News 2

The high-tech industry is not known for its diverse workforce. The field is made up of fewer than 25 percent women. At major tech companies in Silicon Valley, the numbers of blacks and Latinos hover between two-and-three percent. The Technology Association of Iowa is hoping to develop ways to attract more minorities to the I-T field.

The women profiled in the July 20 print issue of Plastics News and online this week represent a wide range of businesses, positions and experiences. Some of the industry veterans spoke with Plastics News about how their experiences in the plastics industry have evolved over the years. Women represented 25.7 percent of people employed in plastics product manufacturing in 2013, according to information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s not nearly half the population, but certainly an improvement over decades ago; many of the women Plastics News interviewed recalled a time when they were “the only one in the room.”

One of the more interesting things at this year's Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference was a call for technology people to get more involved in government. U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith encouraged the audience to get involved in technical and policy conversations on topics ranging from patents to encryption, but also policies that aren't directly connected to technology. She pointed to a discussion she had about poverty on tribal lands, which resulted in tapping into fiber connections to deliver high-speed Internet.