
Why Is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women? - ksenzee
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-silicon-valley-so-awful-to-women/517788?single_page=true
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johan_larson
"For women of color, the cumulative effect of these slights is compounded by a
striking lack of racial diversity—and all that attends it. "

Silicon Valley has plenty of racial diversity. Something approaching half of
the workforce is east- or south Asian. And even the whites are a pretty
diverse bunch, with many immigrants from Europe, whether eastern or western.
But I guess that just isn't the kind of diversity the US left loves to bitch
about.

In my view, people who want to worry about fairness in hiring in this industry
should spend most of their time worrying about the women. That's a large
group, and the shortfall in hiring is very clear; we are hiring about a third
of the women we would be hiring at parity. And since it's a large group,
anything done to move the needle there will have a big effect: double the
hiring of women, and you've changed 15% of the workforce, double the hiring of
blacks, and you've changed 2% or so.

And if there's any time left over after dealing with the women, it might be
worth taking a hard look at our socioeconomic inclusiveness. The prestigious
colleges we love to recruit from cater disproportionately to the children of
the well-to-do. I doubt we do enough to look for talent in the community
colleges and state schools, which is where the children of the poor
disproportionately end up.

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minimaxir
Although title is baity, this is a well-written article and currently getting
buzz. (This is why I have vouched it)

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senior_james
"Still, it was a reminder that as a woman in tech, she should be prepared to
have her authority questioned at any moment, even by some guy trying to get a
job at her company."

This anecdote wasn't a good example of sexism. We have no idea why the person
wasn't hired or treated this way. The person, who just happens to be a man
(which always seems to come up in these discussions..when we are trying to a
avoid pre-judgement based on race and gender), might be insecure and treat
everyone this way.

Where is the real evidence based on empirical data? Has all science gone out
the door?

I'm a male and have been treated this way throughout my career. It most likely
has nothing to do with sexism and more to do with corporate politics. Women
are finally getting a taste of what it's been like for men..for decades.

"One reason her career had gone so well, she thinks, is that she’d made a
point of ignoring slights and oafish comments. Awkward silences, too. Over the
years, she’s experienced—many times—the sensation of walking up to a group of
male colleagues and noticing that they fell quiet, as though they’d been
talking about something they didn’t want her to hear."

You can't pound lawsuits at males for even making the most innocuous and
innocent comments and then expect them to behave normally in all social
settings.

Women want to be part of the group and included, but if a man says something
that might offend them, they want them fired or sued.

The 50s are over. Most corporations are so scared of a lawsuit, women are
treated like gold. The behavior described here is of a beaten down and abused
person that is so afraid of potentially losing their livelihood, they are go
completely silent.

"She’s been asked to take notes in meetings. She’s found herself standing in
elevators at tech conferences late at night when a guy would decide to get, as
she puts it, handsy."

There are stupid people everywhere. This is not specific to the tech industry
and this is at a conference....not at your job.

"When she and a male partner started a company, potential investors almost
always directed their questions to him—even when the subject clearly fell in
Blount’s area of expertise"

Do we know why? I have found that the person that is more assertive will be
asked the questions. Were you actually assertive? Did these investors know you
had this expertise?

"She couldn’t believe that women still had to worry about such things"

Unless we are all mindless robots, you will always have to worry about these
things. It's sad, but true.

"that she still heard talk about how hiring women or people of color entailed
“lowering the bar”; that women still, often, felt silenced or attacked when
expressing opinions online."

I've worked for many tech companies all over the country and never heard this.
Not even once.

Do you know the age of the people harassing you?

What percentage are actually adult males and not 12 year olds? I find it odd
that so many people take the insults of a little kid so seriously.

"They love the problem-solving, the camaraderie, the opportunity for swift
advancement and high salaries, the fun of working with the technology itself.
"

Wow, must be nice. How about working your ass off for little pay for decades
and having people either pay you in red bull, mt dew, or Fooseball table time?

It took me 15 years to get to have 'fun' at my job...and you are expecting
this at age 22? You are the privileged one.

"found that nearly all of the 200-plus senior women in tech who responded had
experienced sexist interactions"

Men may not experience as much sexism, but they experience equally
dehumanizing behavior in the work place. Society just expects you to 'take
it'.

"Women not only are hired in lower numbers than men are; they also leave tech
at more than twice the rate men do."

They leave tech because the tech industry consumes your entire life and many
women choose to have kids and a family and can no longer keep up with with the
daily grind expected of most people in the IT industry.

You also can't just look at the straight numbers and immediately determine
it's due to sexism. Are they not getting hired for other reasons? Education?
Experience? Not as many applicants?

"Studies show that women who work in tech are interrupted in meetings more
often than men. "

Since this article is just going to say 'studies' and not back it up with any
actual concrete proof. I'm going to also talk about 'studies' that I've read
that also say that women are the biggest critics of other women in the
workplace.

"Stephanie Lampkin, who was a full-stack developer (meaning she had mastered
both front-end and back-end systems) by age 15 and majored in engineering at
Stanford, has been told when applying for a job that she’s “not technical
enough” "

I was writing back-end systems in C and assembly by the time I was 15. I was
still turned-down for jobs at 19 because I didn't have enough experience, on
paper.

"But she has also, for instance, been told by a white woman at a conference
that her name ought to be Ebony because of the color of her skin."

Why does this even matter to the discussion? One person saying one hand-picked
inappropriate comment isn't an entire industry being racist or sexist.

"In 2014, Google released data on the number of women and minorities it
employed. "

I find it odd that when the word 'minority' is used, it doesn't include anyone
on an H1B Visa. Why is that?

~~~
muninn_
What a fantastic comment. Thank you.

