Chloe Stevens
Site Reliability Engineer | Google, Out for Undergrad
What do you do and what have you done in the past, professionally?
I’m currently a Site Reliability Engineer at Google, which is a combination of Software Engineering, Systems Administration, and a hundred other things that I’m still figuring out. I currently work out of the office in Zürich, Switzerland. Previously I was a Software Engineer and a Software Engineering Intern, both also at Google. I graduated in 2013 from Swarthmore College with degrees in Math and Computer Science, and previously held an internship as a math research assistant at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
Has your sexuality affected the companies you apply to, or the job/internship offers you accept?
The large LGBT community and incredible support at Google is a huge draw for me, and a large part of my happiness at work. Tech has become a very accepting environment, where it is the norm to have LGBT groups and explicit support from the company. I can’t imagine taking a job somewhere I wouldn’t feel comfortable being out in the workplace, but that seems unlikely as long as I stay in tech.
Have you experienced any homophobia in any work setting?
I would say I’ve experienced more ignorance than active homophobia. A lot of people don’t consider that an LGBTQ person could be present when they make a comment or assumption, so generally I’ve found that people just need to be educated. I’m very lucky that I feel completely safe being out, and so I try to use these situations as teaching moments. Honestly, it is much harder to be a woman in tech than it is to be queer in tech, from my personal experience.
When and how did you open up to your colleagues and company about your sexuality?
I didn’t come out to either of my first two teams at Google. It took me finally having a manager who I really trusted, and I came out to her in a one-on-one meeting by explaining some of the LGBT volunteer work I do. Once I came out to her it became way easier to tell the rest of my team, which I think I did by mentioning my then-girlfriend. I’ve now come out to so many people so many times that I don’t even try to be subtle about it anymore, and I actively try to be out to as many people as I can. There are two reasons for me to constantly come out: first, I am so much happier, more open, and more myself when I am not trying to hide any part of myself. It is difficult to feel that way if you’re constantly side-stepping pronouns and questions about boyfriends. Second, now that I am out and safe, I hope that I can help someone out come out just by being visible. If I can help create a safer space for others to be themselves, I definitely want to do that.
What’s your experience of being a person of the LGBTQ+ community in tech been like?
First, I want to say that it is impossible to separate my experience as an LGBTQ person from also being a white, cisgender woman. In general, I actually really like being gay in tech — I have a great community at my office of other LGBTQ folks and I’ve met so many people through LGBT organizing. I generally feel that I have the support of my company, my manager, and my coworkers. As I mentioned earlier, I have found it much harder to be a woman in tech than it is to be queer/gay in tech. I have encountered very few issues relating to be gay and my assumed ability to do my job, however I experience frequent doubt in my ability to do my job because I am a woman. I think the topic of what it’s like to be a woman in tech has been recounted enough that I won’t go into details, but I think it’s interesting and pretty sad that while the tech industry is so whole-heartedly inclusive of the LGBTQ community, it has yet to make real strides with regards to including and supporting women, black people, hispanic people, and numerous other drastically underrepresented groups.
In your experience, what currently existing LGBTQ+ related initiatives have been beneficial? How have they been helpful?
At Google, we have executive-level support for our LGBT Employee Resource Group, which is very beneficial, both within in the company supporting employees, and externally — shaping policy, etc. I personally have not benefited from initiatives such as tax benefits for gay couples whose weddings are not legally recognized and trans-inclusive healthcare, but I think that these are extremely important initiatives.
What would make your work environment, or the tech industry as a whole more LGBTQ+ friendly?
As I mentioned, my work environment is generally very friendly, and though I haven’t worked at other tech companies, it seems like this is generally the case across tech. I will say that we have a long ways to go with education around trans issues — just because people are “gay” friendly does not mean they are necessarily welcoming or inclusive of trans people, and we need to change that. We also need to the male-centric culture fostered in the tech industry if we are going to make progress in the inclusion of everyone, including LGBTQ folks.
What advice would you give to queer employees entering the tech industry/founding their own company?
I don’t have any advice to give on company-founding, but with regards to queer employees entering the industry my best advice is to be yourself whenever possible. I personally choose to come out on my resume by listing involvement with LGBT organizations, and know that I wouldn’t want to work anywhere that rejects me because of this. When interviewing with a company, you can also ask the recruiter if there is an LGBT employee group, which can be a nice way to come out and also gauge the supportiveness of the company. When looking at any job, I would pay close attention to the culture of the team you are considering joining. For me this has been far more important in my happiness than what programming language I’m working in or even what I’m working on.
