The Loudest Voice in Tech Is Male
And research tells us it’s hurting profits
I’ve worked in tech for 10 years and I stifled my own voice for most of that time. I was never surprised when a man got a promotion or praise and I didn’t. If you’ve worked at a startup or in tech, you know what I mean when I say the office just feels male. Are we supposed to be less feminine to succeed? Is there a reason why masculinity feels like the default? Somehow, we feel off center just by being a woman at work and we’ve come to expect less in terms of pay, opportunity, and recognition.
This study found that half of men are satisfied with workplace representation when one out of ten executives is a woman. What’s heartbreaking, is that one third of women agreed.
Ethically, the industry is underperforming. But if you don’t care about diversity for the sake of ethics, I bet you’ll care for the sake of profits.
Studies show, not listening to women in business is hurting the bottom line. The most gender diverse companies report 21% higher profits than those that lack gender diversity. So what’s wrong with the industry? Why does lack of diversity hurt performance? How can we fix it?
What’s Wrong?
Women are underpaid. On average women make 85 cents for every dollar a man makes doing the same job. While the pay gap is narrowing in the U.S. (women’s earnings were up 5 cents from the previous year), the problem is not limited to pay.
Women lack representation in the workforce. Entry level women are 18% less likely to receive a promotion than their male colleagues. And the problem grows when we look at senior positions. Women only make up 21% of the C-Suite — 18% coming from white women and only 3% of the C-suite are non-white women.
Women are interrupted in meetings. Even if we get the job and make it into the meeting room, our ideas are not always heard. In fact, all genders are more likely to interrupt a woman than they are to interrupt a man.
Our competency is questioned. 23% of women reported being treated like they were incompetent in the office. Only 6% of men reported that same treatment.
How Does Diversity Increase Profits?
More ideas from different perspectives allow the best possible idea to shine. People with different life experiences produce different thoughts and ideas which make an organization more innovative.
Diversity attracts top talent. Jobseekers value and look for diversity when considering a new role. By focusing on diversity and inclusion in the hiring process, you have a bigger hiring pool and better access to top talent.
Investors recognize the value of diversity. Harvard Business Review found that diversity is a signal to investors of a well run organization and the value of publicly traded companies went up after being recognized for achievements in workplace diversity.
The presence of diverse individuals encourages the free exchange of ideas from unique perspectives. When you’re not worried your ideas will be judged, you’re more likely to participate.
What Not to Do
A few years ago, I decided if I couldn’t beat them, i’d join them. I tried to remove any trace of femininity from myself at work. I strived to appear strategic, emotionless, and objective because I assumed those stereotypes made men more successful. I didn’t hesitate to participate in meetings or go up for promotions. I literally thought to myself “What would a man do?”. No one told me to do that. I just assumed that I wouldn’t be respected unless I modeled by behavior after a man because I saw men excelling and women stagnating. I didn’t notice any changes in terms of my performance or how I was treated. My career was no better off than when I started. The only difference was that I felt like I wasn’t being myself. It didn’t work because women lead differently than men. Men and women add different but equally valuable contributions in the workplace.
This strategy failed to address the concept that diverse people with different experiences and thoughts come together to create a better product. I learned that my job is not to assimilate. My job is to be who I am in work and in life. My job is to push for my authentic perspective to be heard and valued. More importantly, my job is to do the same for other groups, particularly those that are non-white in tech.
Creating Space for Women + Intersectionality
The solution is to work together to model the behavior that all perspectives are valuable, because they are. We can’t have a discussion about equality in tech without acknowledging that this issue compounds for those that are not white, non-binary, and/or LGBTQIA+.
I’ve had to work to create space for myself as a woman in tech and I am lucky to finally work for a company that values diversity, equity, and inclusion. But I have more work to do. Just because I feel like my gender is no longer a limiting factor in my career, doesn’t mean we’ve established equity in tech. We all have an obligation to use what voice we have to create space for others. If we don’t, we hurting people and we’re hurting profits.
