Why I am stepping out of the debate on women in technology

[Commentary] I am very glad to have spent time and energy advocating for women in technology. I have written more than 75 articles on this subject in global publications. But I may have made the mistake of fighting the battles of women in technology for too long. And I may have taken the accusations too personally.

Today there is a chorus of very powerful, intelligent, voices who are speaking from personal experience. The women who I have written about, who have lived the discrimination and abuse, as well as others, deserve the air time. So I am going to bow out of this debate. I am still going to be an advocate for disenfranchised minorities; I will continue to mentor women and men entrepreneurs; I will surely coach my friends who are in positions of power in corporations; and I will echo the words of great women. It gives me great hope to see women taking their rightful place alongside men in building the innovation economy and in having Silicon Valley become a true meritocracy.

[Vivek Wadhwa is a fellow at Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University]