Tech

'We need more women, full stop': Web developer

Sexism in Silicon Valley?
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Sexism in Silicon Valley?

More women need to be hired in the tech—and in leadership positions, Adobe project manager Divya Manian said Tuesday as Ellen Pao's gender discrimination trial against Kleiner Perkins headed toward conclusion.

"This case is a signal that acknowledges there is discrimination in this industry," Manian said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Alley." "There will be more lawsuits and more people feeling bolder to say this is not OK."

"I just think we need more women, full stop," said Manian, whose op-eds on tech sexism have appeared in such publications as The New York Times and Time.

Read MorePao's trial may lead to more discrimination lawsuits

She suggested that companies offer a safe platform where women can report harassment as it happens. This could end the trend of women getting discouraged and leaving the company altogether, she said.

Closing arguments began Tuesday in Pao's $16 million lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins. Pao sued her former employer in 2012 alleging she had been fired from the Silicon Valley venture capital firm
because she had complained about gender discrimination.

Read MoreMorgan Stanley CFO Ruth Porat leaves firm for Google

Manian said if the technology industry wants to claim forward-thinking, it should also hire more women and more nonwhite men in leadership positions.

According to 2014 company data, Google, Apple and Twitter are 70 percent male. Facebook is 69 percent male and Yahoo follows at 62 percent.

High tech boys club?
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High tech boys club?

In an appearance on CNBC's "Power Lunch," media entrepreneur Kay Koplovitz said regardless of the outcome of the Pao trial, it has created a dialogue on gender disparity in the valley, but "I don't think it will change all hiring and firing in the industry for very many years to come."

Jilliene Helman, Realty Mogul founder and CEO, said on the show she was able to raise $9 million in venture capital for her start-up.

"The conversation on the lawsuits only takes you so far," she said. "At the end of the day, business is about execution, and I want to see more women get involved, more women put up a fight."