It's rare for women to run large businesses, but leadership in the technology industry is particularly male-dominated, according to a 2003 report by Catalyst, a group that pushes to increase the presence of women in senior management roles.
While women comprised 12.4 percent of Fortune 500 companies' boards overall, they accounted for just 9 percent of high-tech company boards in that set, according to Catalyst. The group also found that an important barrier to women's advancement in high technology is that "women feel isolated because they lack role models, networks and mentors."
Fiorina has been an important example of what women can achieve, said Carol Muller, chief executive of MentorNet, a group that pairs women in science and engineering with mentors working in the industry. Stereotypes about women still have to be overcome, she argued, noting that just a few decades ago, many top schools were closed to women.
Fiorina was in a hot spotlight as a female executive, but she did not shy away from talking about fairness issues such as gender-based bias, Muller said. "She did a wonderful job of speaking out on a wide variety of business topics as well as playing a leadership role in the broader community," she said.
Laura Roden, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, said she doesn't worry about women being discouraged by Fiorina's departure. But she fears that men who discount women's abilities will be emboldened. "I think it's a terrible thing for the progress of women in top executive positions," Roden said.
Roden doubts that HP's board was motivated by sexism in booting Fiorina. That view is shared by Sally Crawford, president of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Alliance of Technology and Women, which advocates for more women in executive roles.
Crawford said Fiorina was the first woman to become president, CEO and chairperson of a major corporation. She has already left a lasting impression, Crawford added. But she suggests that Fiorina is far from done. Crawford has no doubt that HP's deposed chief will bounce back in some new incarnation.
"I expect something greater," she said.
