The company has designed an interactive platform using high tech facial recognition software where you can check your appearance when trying out spectacle frames in a virtual world. Its co founder is Kate Endress.

 

　　"Recently, we had three openings for engineers. We had 45 male applicants and three female applicants. I think that does speak volumes in terms of just what's available."

 

　　The initiative by women executives in California's Silicon Valley to try to attract and retain more women follows the publication of Sheryl Sandberg's book about female empowerment, "Lean In."

 

　　Sandberg, who is the chief operating officer of Facebook, is hoping to create a national movement to help women advance in the workforce.

 

　　Just like Sandberg's rise through Facebook, a number of other women have been attaining senior roles in Silicon Valley.

 

　　Cristina Cordova, business development director at Stripe, a company that develops technology to make it easier to accept credit cards online, says women want choices.

 

　　"They want to be able to succeed. They want to take the position that might be 60, 80 or 100 hours a week, and yet they still feel the responsibility that they have to go home and raise their children."

 

　　Although many female tech execs say the "glass ceiling" has, for the most part, been shattered, there's still a double standard when it comes to working parents.

 

　　Men are not expected to sacrifice family life, while working women are criticized for not spending time with young children.

 

　　Kelly Steckelberg, chief operating officer of the social dating site Zoosk, believes that it is important to educate girls about the opportunities available to them when they are at school.

 

　　"I think starting at an early age in helping females understand that there are lots of career choices for them. They don't have to think about traditional roles for women. That's just not the case any more."

 

　　At the all-girls Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California, students focus on mathematics and science, subjects that girls often avoid. But teachers believe it will encourage them to become the next generation of tech leaders.

 

　　Lab Director Angi Chau says part of the problem is that girls want to be nice.

 

　　"I think a lot of it is trying to teach girls how to take initiative and be a leader but still be nice because there's plenty of ways to do it."

 

　　Student Caroline Debs wants to follow in Sheryl Sandberg's footsteps and become an executive at a company like Facebook or get involved in web design.

 

　　"I think that if you just reach out and get someone who knows about those fields, anyone can accomplish anything that they set their heart to."

 

　　According to recent surveys, women hold only about 15 percent of management roles in the top 500 companies in the United States.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.