Bits Blog: Microsoft Names First Female Finance Chief

Microsoft Amy Hood, Microsoft’s new chief financial officer.

Microsoft named Amy Hood, an executive at the company, as its chief financial officer, the first woman to hold the top finance job at Microsoft.

Ms. Hood, 41, joined Microsoft in late 2002 and was most recently the chief financial officer of Microsoft’s business division, the unit that oversees its lucrative Office suite of applications. She replaces Peter Klein, Microsoft’s chief financial officer who announced recently that he was resigning to spend more time with his family.

A number of women have risen to Microsoft’s top ranks, but like most technology companies, its senior leadership is still dominated by men. One exception is Lisa Brummel, who, as chief people officer, runs the company’s human resources department. Late last year, Microsoft appointed two women, Julie Larson-Green and Tami Reller, to run the engineering and finance operations of the company’s Windows division, one of its most important units.

As chief financial officer, Ms. Hood will play a bigger role in helping Microsoft adapt to major changes in its business, most notably the shift to mobile devices from PCs and the transformation of traditional software into cloud services. In a sign of these changes, for the last six months, Steve Ballmer, the chief executive officer, has begun talking about Microsoft as a devices and services company.

Ms. Hood will also serve as Microsoft’s ambassador to Wall Street, which has for years looked skeptically at the company’s efforts to enter new businesses like Internet search. After a recent solid earnings report from Microsoft, investors have become more bullish on the company’s prospects. Its shares now trade near their 52-week high.

In an e-mail to Microsoft employees on Wednesday, Mr. Ballmer said Ms. Hood had helped lead the change of Microsoft Office into a cloud service. He said that he worked closely with her on two big acquisitions, that of Skype and Yammer, and that her critical thinking would be an important skill in her new job.

“Amy is a great collaborator with a history of successful cross-group projects, and I am looking forward to having her as a member of my leadership team,” Mr. Ballmer wrote.

Special Report: The Female Factor: Computer Coding: It's Not Just for Boys

But when she told her best friend — “he’s male, also into programming” — his response was not what she had expected. “He was like, ‘Wait, how do you know about them? You’re a girl and you shouldn’t be doing that,”’ Ms. Aleksander said incredulously.

She and her friend Honey Ross, 15, are among the few girls at King Alfred School, their private school in North London, with an intense interest in technology. The two, confident and outgoing, say they understand why: computing can seem boring from the outside, populated mainly by nerdy boys.

“It’s sad,” Ms. Ross said, chatting between classes in the computer lab. “It’s such an amazing world. It’s kind of waiting for loads of young girls” to jump in.

Belinda Parmar would love to see that happen, particularly since current statistics suggest that women in technology, already a relative rarity, are about to get even scarcer.

Three years ago, Ms. Parmar founded Lady Geek, a consulting firm that helps technology companies connect with female customers and bolster the number of women in work forces. Convinced that the paucity of women in technology has its roots in earlier life, Ms. Parmar last fall started Little Miss Geek, a non-profit aimed at convincing girls that programming is not a solitary grind but creative and eventually lucrative work.

Both sexes love gadgets — but while girls may enjoy owning the latest devices, parents and teachers do not point out that they also have the brains to build them, Ms. Parmar says.

“They’re dreaming of using the iPad mini and the latest smartphone, but they’re not dreaming of creating it,” she said.

As a consequence, Ms. Parmar said, women are missing out in an industry that is changing the world and growing and paying handsomely, as other sectors shrink.

Britain’s technology sector is 20 percent female, according to Eurostat, the E.U. statistics agency; Ms. Parmar cites a figure of 17 percent. Neither is far off the E.U. average of 21.8 percent, or the U.S. rate of 24 percent of technology jobs held by women, down from 36 percent in 1991, according to the National Center for Women & Information Technology, at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

The future looks bleak. Girls take just 8 percent of Britain’s computer science A-levels, the high school exam that is the passport to university studies, Little Miss Geek reports. In the United States, girls are 19 percent of high school Advanced Placement test-takers in the field, the Colorado center says.

Ms. Parmar traces the problem at least partly to technology’s image. When her team asked children to draw a person who worked in technology, all sketched men, often geeky and disheveled.

That brainy-guys-in-the-garage stereotype is hardly helped by companies that Ms. Parmar believes condescend to female customers with pink devices, and offend them with bikini-clad models at technology shows. “The technology industry is 30 years behind the car industry” in interaction with women, she said.

If they do enroll in computer classes, pre-adolescent and teenage girls often find they are the only girls in the room.

“Even girls that are doing well at math, they opt out. They just want to belong,” said Marina Larios, president of the European Association for Women in Science, Engineering & Technology.

Messages about gender and technology tend to start in earliest childhood, when boys are encouraged to play computer games and think about how things work, while girls get toy makeup and fashion sets, Ms. Parmar said.

Catherine Ashcraft, senior research scientist at the Colorado center, said:

“It appears on the surface that women aren’t choosing” technology, but “there are a lot of factors that are influencing that choice.” She continued: “Girls talk about how even when there’s a computer in the house, they don’t get access to it as much, because the boys are pushing them away.”

Subtle, even unconscious bias can prompt parents, teachers and guidance counselors to give the sexes different study and career advice, she said.

Game Referees Nicki/Mariah Beef: "I Think She’s Like Female Elvis" [Video]

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2012 9:34AM

Written by Cyrus Langhorne

West Coast rapper Game is the latest hip-hop artist to weigh in on the current Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey feud and why both music stars should cease their "American Idol" beef.

In Game's perspective, both platinum-selling artists should unite rather than ignite a full-fledged war.

The outspoken MC also weighed in on the Nicki vs. Mariah Carey "American Idol" feud, taking a diplomatic stance. "I think one day when Nicki's career is said and done, she'll be legendary," said Game. "I think that Mariah Carey is bigger than life. I think she's like female Elvis at this point. Two amazing women should be able to get along and I'd love to see that happen sooner than later." (Rap-Up)

Even President Barack Obama, just weeks away from Election Day, has addressed the publicized situation.

"I think that they are going to be able to sort it out," Obama said in an interview. "I am confident -- I'm all about bringing people together, working for the same cause. I think both outstanding artists are going to be able to make sure that they're moving forward and not going backwards." ("Michael Yo Show")

Recently, one of the "American Idol" producers admitted the feud is authentic.

"American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe is adamant ... the bitter feud between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj is as real as it gets -- and his proof lies in simple logic. Nigel was out in L.A. yesterday when we asked for the final word -- did he or did he not stage the feud for ratings??? -- and Nigel replied, "I have no idea why I would be doing it [for ratings] five months before the show went out." He added, "I would only do ANYTHING for ratings a month before the show went out. They've got my timing wrong." Translation: keep your eyes out for a crazy "Idol" ratings ploy in three months. (TMZ)

Earlier this month, "American Idol" producers downplayed the war of words.

"This is one of the best, most passionate, dynamic and invested judging panels we've ever had. We love and support all of the judges and the fantastic work they are doing, and we can't imagine a better group to find the next American Idol," reads the statement. "Despite all the accusations and media speculation -- much of which is inaccurate -- production is going extremely well today and the judges are focused on finding the best talent here in Baton Rouge." (MTV)

Check out Game's interview below:

Kanye Loses It On A Female Photographer

Kanye West Tries To Snatch Camera Out On A Female Paparazzi Hands

Kanye West spazzed out last night in Miami, after a brief awkward run in with Reggie Bush and his girlfriend. The pictures show Kanye trying to snatch a photographers video camera, and Kim laughing?? Who does that really? Why is Kim smirking?

What made Kanye react in this manner, sources say when asked about Reggie Bush while leaving Prime 112 with Kim Kardashian he lost it. Last night in Miami all four were spotted out (not together).