Sexism in the technology industry

Sexism in the technology industry is the phenomenon of sexism in the technology industry as evidenced by statistics and reports.[1] "Bias against women in tech is pervasive", according to the New York Times in October 2014.[2]

Statistics

For 1970-71, according to the United States National Center for Education Statistics, 13.6% of computer science bachelor's degrees in the U.S. were awarded to women. By 1983-84 the number had grown to 37.1%. After that began a steady decline and by 2010-11 only 17.6% of undergraduate computer science degrees went to women.[3]

In May 2014, Google posted on its official blog that only 30 percent of its employees globally were women.[4][5]

In January 2015, the New York Times said "the largest technology companies have released reports showing that roughly 70 percent of their employees are men and 30 percent are women."[6]

A Fortune Magazine review of data available for the 92 US-based venture capital firms which had raised "at least one fund of $200 million or more" between 2009-2014 found "only 17 had even one senior female partner", and 4.2% of "partner level VCs" were female.[7]

An Open Diversity Data website has been created to provide access to diversity data for specific companies.[8]

Causes

Despite the satisfaction that many women find in Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math (STEM) careers, studies show that a main reason young women do not engage in STEM from an early age is due to negative cultural messages.[9] As it relates to STEM, the culture our society often shapes the idea that men belong in the roles of various STEM careers which puts women in an uncomfortable position if they decide to engage in STEM.[10] However, the technology industry itself is not solely responsible for the lack of women in STEM careers. According to Brown and Leaper, “Many parents tend to have higher expectations of sons over daughters in math, science, computers, and sports”.[11] Therefore, childhood upbringing also contributes to the gender bias we see in the technology industry. More broadly, male privilege (which includes biased expectations about the aptitudes and interests of people based on their gender, not only from parents but also from peers, teachers and careers advisors) is a cause of gender bias in the technology industry.

Effects of sexism in the technology industry

During 2004 women in the UK made up only 8% of the engineering workforce.[12] In IT, the Dice Salary Survey estimated that between 2008 and 2009, women earned an average of 12.43% less in salary than males.[13] In addition to unequal pay, women are often excluded from informal work networks and become targets of bullying such as sexual harassment.[14]

Proposed solutions to the issue

The technology industry attempts to fix the issue of gender bias by first understanding the source of the bias. Understanding why women feel mistreated within the technology industry is the first step for a company to change its environment to be equal. Due to current gender roles and expectations, women often feel restricted by their gender; this restriction causes women to perceive sexism (Brown & Leaper 686). Applying this to the workplace, we see how the technology industry perpetuates sexism: “In order to be successful within an organization familiarity with the norms for action or the methods for exercising power in the company networks is essential. This means being an insider of the culture and understanding its informal rules”.[15] To combat the issue of sexism within the technology industry, researchers have suggested that companies take responsibility and change their organizational structure issues instead of expecting women to get used to the current state of the work environment.[16] One proposed change would be to have more than simple diversity programs; companies need to ensure that their work environments allow people with various backgrounds, and thought processes to work collaboratively to achieve organizational objectives.[16] According to Schiebinger, women should not assimilate to the profession, they should modify it; increased minorities in IT means nothing if there is an unaccommodating industry.[16] Ray McCarthy, a Middle School technology education teacher, believes that schools have a role to play in the solution to sexism in technology industry. He suggests classrooms have a welcoming feel that engages all students, validate their interests, and support positive inquiry.[17]

Reports

In 1997, Anita Borg, then a senior researcher at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) complained that women "run into subtle sexism every day." At the time only one woman, Carol Bartz of Autodesk, was a chief executive officer (CEO) among the largest Silicon Valley technology companies, and only 5.6% of the area's 1,686 major tech firms were run by women. It was even harder for female entrepreneurs. Of the $33.5 billion in venture capital invested in tech from 1991 through the second quarter of 1996, only 1.6% went to companies launched or headed by women.[18]

The 2015 Crunchies award event, organized by Silicon Valley tech industry blogs, was criticized for its use of derogatory language towards women.[19]

Multiple lawsuits alleging gender harassment and discrimination in the Silicon Valley have received media attention, including a high-profile ongoing lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers by interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao.[20][21]

Criticism

In July 2014, a young, male computer science major at Yale College wrote in Forbes that although women only constitute 16% of the tech workforce, they also only account for 18% of computer science undergraduate degrees awarded to U.S. residents. He opined that the low numbers boiled down to "ultra-capable, math-savvy women" having "a different profile of interests, on average, than their male counterparts."[22]

Forbes columnist Joseph Steinberg wrote of witnessing multiple sexist situations, including a technology company founder referred to as a “Booth Babe” at a trade show. He blamed disproportionate technology-industry sexism, and a low number of females in the field, on a large number of computing-related startup companies hiring primarily young workers, thereby creating “an environment in which many firms' technical teams consist largely of workers who are just out of college, sometimes giving the businesses fraternity-like cultures, leading to sexism that discourages female participation.”[23] Douglas Macmillan of Bloomberg Businessweek has referred to this phenomenon as “brogrammer culture.”[24]

A cover story appearing on the January 15, 2015 issue of Newsweek magazine, titled What Silicon Valley Thinks of Women proved controversial, both due to its illustration, decscribed as "the cartoon of a faceless female in spiky red heels, having her dress lifted up by a cursor arrow," and its content, described as "a 5,000-word article on the creepy, sexist culture of the tech industry."[25][26] Among those offended by the cover were Today Show co-host Tamron Hall, who commented “I think it’s obscene and just despicable, honestly.” Newsweek editor in chief James Impoco explained "“We came up with an image that we felt represented what that story said about Silicon Valley ... If people get angry, they should be angry.”[26] The article's author, Nina Burleigh commented, "Where were all these offended people when women like Heidi Roizen published accounts of having a venture capitalist stick her hand in his pants under a table while a deal was being discussed?"[27]

Incidents

In 2012, women created "creeper move" cards, in red, yellow, and green, to hand out at the DEF CON security coference as an indication of inappropriate behavior.[28] The conference in 2013 featured a game show called “Hacker Jeopardy” (a takeoff on Jeopardy!), in which hostess Vinyl Vanna presided by removing an article of clothing with each correct answer.[29]

In September 2013, an application called Titstare proved too much for several commentators. After he defended the app against allegations of misogyny on Twitter, Business Insider Chief technology officer Pax Dickinson was forced to resign. Dickinson later wrote an apology, which was published on VentureBeat.[30] His former business partner wrote an article titled That's It — I'm Finished Defending Sexism In Tech, and said "I had defended DefCon's right to do whatever they want. I had suggested on Twitter that Women 2.0 and the Hacker Dojo start an alternative security conference. I was wrong. I take this back. We shouldn't have to."[30][31] Much of the criticism appeared on Twitter, with one representative tweet stating, "There goes my attempt to teach my 9 [year old] girl how welcoming tech industry is to women."[32]

Nadella controversy

While speaking at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing on 9 October 2014, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella responded to a request his advice would be for women who are uncomfortable asking for a raise Nadella stated: "It's not really about asking for the raise, but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along," Nadella said,[33] according to a recording on the website of the event.

"Because that's good karma," Nadella continued. "It'll come back because somebody's going to know that's the kind of person that I want to trust."[34]

After the comments produced a strong backlash in the media and in social media,[35] Nadella issued an apology, "Was inarticulate re how women should ask for raise," he tweeted several hours after his remarks. "Our industry must close gender pay gap so a raise is not needed because of a bias."[36][37]

Microsoft also issued a memo on its website in which Nadella wrote: "I answered that question completely wrong," said the memo. "I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work. And when it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it’s deserved, Maria’s advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask."[38]

2015

At the 2015 SXSW festival, a panel discussion on "Sexism in Technology" at the 2015 became "awkward" when the head of Google's Unconscious Bias program, informed Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, that he had repeatedly interrupted Megan Smith, the White House Chief Technology Officer.[39]

Quote

Women in tech are the canary in the coal mine. Normally when the canary in the coal mine starts dying you know the environment is toxic and you should get the hell out. Instead, the tech industry is looking at the canary, wondering why it can't breathe, saying “Lean in, canary. Lean in!” When one canary dies they get a new one because getting more canaries is how you fix the lack of canaries, right? Except the problem is that there isn't enough oxygen in the coal mine, not that there are too few canaries.[40] --Kate Heddleston

See also

References

  1. ↑ Corbyn, Zoe (2015-03-08). "Silicon Valley is cool and powerful. But where are the women?". The Guardian - Technology. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  2. ↑ "Hacking Tech Sexism in the Time of GamerGate". NYTimes.com - Room for Debate. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  3. ↑ "Table 349: Degrees in computer and information sciences conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of student: 1970-71 through 2010-11". nces.ed.gov. July 2012.
  4. ↑ Bock, Laszlo (May 28, 2014). "Getting to work on diversity at Google". blogspot.com (Blog). Google. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  5. ↑ Sullivan, Gail (May 29, 2014). "Google statistics show Silicon Valley has a diversity problem". Washington Post. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ Wingfield, Nick (2015-01-06). "Intel Allocates $300 Million for Workplace Diversity". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  7. ↑ Primack, Dan (2014-02-06). "Venture capital’s stunning lack of female decision-makers". Fortune. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  8. ↑ "Open Diversity Data". Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  9. ↑ McCarthy, Ray (October 2009). "Beyond Smash and Crash: Gender-Friendly Tech Ed". The Technology Teacher: 16–21. See p. 17.
  10. ↑ Brown, Christina Spears; Leaper, Campbell (2008). "Perceived Experiences With Sexism Among Adolescent Girls". Child Development 79 (3): 685–704. See p. 686.
  11. ↑ Brown, Christina Spears; Leaper, Campbell (2008). "Perceived Experiences With Sexism Among Adolescent Girls". Child Development 79 (3): 685–704. See p. 685.
  12. ↑ Sappleton, Natalie; Takruri-Rizk, Haifa (2008). "The Gender Subtext of Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Organization: A Review and Critique". Womens Studies: 284–316. See p. 284.
  13. ↑ Quesenberry, Jeria L.; Trauth, Elleen M. (2012). "The (dis)placement of women in the IT workforce: an investigation of individual career values and organisational interventions". Information Systems Journal 22: 457–473. See pp. 458-459.
  14. ↑ Sappleton, Natalie; Takruri-Rizk, Haifa (2008). "The Gender Subtext of Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Organization: A Review and Critique". Womens Studies: 284–316. See p. 289.
  15. ↑ Sappleton, Natalie; Takruri-Rizk, Haifa (2008). "The Gender Subtext of Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) Organization: A Review and Critique". Womens Studies: 284–316. See p. 303.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Quesenberry, Jeria L.; Trauth, Elleen M. (2012). "The (dis)placement of women in the IT workforce: an investigation of individual career values and organisational interventions". Information Systems Journal 22: 457–473. See p. 459.
  17. ↑ McCarthy, Ray (October 2009). "Beyond Smash and Crash: Gender-Friendly Tech Ed". The Technology Teacher: 16–21. See p. 18.
  18. ↑ Hamm, Steve (August 25, 1997). "Why Women Are So Invisible". Business Week (Bloomberg LP). Archived from the original on January 17, 1999.
  19. ↑ Tiku, Nitasha (2015-02-09). "Sexism and consequences at TechCrunch’s annual award show". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  20. ↑ Rogers, Kaleigh (2015-03-10). "Why Ellen Pao's Gender Discrimination Suit Matters". Motherboard. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  21. ↑ "Sexual Harassment News". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  22. ↑ Cohen, Isaac (July 30, 2014). "An 'Ether Of Sexism' Doesn't Explain Gender Disparities In Science And Tech". Forbes (Opinion).
  23. ↑ Joseph Steinberg (September 18, 2014). "Sexism In Startups: The Frank Conversation We Need To Be Having". Forbes.
  24. ↑ Macmillan, Doug (March 1, 2012). "The Rise of the 'Brogrammer'". Businessweek.
  25. ↑ Burleigh, Nina (2015-01-28). "What Silicon Valley Thinks of Women". Newsweek. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Grove, Lloyd (2015-01-29). "Is Newsweek’s ‘Red Heels’ Cover Image Sexist?". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  27. ↑ Tam, Ruth (2015-01-30). "Artist behind Newsweek cover: it's not sexist, it depicts the ugliness of sexism". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  28. ↑ "Sexism and the single hacker: Defcon's feminist moment". CNET. 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  29. ↑ Mills, Elinor (2013-08-31). "Sexism and the single hacker: Where are the women at Def Con?". PandoDaily. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Miller, Claire Cain (April 5, 2014). "Technology’s Man Problem". The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  31. ↑ Shevinsky, Elissa (2013-09-09). "Why I'm Finished Defending Sexism In Tech". Business Insider. Retrieved 2015-03-26.
  32. ↑ Morais, Betsy. "The Unfunniest Joke in Technology," The New Yorker, Sept. 9, 2013.
  33. ↑ "Microsoft CEO says women asking for higher pay is 'bad karma'". HR Grapevine. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  34. ↑ "Microsoft CEO criticized for suggesting women not ask for raises". Reuters via Yahoo.com. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  35. ↑ Raphaelson, Samantha (2014-10-10). "Microsoft CEO Nadella's Remarks Add To Tech's Sexism Problem". All Tech Considered - NPR. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  36. ↑ Musil, Steven. "Microsoft CEO says he was 'inarticulate' on pay for women in tech". CNET. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  37. ↑ Peralta, Eyder (2014-10-09). "Microsoft CEO Backtracks On Suggestion That Women Shouldn't Ask For Raises". The Two-Way : NPR. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  38. ↑ "Microsoft CEO Apologizes for Comments on Women". ABC News. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  39. ↑ "Panels on sexism in tech get awkward at SXSW". Yahoo Finance. 2015-03-19. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  40. ↑ Heddleston, Kate. "How our engineering environments are killing diversity: Introduction". Retrieved 2015-03-21.

Further reading

External links