- cross-posted to:
- technology
- cross-posted to:
- technology
Almost one in five men in IT explain why fewer females work in the profession by arguing that “women are naturally less well suited to tech roles than men.”
Feel free to check the calendar. No, we have not set the DeLorean for 1985. It is still 2023, yet anyone familiar with the industry over the last 30 years may feel a sense of déjà vu when reading the findings of a report by The Fawcett Society charity and telecoms biz Virgin Media O2.
The survey of nearly 1,500 workers in tech, those who have just left the industry, and women qualified in sciences, technology, or math, also found that a “tech bro” work culture of sexism forced more than 40 percent of women in the sector to think about leaving their role at least once a week.
Additionally, the study found 72 percent of women in tech have experienced at least one form of sexism at work. This includes being paid less than male colleagues (22 percent) and having their skills and abilities questioned (20 percent). Almost a third of women in tech highlighted a gender bias in recruitment, and 14 percent said they were made to feel uncomfortable because of their gender during the application process.
Just wondering, are you speaking as a woman from experience or as a man from observation?
As a man who has taken a good deal of effort to observe and look for non inclusive language and actions that might cause a woman on my team to feel uncomfortable or undervalued. I have experience at VC backed startups, an f50, and several smaller 10-200 people companies, and frankly went to a male dominated technology school in the early 00s. 40% of my technical leadership team are women.
That’s not to try and create a binders full of women type statement… I just genuinely have not experienced anything remotely close to 20% and I feel I’ve go out of my way to recognize abuse and had the support of my peers when I called someone out very publicly at a conference for their behavior towards one of my peers.
Underrepresented, 100% true without a doubt. But I do not believe this mentality is tolerated and certainly not 1 in 5 in the US.
I feel this sentiment. I’d also caution that, these issues might not surface in the open. I also suspect that it’s hard to know who to trust and sometimes the cards seem stacked against you.
Like, if you’re a woman in tech, do you assume your colleagues are with you or with XYZ person that’s causing the problem? As many of us would like to help if we’re aware of the issue, approaching the wrong person could result in “an unfortunate layoff due to a budget shortfall… Sorry Katie” or a hostile performance review.
It’s hard for me to say really what goes on when I’m not looking and what I haven’t heard. Even in situations where I have seen something… what am I supposed to do – even as a man – if I’m vastly outranked by the creep?
It’s a shame my comment was censored and this conversation is apparently trolling according to mods.
I don’t doubt any of that. And I don’t have experience in the tech field myself. I only know that in every area of life women experience so many things they don’t report because the guys who do that stuff are careful never to do it where men like yourself could see or learn about it. And a lot of the microaggressions are done in ways that would make a woman who reported all of them look “difficult” and impair her own progress. So the fact you don’t see it or hear about it doesn’t mean it’s not happening, and it probably includes at least one guy you would never suspect.
👌👍