Male Self Driving Car Engineers!! Now’s your chance!
The engineering culture at Uber is sexist. This is a culture issue, not a women’s issue. It is something women can’t change. The men have to change for change to happen.
Now’s your chance to make a change in engineering culture to make the culture welcoming and nurturing so the other half of the human engineering talent pool can contribute to self driving car technologies.
Overwhelmingly, I have felt the men engineers around me (once they figure out I’m smart — see “assume competence” below) to be very helpful, respectful, and supportive. (Especially my fellow Udacity SDC students!) Overwhelmingly, I feel that men want women in engineering fields. Yet men seem lost about what to do next — but we do need your active help.
Here are some places to start.
Educate yourself
Don’t just say you want more women, but learn about what drives women out of engineering. If you don’t know what Imposter Syndrome, Stereotype Threat, or the Leaky Pipeline is, now’s a great time to read up. Some other terms to Google: emotional labor, Bechdel Test, Finkbeiner Test.
These topics are becoming well researched, so if you like geeking out on scientific studies (what geek doesn’t??) there are some great ones out there on those topics.
Some other eye openers: women’s performance drops when opposite men (you can put effort into putting women more at ease in professional settings), women don’t get credit when collaborating with men (you can help others give credit where due), and my personal favorite: men who harass women are literally losers.
Also, here’s a nice “man to man” discussion about the myths of equality.
Shy around women? Suck it up.
That’s what change is about: working for it.
I get it. I’ve been around shy geeky guys all my career. I’m a shy geeky girl in a hostile culture. I’ve had to suck it up.
The difference is I can’t change the culture by being friendly. You men can.
You know how it feels when you feel out of place in a room, and finally someone comes up to you and starts talking about technical stuff — ah, you’re in your element!
Be that person and make a shy geeky engineer woman feel comfortable.
Speak out when you see sexism
This is something men can do but women can’t.
Nothing more exhausting than watching a man tell a woman she’s wrong calling out a sexist act. Like it or not, that dude will listen to you.
What more do I need to say? Call it when you see it.
Assume competence
I’ve written about this elsewhere, but it can’t be stressed more: don’t treat the women like they’re the girlfriend/wife even if they are. If a woman is listening to the conversation, she probably understands it.
Start high, assume competence, and don’t dumb things down if she asks a dumb question. Simply make her feel safe to ask questions. Asking questions is the key to becoming smart, but so often if we ask a question, men engineers assume we’re dumb.
Don’t be that guy.
Make sure women get heard
I read about how the women in the Obama administration conspired to help each other get heard. When a woman spoke, another woman would reiterate and give credit. If a man presented an idea originally presented by a woman, other women would redirect credit back.
These are things men can also do for women. Pay attention.
Help make sure women are heard, that they’re not interrupted, and that they get credit for their ideas.
When women have a harder time contributing or getting credit, it’s a positive feedback loop that perpetuates that women don’t contribute.
Encourage women around you
Women have a disproportionate serving of discouragement. In my youth, I literally saw my failures as proof that I couldn’t succeed because I was a woman. Men simply didn’t go through that gender self questioning. (Stereotype Threat has plagued me throughout my career.)
It’s hard for us. We need encouragement to keep going against the tide pushing us away from engineering.
Put extra effort into encouraging the women engineers around you. Point out our successes. Tell us when you learn something from us.
Being mindful of the positive contributions of women around you helps increase how others value women’s contributions.
“Great men make those around them feel like they are also great.”
Feeling smart by making others feel dumb is stealing. But making others feel smarter enables the world to accomplish more.
Doing these doesn’t just help women, it helps all engineers
Accommodations that remove barriers for one group tend to also help everyone. How many times have you used a wheelchair ramp?
A toxic culture harms everyone.
Culture is both what you absorb from a group and what you contribute to it. Put effort into making a great culture where you are, and fight against toxic culture.
Uber’s sexist culture coming to light is a good time to check the culture around you, and make the changes you men have the power to make.
This is not a time to shake your head and walk away. It is time to make a difference and make the world a better place for all of us.