You need women at decision table, Michelle Obama asserts
Apple spent the better part of Monday introducing new hardware and software, to mixed reviews. But on Tuesday, it went for a more sure bet in introducing the former first lady.
Michelle Obama had words of advice and inspiration for several thousand students, developers and entrepreneurs at a private question-and-answer session at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose on Tuesday.
In an interview with Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, Obama touched on diversity in tech, STEM education, innovation and leadership.
“We (in the U.S.) have been teaching math and science the same way for too long,” Obama said. “How do we get them to love these topics at (ages) 10 and 11?”
The absence of girls and women in the so-called STEM fields, in turn, has a deleterious effect on the tech industry, she said.
“I’m very passionate about girls’ education, and we still have a long way to go on equality and access,” she said to loud applause. “We have to teach young girls they are smart and can compete.”
Obama’s thoughts on diversity in tech — which has bedeviled the industry for decades and is now a focus for most major companies including Apple — were delivered in a talk closed to the press and public. USA TODAY viewed the “fireside chat” via a streamed recording on Periscope from an audience member.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the talk Monday, near the end of a marathon keynote address. The next day, Cook, Obama and Jackson snapped a de ri
gueur selfie. Despite the camaraderie, Apple has been slow to diversify its upper ranks. Of its eight-member board, two are women and one is a black man. Three of Apple’s 107 executives are black and two are Latino, according to a 2016 filing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
During its widely watched Monday keynote, most presenters were white men; there were no black or Latino presenters and few women.
That shortcoming ignores the day-to-day reality in most households, Obama argued.
“Women are in charge of everything,” she said. “We buy everything and make most of the household decisions. You need me at the (decision) table.
“If you are sitting in a decision room and everyone looks like you and thinks like you, you will come up with a less-than-good answer,” she said. “We need all voices at the table (in tech and other industries) to make the best decisions.”
Regardless of gender, Obama said she and her husband, former president Barack Obama, had learned that change only occurs on a local level, starting with immediate family, friends and neighbors.
“People sometimes think of change only on a big scale,” Michelle Obama said. “But the most influence I can have are on my two daughters.”
“We have to teach young girls they are smart and can compete.” Former first lady Michelle Obama