Vice President for Strategic Technology Policy
Cisco Systems

Career Quick Look
Age: 48
Location: San Jose, CA
Education: B.S. in Mathematics
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Salary: $180,000 - $500,000
Years in field: 28

"I think technology in general presents such huge opportunities for women," Christine says. "It puzzles me to be honest why more girls and women don't embark on technical career paths and take advantage of the opportunities that are there."

Getting Started:
"From the earliest time I could remember I was always very interested in science … I was the quintessential kid who was always in danger of blowing up the basement," Christine recalls. "I took as much science and math as I could get my hands on when I was in high school." While earning her bachelor's in mathematics, she took several computer science classes and was introduced to networking.

After college, she went to work as a computer programmer, focusing on network-oriented projects - first at the Research Triangle Institute, and later for Digital Equipment Corporation. "I worked for a little while for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is part of the Department of Commerce, as a senior staff analyst in telecom policy issues," she says. "Then I spent five years at Bell Corp, which at the time was a research and advanced R&D group for the regional Bell operating companies." In 1991 she joined Cisco Systems.

"I've been in networking for as long as I've been earning a paycheck," Christine says, "and I've never wanted to do anything else."