting on the notion that biometrics can make the process of making a purchase easier for customers and cut down on the length of lines at vendor booths.

They’re approaching this new technology smartly. Accounts are free and easy to create, and the benefit of efficiency means that it’s a sensible investment for those who are invested in stadiums. While these biometrics are most commonly used as a “fast pass” system when entering a stadium, they’ve begun to start experimenting with its usage for buying food and drinks as well. As of now, 14 different stadiums have implemented CLEAR’s technology into their ongoing infrastructure. In terms of users, the buy-in is even higher. Over 3 million customers have signed on for CLEAR’s services, and that could fundamentally change the way that stadiums run by reducing the need for ticket checkers and speeding up the process of verifying tickets or manually entering credit card information. CLEAR is also being utilized in airports.

Part of the reason that CLEAR has managed to acquire such a high install base is the ease of registration. Customers who sign up for the service are required to register their ID, email address, and phone number, as well as three separate prints for their hands. This assures a higher level of integrity when verifying a customer’s identity, but the actual verification process usually takes about five minutes to complete.

Privacy advocates emphasize that customers should be careful when registering with programs like those offered by CLEAR. While CLEAR promises to not sell customer information to other businesses, their privacy policy does note that they may share data at the request of government agencies. Regardless, the principles behind the company seem benign, and it could represent one of the most important innovations in bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds.

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Relation Between Tech Companies, Ethical Problems, and Diversity

    Through the evolution of business and social changes, it is important more than ever to successfully combine profit and principles of a company. Many large companies in Silicon Valley are placing people in positions to regulate and maintain their reputation when it comes to ethical decisions. It could be that the larger issue surrounding the poor ethics of companies is the lack of diversity in their employees.

Role of Diversity in Tech Companies

More tech companies are experiencing a crisis related to data and privacy breaches, disinformation, questionable investors, and fake profiles on their platforms that spread hate and division between different groups. If the group that makes decisions is more diverse, the ethical issues can be identified in the boardroom. When the company has representatives of various marginalized groups they would have a clear viewpoint on how those groups would react to their decisions and would be impacted by them.

While the main focus of companies is improving speed and ease of access, there are also important issues arising with users and in particular with minority groups. Decision making groups often lack people that represent minorities. No matter the expertise of the chief ethics officer, only a true representative of the situation can give a correct way to act that would benefit smaller groups of people.

Diversity and Funding

Not all money is the same. People are more and more repulsed by businesses that startup and are funded by money that is won by violence and intrigue. With transparency of the dealings of investors, it is good to have diverse opinions about the money with which tech industries are funded and how that impacts their ethics policies and the social image of the company.

Diversity and Changing Communities

With the expansion of tech companies, local communities are changing, and the diversity of small businesses and towns are also disappearing. When the different cultural demographics change in an area, the costs of living and rents rise.

It is vital for companies that displace some at the expense of others to provide assistance to those living in poverty. Another ethical solution for tech companies is to work with the citizens and businesses that are already present in a newly entered community. This will assist already existing businesses and create sustainable employment to its own residents.

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Wimbledon’s High-Tech Setup

  As a cultural phenomenon, Wimbledon far transcends those who are avid tennis fans. For many, the tournament has been capturing the attention of people from all walks of life and athletic interests since its inaugural season in 1877, with no sign of interest slowing down anytime soon!

How is this possible, though? How can something so consistent and similar continually re-invent itself and keep people coming back each year as enthused as ever?

Wimbledon’s success can likely be attributed to its ability to progress with the changing pace of technology and not against it. The US tech company IBM knows this well, having over 20 years of experience working with the tournament.

One of the most important aspects of the tournament is broadcasting and streaming. For those who aren’t able to make it to Wimbledon, being able to watch it on television and through the internet no matter where in the world they are.

Backstage during the tournament, there is a huge monitor listing all of the statistics surrounding the data occurring on all 18 courts. This information is fed to commentators and broadcasting companies so they can understand what is happening, subsequently sending the information on to consumers.

For many, this takes the form of streaming or television, but in recent years it has even gotten as complex as sending text messages to people who want updates on the games. Through this method, even the most interested tennis fans don’t have to worry about falling behind because of a shift at work or a commute home!

A really groundbreaking element of the technology utilized by IBM to monitor Wimbledon is an AI-powered video automation service which can recognize the moods that players are exhibiting and also create dynamic presentations easily. The most impressive part about this? The turnaround time for videos has gotten as quick as 15 minutes, meaning that fans or people not at the games can watch highlight reels with only a slight delay after the games happen. That is an unprecedented amount of efficiency for sports coverage, something that is helping re-define the way we view sports reporting in general.

Tennis will always be a sport that relies on simply a racquet, court, and ball, but the technology we use to document it will continue to evolve and help introduce many more people to the wonderful sport for years to come.

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3 Ways Women Can Help Themselves Succeed in a Male-Dominated Industry

  Despite a growing push towards initiatives that help women rise up in fields that are primarily dominated by men, there’s still a long way to go. STEM fields, in particular, tend to have woefully low levels of gender equality, and the problem is that it’s a self-perpetuating problem. Supporting more education for girls in primary schools and universities can significantly improve gender equity, but representation is also important. Without more women in the fields that matter, girls will have more trouble believing that there are opportunities available to them and will have fewer role models they can strive to emulate. The tech startup industry is one of the most lucrative and rapidly growing fields around, but only 17% of startups have a female founder. The gap for funding is even wider, with female founders receiving only 2% of venture capital dollars. It’s a worrying problem but one that can benefit from women lifting one another up in the field. Here are a few ways you can help lift yourself and other women up in a male-dominated field.

Mentoring

Positive role models can be a great motivator for younger girls, but they can also have a major impact on professionals trying to break into the industry. If you have experience in the industry, share your experiences. Whether that means creating YouTube videos, seeking out mentees with which you can build a personal relationship, or engaging directly in conferences, your journey can help other women navigate their own unique challenges. If you’re still trying to catch your big break, seeking out women with more experience can help you along your own path.

Getting Involved in Investment

All the skills and training in the world won’t matter much if you can’t get the funding you need to make your dreams a reality. And while it’s important to close the gender gap at every level of a business’ operations, women in positions of power have the greatest opportunity to enact sweeping change. Women tend to invest less than men; but when they do, they have a tendency to outperform men. Learning the ins and outs of investment and engaging directly means that you’ll have more capital you can leverage to close the gender gap and serve as an inspirational force to other women.

Showing Confidence

People tend to respond differently towards traits of aggression and confidence when they’re exhibited by men rather than women, but a lack of self-confidence can have a major effect on a woman’s ability to break into a male-dominated field. In terms of the investment industry alone, a study found that 60% of men are confident in managing their money as opposed to 35% of women. These attitudes won’t change without a proactive response, and that’s why it’s so necessary for women to engage fully, to ask questions, and to push back against accepted norms of how women should behave in business environments.

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How Women are Working to Change the Culture of Tech Companies in Silicon Valley

  Amy Henderson is a woman working to change the “bro culture” that is so prevalent in Silicon Valley’s Tech Companies. Henderson started hosting meetings with other women in the tech industry in order to address one huge issue–getting their male partners to take paternity leave and embrace a better work/life balance.

Exposing Silicon Valley’s Secret

Through a series of her workshops and lectures, Amy Henderson works with both men and women to expose the disparity between them on the subject of families and raising children. Henderson shares that while motherhood is a limiting factor in women’s careers, when men embrace fatherhood by choosing to take their paternity leave, this begins to dismantle old “bro culture” beliefs that single men and single women are more successful.

Just a year ago, the #MeToo movement arrived in a big way in workplaces around the world. In Silicon Valley, this movement encouraged women to speak up about various toxic behaviors in their workplace. Moreover, this movement kick-started a slightly subtler disruption of the “bro culture” that had become the status quo.

Working Through Micro Moments

In order to enact this type of change throughout Silicon Valley, sociologist Marianne Cooper shares that it’s necessary to work through “micro moments”. Instead of trying to shift the entire culture in one fell swoop, Cooper notes that through little changes, women and men can transform the industry and challenge the norms for professionalism.

In Silicon Valley and the tech industry as a whole, this “bro culture” has promoted men-only company cultures. These environments encourage bad behavior through pervasive sexual discourse in the workplace and excessive drinking off or on the job. Cooper points out that it’s time to redefine the lines between professional and personal behavior.

While Silicon Valley is famous for its innovation, the vehicle for these new ideas often comes by way of toxic traditions like drug-fueled networking events. While many women and men may not enjoy these kinds of work environments, few people feel comfortable enough speaking out against them.

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