Editor picks from conversations on women & technology @ #CSW 55, Day 1 - Feb 22

Katerina F. picks from the most interesting conversations on Twitter concerning women & rights & technology during the first day of the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), taking place in New York. You can follow our tweets on section J of the Beijing Platform for Action and women's communication rights under the hashtags: #csw #genderit (or #genderitES for Spanish).

#CSW55 theme:Science & technology

@jhybe: Weird that science & tech is only talked about from perspective of employment and education. Dilutes all 3 #csw #genderit

@jhybe: What is UN Women's approach to internet rights? Can we look at access to science & tech beyond literacy & economic terms? #csw #genderit

@jhybe Women arr underrepresented in science & tech. Why? #csw #genderit

#Women access & use of ICTs

@jhybe "Women can use the comp now like they use the sewing machine" #csw #genderit

@avilarenata Writing about the 2011 revolutions and #genderit - #Yemen is still fighting - not even that - women illiteracy. Computers are far away. Sad

@meowtree: Girls in rural Cameroon talk about ICTs http://ht.ly/41rxY #CSW55 #ICT4D

@shesthefirst: A girl in Cameroon finds mobile phones as an important way to get job opportunities. #csw55

@meowtree: Girls are asking gels how ICT impacts on their lives. Ika/Indonesia: helps me stay informed, likes FB, shares photos. #csw

@meowtree: other girls mentioning privacy issues & cyberbullying can be negative aspects of ICTs #cSW55 #genderit

@shesthefirst: "We can use tech to educate a girl. And when you educate a girl, you empower her." Ya Marie, Sierra Leone #csw

@meowtree: Q: legit to talk about ICT if don't have primary needs met? @Fabiola:we can use ICT to advocate to solve those issues #csw

@honnaeichler: Now from the US delegate: women need mobile technology for health, banking, security and social advocacy.

#STEM - science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

@jhybe buzz word at 55th #csw - STEM skills: Science, tech, economics & mathematics. Makes me think of stem cell research. Hmm. #genderit

@jhybe Deanna: need to think of ways to get more women & grrls into STEM fields to reach the tipping point #csw #genderit

@jhybe Until there is a cultural change in STEM, there wont be a change in numbers of women to reach tipping point. #csw #genderit

@jhybe Cultural change: not just med & sciences but all fields. There needs to have enough women arnd them at the top to act like a woman #csw #genderit

@jhybe Deanna: 70s there were pamphlets asking for more women in medicine & law. Today, a lot more women but x in decision making

@jhybe Unless we have people at the board table, change in culture wont happen #csw #genderit

# Women @ work

@jhybe Biggest barrier to women's full participation in work: education, lack of childcare, cultural stereotypes, poverty (cont) #csw #genderit

@jhybe Women @ work, barriers: lack of policy to employ women at high level, lack of support for women (knowledge & capital) #csw #genderit

#Challenges to women in technology

@jhybe Why the drop out? Women are expected to play double role at home. #csw #genderit

@jhybe In US half of all technical women will drop out by time they reach midlevel. In india & china, drop out higher rate. #csw #genderit

@jhybe Need to work w industry & academics to change culture of tech. All quotes from deanna kosaraju of grace hopper fdntn #csw #genderit

@jhybe Challenges to women in tech: tech is nerdy. STEM fields x encouraged for girls. #csw #genderit

#Private sector

@jhybe Check out women's empowerment principles as viable platform to engage with private sector on gender equality & nondiscrimination issues #csw #genderit

@jhybe Women's empowerment principles: 1) establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality #csw #genderit

@jhybe Women's empowerment principles: 2) treat all women & men fairly @ work - respect & support human rights & nondiscrimination #csw #genderit

@jhybe Women's empowerment principles: 3) Ensure health, safety & well being of all women & men workers #csw #genderit

@jhybe Women's Empowerment Principles - something that was developed with private sector & endorsed. http://bit.ly/fG42QW #csw #genderit

#Women who tech

@jhybe Helen greiner co founder of irobot-robots that diffuse bombs. Women in tech :) #csw #genderit

@jhybe How can we collaborate & use tech for social good? Starting point for grace hopper conferance. #csw #genderit

@jhybe Many methods we learn in comp science is due to grace hopper. Google david letterman interview with her. Apparently it rox! #csw #genderit

@jhybe Grace hopper celebration-collaborative! No one in cubicles. Grace hopper coined the term computer science. Women in tech #csw #genderit

#Women in media

@jhybe Disney: there are women in media, but not enough in decision making or empowered enough to push boundaries #csw #genderit

@jhybe Disney: Women r right in the middle of war but we write them out of these landscapes & history #csw #genderit

#Ironic

@jhybe Getting decent access to internet connection so far at #csw has been a huge pain so far. Cant tweet fr laptop now #genderit #csw

@jhybe Sitting at #csw main session but there's no open wifi. Have to use internet tethering on my phone. Theme: science & tech. Ironic?

@aelizabethclark Kinda weird to be talking about equal rights and feminist progress at the salvation army. #ironic #CSW