Supporting organizations that empower technical women is not just the right thing to do; it’s also good business. Employee diversity brings better decision-making, better product development, and more satisfaction in work environments for all employees.

However, there can still be a disparity between women and men and their access to technology education and technology careers. Conferences such as Catalyst, with a focus on educating women, helping them to understand the potential of careers in tech and gain technology knowledge, can do more than just create a level playing field.

“I think we’re making our own playing field,” said Wendy M. Pfeiffer (pictured), chief information officer of Nutanix Inc. “We’re not going to their playing field anymore; we’re creating our own.”

Pfeiffer spoke with Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick) (pictured), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference in San Francisco. They discussed how Girls in Tech benefits the entire industry, as well as why perfection is not a necessary quality for success. (* Disclosure below.)

Finding and attracting qualified female candidates

For more than 10 years, Pfeiffer has been involved with Girls in Tech, a global non-profit organization focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of women in technology, and she’s a current member of the board of directors. She believes it’s very important for her and her company to have a high profile at these conferences, donating and partnering with Catalyst and the Amplify “Women’s Pitch Competition” to set an example for other high-tech companies.

While tech companies can struggle to find qualified female candidates, Pfeiffer explained that Nutanix has learned at conferences such as Catalyst that while there are enough female candidates, organizations don’t necessarily recognize those women. Additionally, potential candidates can find it difficult to locate attractive and welcoming work environments in which they want to join. Therefore, Nutanix is in the process of changing how its employees speak and think about diversity to attract and nurture better talent.

One of Pfeiffer’s quotes on a conference poster is: “It’s OK to be bad.” She explained that as one of the few female CIOs in Silicon Valley, she is frequently held up as a role model, and she sometimes feels that she and other women in tech are made to sound like saints. She wants girls and other women to know it’s OK to be bitchy, angry or aggressive, even if male counterparts say otherwise. Women don’t have to be pure or flawless to be strong leaders in the tech or any other industry, she added.

“And I also say, it’s also OK to be good, to be merciful, to be soft-spoken, to be wordy, to be studious. We’re allowed to be our genuine selves, and we don’t have to be perfect to be successful,” Pfeiffer concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Girls in Tech Catalyst Conference. Neither Girls in Tech, the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE