Women in Tech - The Race Still Continues for Equality
With the recent turn of events in Canada and in the US, this class has really helped me understand deeper into issues of diversity and inclusivity. Diversity is a fact in our workplace, however inclusivity is still a choice.
Inequality between men and women in tech continue despite years of efforts. Women make up 47% of all employed adults in the U.S., but as of 2015, they hold only 25% of computing roles, according to data from the National Center for Women & Information Technology. Of the 25 percent of women working in tech, Asian women make up just 5 percent of that number, while black and Hispanic women accounted for 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively.
Though there are many programs such as Women Techmakers at Google that are created to support women, women earned only 19 percent of computer science degrees at the bachelor level in 2016, compared to 27 percent in 1997. There are not enough women coming into the workplace to fill in the gap.
Another factor that makes it more challenging for women is the continued gender discrimination: 50 percent of women said they had experienced gender discrimination at work, while only 19 percent of men said the same. Women in male dominated environments like this were more likely to report higher rates of gender discrimination and hostile work environments. These are issues that men do not have to face on a daily basis.
Women also have to balance caretaking along with work. There are not enough public social programs that support women in the tech workplace. Though for women who work for larger tech companies such as Reddit, Amazon and IBM. Those companies are providing support to women returning to work from maternal leave. For example, Reddit offers flexible time off after the arrival of the child, comfortable on-site breastfeeding rooms, reimbursement of breast milk delivery services, a child care stipend for use after the parent returns to work, and access to Cleo, a female-founded company that offers parents 24/7 support and resources about early childcare development, a phone hotline, lactation consulting, night dulas, and even estate planning.
However, the expectations for work performance for women as well when she returns from maternal are the same rate as men. This presents a challenge for women in many aspects. Having been away for 6 months to a year, she has to rekindle important relationships at work that she will need to support her work, she also has to juggle caretaking for her newborn child while having possibly sacrificing time for rest and time to study and catch up after being away for a year. “I think it’s a myth that there’s all this free time when you have kids,” Alice Steinglass said of her experience as a mother in tech. “People are all like, ‘Your kid is going to sleep and then you can actually be productive,’ but it’s impossible to turn it on and off like that…There is no world in which we can do it all.”
The impact of these programs such as the one we saw in Reddit helps women feel more supported at work after maternal leave. However, it does not provide information on how we might improve the gender gap for women in tech. Women hold only 25% of computing roles, according to data from the National Center for Women & Information Technology. Women compared to men still face more challenges on a daily basis such as the gender gap, higher rates of workplace discrimination and known hurdles despite the support for maternal leave provided by certain tech companies. We must continue our efforts toward equality for women and men in the tech workspace because we aren't there yet.