On March 24, AmCham China Northeast Chapter hosted the Empowering Women in Tech Panel, together with the U.S. Consulate Shenyang, French Consulate Shenyang, Australian Consulate Shenyang and the Netherlands Business Support Office Dalian. Throughout history, women have made unparalleled contributions in technology, but they are often less identified. Despite decades of progress towards workplace equality, women remain underrepresented in the technology workforce, which means that they need full support and empowerment. This event aimed to promote equality in the technology sector.
This half-day Panel attracted more than 74 attendees on site, and about 310 thousand people watching online via Phoenix live stream. Several leading panelists and keynote speakers from different industries shared their best practices and experiences to foster a healthy gender balance and inspire women in tech to reach their full potential.
The Panel kicked off with opening remarks from Ladon Ghalili; the chairman of the AmCham Northeast Chapter; Nancy Abella, Consulate General of the U.S. Consulate Shenyang; Anne Rulliat, Consulate General of the French Consulate Shenyang.
During the opening remarks, each panelist shared the importance of empowering women in tech around the world and how the U.S. and France cope with gender imbalance of women in the society.
Keynote Address from Shirley Lin
Following the panel discussion, Syaru Shirley Lin, Compton Visiting Professor in World Politics at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings gave a keynote sppech. She shared the life story of Dr. Chien-shiung Wu, and compared her life with working women in the modern society. Lin also shared her life experiences as a female entrepreneur with the audience.
VIP Panel on Women in Tech
Ms. Eu-niz Chan, the Deputy Consulate General of the Australian Consulate Shenyang introduced all of the VIP panelists: Liying Wang, General Counsel of AppWorks (Virtual); Emma Qian, Product Director LinkedIn China (Virtual); Eileen Deng, Factory Manager Intel; Natacha EXTIER, Country Director of Oxygen Group (Virtual); Paheerya Yushan, Economic Officer of the Netherlands Embassy in Beijing (Virtual).
During the discussion, the questions posed included why women are needed in the tech sector; what Intel has done to close the leadership gap and give women more leading roles; what advice you would give women in tech who lack of confidence to the leaders; what challenges women face in the tech sector; and more.
Group Discussion with the Audience
Several questions were raised from the Phoenix live stream and the audience on site. The questions raised included, “What is the most important part of childhood education?”, “What are the trends when it comes to women entering the tech sector?”, “What advice do you have for women who find it difficult to cope with the fact that their income is higher than the man in the family.”
Concluding Remarks
The Empowering Women in Tech event was filled with insights, passionate discussion, and best practices. AmCham China looks forward to continuing this discussion and working together to empower women across all sectors.