Summary

  • A team of women in Silicon Valley have spent a week trying to tackle a problem - the glass ceiling

  • Their innovations were unveiled at an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California

  • BBC 100 Women names 100 influential and inspirational women around the world every year

  • Upcoming challenges are tackling female illiteracy (Delhi); improving public transport safety for women (London); and challenging sexism in sport (Rio de Janeiro)

  1. A woman not held down by the glass ceilingpublished at 13:13 British Summer Time 5 October 2017

    The Shelby Cobra is such a rare vintage car that a South African factory builds replicas to meet demand.

    Zandile Dlamini works there, welding the car chassis.

    She is one of the few women working on the factory floor, in an industry dominated by men.

    Media caption,

    The South African woman building Shelby vintage cars

  2. Do female leaders improve women's lives?published at 12:59 British Summer Time 5 October 2017

    Theresa May
    Image caption,

    UK Prime Minister Theresa May

    There are 15 women currently in power, eight of whom are their country's first female leader, according to analysis by Pew Research Centre, external.

    But that still means that women leaders represent fewer than 10% of the 193 United Nations member states.

    Yet for those countries that do have female leaders - what does it mean for women? Do their lives really get better?

    Read our Reality Check piece here.

  3. Crowdsourcing an app namepublished at 20:55 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

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  4. Phone a friend?published at 20:29 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

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  5. Confidence, confidence, confidencepublished at 20:13 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    Two of the potential solutions our team is working on focus on confidence.

    The sub-team lead by artificial intelligence specialist Rumman is working on an app that can track the kind of language used in meetings to help study the impact of certain words and phrases.

    And product designer Roya and her team are working on a piece of wearable tech that will help address the physical symptoms of nervousness.

    But are there ways of thinking that can help too?

    Well, neuroscientist Dr Stacie Grossman Bloom says it’s possible to rewire our brains to feel more confident.

    Find out more here.

    And if you missed the BBC's Katty Kay on the confidence gap earlier this week, you can read that too.

  6. #teamlead goes shopping...published at 19:53 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

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  7. Who's on #teamlead?published at 19:35 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    Composite pic of #teamlead

    We've brought together a group of brilliant women who are busy working on a product that could chip away at the glass ceiling.

    They are one of four teams that will take on challenges during this season of BBC 100 Women.

    So who is on #teamlead?

    Well, those pictured above are: Lori Mackenzie, external, a specialist in gender diversity; product designer Roya Ramezani, external; artificial intelligence specialist Rumman Chowdury, external; and software engineer Natalia Margolis, external.

    But it's not just them - Camille Eddy, who works in robotics, and Betsy Fore, a wearable tech specialist, are among other women who have joined the team in Silicon Valley.

    Their innovation will be unveiled on Friday 6 October.

  8. Missed our discussion yesterday?published at 19:08 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    If you missed yesterday's engaging live discussion on the glass ceiling - hosted by Nuala McGovern on BBC World Service Radio from Silicon Valley - you should probably listen back!

    Hear from women in the world of tech, our experts, male venture capitalists, and even the woman who coined the term "glass ceiling" almost 40 years ago.

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  9. Sexism at work - we want your storiespublished at 18:49 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    Roya, the product designer on the team, wants to tell your personal stories about the workplace as part of her innovation. In her words:In 1960, women held 27% of computer and mathematical jobs in the United States. They held 35% of those occupations in 1990. But by 2013, the number had fallen back to 26%.

    And as we have heard from Sasha and Lea (see below) and Tuesday's World Service radio global brainstorm, the culture in the tech industry may go some way in explaining why women are not entering or staying in that space.

    I’m sure there are many more Sashas and Leas out there and I would like to hear from all of you.

    I’m working on some products to try and change the culture by making men aware, educating them and bringing them on board as allies.

    And I need all of you women around the world to share your stories anonymously - please email bbc100.women@bbc.co.uk with just a line or two that you have heard at work that you found upsetting, outrageous or inappropriate, or simply made you feel like you didn't belong in the office.

    Media caption,

    Lea and Sasha are starting on their professional journey and are already battle-scarred

  10. Fun at 'the playground'published at 17:06 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

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  11. Robotics to the rescuepublished at 16:29 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    Camille Eddy
    Image caption,

    Camille Eddy has brought some fresh ideas to the table

    Another new recruit to #teamlead is Camille Eddy, who works in robotics and has a background in space research.

    She’s currently an intern at X (Google's "moonshot factory") and once introduced Barack Obama when he visited the campus of Boise State University.

    So she certainly has some experience of having to fight back nerves and rise to the occasion!

    As you can see, she’s just been on a shopping spree. As part of their solution, the team is thinking about creating an electronic art installation to raise awareness of so-called “bro-culture” – the male-dominated environment that some feel defines Silicon Valley.

  12. The first materials come off the printer!published at 16:11 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    The BBC's Nuala McGovern has caught up with Roya and her sub-team, and there’s been an exciting development.

    It’s the first prototype of a wearable tech necklace!

    Media caption,

    The BBC's Nuala McGovern caught up with #teamlead

  13. #teamlead hard at workpublished at 14:40

    A sneak preview of #teamlead working on their innovation.

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  14. Sketching out wearable tech ideaspublished at 14:32 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    Jolee Nebert has joined #teamlead – she’s an industrial designer and has sketched out some early ideas for a wearable tech innovation to help tackle the glass ceiling.

    The sub-team led by Roya, external is thinking about a product – maybe a jacket? – that would track physical responses to nervousness and try to assist the wearer to feel more confident.

    They are still brainstorming though. It’s early days - they have 48 hours left!

    Jolee Nerbert
    Image caption,

    Jolee Nerbert has sketched out some ideas

  15. Who else is part of the challenge?published at 11:08 British Summer Time 4 October 2017

    You've already met some of the members of #teamlead but more women are on their way to Silicon Valley to take on the challenge.

    One woman has even flown in from NYC to give a hand - Betsy Fore is a wearable tech specialist whose business made a fitbit for dogs!

    And other help on hand ranges from data science specialists to a hardware expert who has worked with Nasa and Google X

    Betsy Fore
    Image caption,

    Wearable tech expert Betsy Fore is joining #teamlead

  16. Fun at 'The Playground'published at 20:00 British Summer Time 3 October 2017

    3D printers
    Image caption,

    The team only have a few days left to develop their innovation

    Our team of women has the resources of The Playground here in Silicon Valley at their disposal.

    It’s a company that incubates start-ups that are building "software-based hardware".

    There are some state-of-the-art 3D printing machines here...Will #teamlead decide they need to use them to make their product?

  17. One word to smash the glass ceiling?published at 19:22 British Summer Time 3 October 2017

    Those who attended our live discussion earlier in Silicon Valley all chose one word they thought was important as part of the fight to smash the glass ceiling.

    Their choices included "voice", "allies", "education", "accountability" and "confidence".

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  18. The discussion in Silicon Valley is over...published at 18:30 British Summer Time 3 October 2017

    ...but check back here to see how the team get on over the next few days.

    We'll keep updating you on their 100 Women Challenge.

    Remember, they've got just a week to come up with an innovation to help smash the glass ceiling.

  19. The best point made?published at 18:19 British Summer Time 3 October 2017

    The broadcast has now ended - but debates over the issues raised will continue for a long while to come.

    Here are some of your reactions:

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  20. How are our innovators doing?published at 18:14 British Summer Time 3 October 2017

    Natalia Margolis, a 27-year-old software engineer, tells us more about what the team are working on.

    Remember, they are trying to come up with innovations to tackle the glass ceiling, in just a week.

    "We're going to use NLP [Neuro Linguistic Programming] and data science to address power dynamics in meetings... It's going to be a lot of work but yes we're going to pull something together." Roya Ramezani, a design strategist at JP Morgan Chase, drops a further hint, that has to do with one of the women the team are trying to help - Erin Akinsee. Erin, a data scientist, struggles with speaking up in meetings and "gets biological responses - sweating and so on", a reaction the team might use in their plans.

    You can find more about the team in the video below.

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