Working for Change
Women in business confronting bro culture
This past summer a half of dozen women came forward and accused venture capitalist investor Justin Caldbeck, co-founder and managing partner of Binary Capital (an extremely powerful venture capital firm), of making unwanted and inappropriate advances toward them. According to an article written by Sam Levin for The Guardian, the women raising these accusations include Niniane Wang, co-creator of the Google Desktop, who alleged that Caldbeck tried to sleep with her while informally recruiting her for a job; Susan Ho, co-founder of Journy, a travel booking service, who claimed that the venture capitalist sent her text messages in the middle of the night suggesting they meet up while they were in the process of discussing investing in her startup and Leiti Hsu, another co-founder of Journy, who said Caldbeck groped her under a table at a bar.”
Despite these disturbing accusations, Caldbeck who took an indefinite leave of absence, was let off the hook with no consequences or punishment for his behavior. He is one of the many powerful men who has had his reputation and career tainted as a result of sexual misconduct sandals that have not only plagued Silicon Valley, but Hollywood and Congress as well. These women and their stories of harassment have shed a light on hostile work environments and the need to change the culture of toxic masculinity in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.
Silicon Valley is recognized for being a hotbed Ivy League grads who have dominated the finance and tech industry since the beginning of the tech boom, making it extremely difficult for women to succeed in the industry. It’s also known to leaning libertarian. But what does all that mean? According to an expert academic who is knowledgeable about the subject (but who asked to remain anonymous), libertarians believe that individuals have the liberty and power to determine the success that they create. They believe the freedom to act and explore without much regulation or oversight will allow individuals to create and innovate better for the greater good. The corrolary of this belief is that is that individuals deserve all the credit of blame for their success or failures.
Some say these shared beliefs, have contributed to the “Bro Culture of Silicon Valley” in which venture capitalists or tech entrepreneurs have the tendency to pick founders and employees who are a lot like them They create a sort of “boys club”, which makes it difficult for women to get into any executive or high positions in tech and business.
So, what are women to do? Whittier College business professor Lana Nino said that women have to fight against social gender constructs that have been created in the business world. Nino said that, “perhaps the strongest remaining barrier for the advancement of business women to managerial and executive positions is the large male population holding these positions at the top.” This is difficult in a “bro” business culture where men at the top are more likely to chose male executives with whom he already have established a trusted relationship with. Picking a woman may violate and change the dynamic of a“boys club” that may already exist at a company.
“Today, over 50 percent of the business college graduates are women, over 46 percent of the workforce is women, and [only] over 37 percent of the business managerial positions are held by women,” says Nino.
Knowing that these challenges and issues exist, what role does education play in preparing women to encountering these issues? When asked if there is any advice she would give to women in business, Professor Nino said, “I wish I could enter the business field now with all the new innovations and business culture that has grown and transformed over the years, but ultimately I would have liked to learn early how to deal with people and ethical dilemmas that happen at a company.”
If anything positive has come from the sexual misconduct scandals roiling Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Congress and other private and public sectors, it’s the increasing consensus that women in business shouldn’t have to be silent or compliant in their career. From the sexist memo composed by Googletech engineer James Damore to the allegations against venture capitalist Justin Callback, these scandals have focused attention on the “bro” culture in Silicon Valley and elsewhere that permitted such behavior in the first place.
