Belinda Parmar

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Belinda Parmar
File:Belinda Parmar.jpg
Born (1974-03-12) March 12, 1974 (age 50)
Occupation CEO and Campaigner
Website http://ladygeek.com

Belinda Parmar, OBE (born 12 March 1974), is an author and activist for the expansion of women's involvement in the world of technology and for a new way companies talk to women in the technology sector.[1] She is the founder and CEO of "Lady Geek", an advocacy agency, which "embeds empathy into companies"[2] and publishes an annual 'Global Empathy Index' which claims a causal relationship between empathy and commercial performance.[3] The agency also leads the Little Miss Geek campaign, which aims to inspire women to follow careers oriented towards technology.[4][5]

Campaigning

Parmar has stated that her personal mission is "to end the stereotyping and patronising of women within the technology" and the “pink it & shrink it” approach of selling to women.[6][7]

Parmar states that "The technology industry is still struggling to shake off the image of the male, pizza-guzzling, antisocial nerd",[8] and that it is this image problem which reduces the appeal of careers in technology to women. Parmar states that she will not speak at women-only events[9] as they tend to exclude the men who can help solve problems of women in technology.

Parmar stated: "I set up Lady Geek because I was frustrated (and bored) by the way companies design and market products. Despite the fact that women account for 4 out of every 10 tech purchases, technology and gaming companies continue to patronise professional women by 'pinking up' and 'dumbing down' their products and marketing."[10][11]

Honours and awards

Parmar was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to women in technology.[12][13]

In 2014 Parmar became a member of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leader.[14] She was also named one of Business Insider's "The 100 Most Influential Tech Women on Twitter".[15] In October 2014 she was placed in Fortune's "55 most influential women on Twitter".[16] In June 2015 Parmar was named by The Guardian one of the "One of the UK’s leading campaigners to get more women into tech".[17]

Media

Parmar caused controversy in her Guardian column by claiming that her language degree had been a "waste of time", calling for more girls to challenge the presumption that there are 'girls subjects' and 'boys subjects' by taking up coding and pursuing degrees in the technology sector.[18] This was followed up with a video debate between Parmar and Adrian Searle, questioning the value of arts degrees and the wider financial return of a degree as a whole.[19]

References

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  12. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60895. p. b14. 14 June 2014.
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