According to the National Center for Education Statistics, American women receive almost 59 percent of all bachelor degrees, but are awarded only 28 percent of computer science degrees, 18 percent of engineering degrees, and 11.4 percent of electrical and computer engineering degrees. With computer-related occupations projected to increase by more than 66 percent between 2000 and 2010, Cisco is dedicated to increasing the number of women who choose to pursue technical careers.
The Cisco Networking Academy Gender Initiative provides women with access to IT skills and certification that can enhance their career opportunities and their ability to contribute to the IT sector in their communities and countries.
Ethnic minorities made up approximately 43 percent of Cisco’s U.S. employees, and women approximately 23 percent of Cisco’s global employees in 2007 (excluding Linksys and Scientific Atlanta). Cisco and our individual employees earned a number of awards and additional recognition for our diversity efforts and accomplishments in the past year:
- The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network recognized Cisco with a Respect Award (September 2006)
- Cisco was named one of America’s “Top Companies to Work For” by the Black EOE Journal (October 2006)
- The Human Rights Campaign, an international organization supporting the rights of the gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual community, gave Cisco a perfect score on its Equality Index (October 2006)
- Diversity Journal named Sheila Talton, vice president of Advanced Services, in its 2007 “Women Worth Watching” list (December 2006)
- Cisco was named on the DiversityBusiness Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities and listed at number 22 (January 2007)
- The Black Collegian designated Cisco as one of its Top 100 Diversity Employers (February 2007)
- Cisco Australia was recognized as an Employer of Choice for Women by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (February 2007)
- Asian American Engineer of the Year Awards were conferred on Cisco employees Mike Ma and Eddie Ruan by the Chinese Institute of Engineering (March 2007)
- America’s Top Diversity Advocates List announced by DiversityBusiness included Denise Coley, director of Supplier Diversity at Cisco (May 2007)
- The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) of Silicon Valley Tribute to Women (TWIN) Awards recognized three Cisco female executives: Kathy Hill, vice president of Engineering; Laura Ipsen, vice president of Government Affairs; and Mary Aghamirzadeh, vice president of Technical Support, for their leadership in the technology industry (May 2007)
- Professional Business Women of California (PBWC) presented Cisco with its 2007 Pacesetter Award (May 2007)
- Women of Color Action Network honored Elena Morado, senior manager, Worldwide Diversity and Inclusion and Gender Diversity Advisory Board at Cisco, as a Champion of Diversity (June 2007)
- Egretha Award presented to Sheila Talton, vice president, Advanced Services, by the African American Women’s Business Center at their July 2007 conference
