In a study of gender bias at Yale University, scientists were given the exact same resumes, labeled by masculine and feminine names. The study showed that scientists were more likely to hire the male. They ranked him higher in competency and were willing to pay him $4,000 more than the woman. This study is an example of how biases affect our judgment and are part of our human nature. Even scientists, who are data-driven and sensitive to bias, cannot avoid it. Our culture, experiences and day-to-day interactions form and further emphasize these biases. We tend to interpret situations in-light of our preconceived notions and stereotypes. In the workplace, such bias, and in particular gender bias, can have a negative impact on productivity, employee satisfaction, and consequently, quality of the work.
In an attempt to confirm that gender bias is a real issue, I conducted a survey among my circle of female engineers from different backgrounds and ethnicities. The survey asked them anonymously to identify their number one challenge that they face as women in Engineering. By far, the perception that women are not as qualified as men, i.e. gender bias, was reported as the number one challenge by 53% of the respondents. Interestingly, only 13% reported work-life balance to be their number one challenge.
The following chart shows the distribution of responses and sample answers under the gender bias category.
 What’s your number one challenge as a woman in Tech? |
“[My first challenge is ] working with men and their thinking that women can’t work in engineering field”.
“This field was recognized, in most people’s minds, as a career for men”.
“You discover that you are perceived differently by your male colleagues (less competent or less professional and more emotional).” |
Recently, there have been efforts to combat gender bias in the workplace. For example, a black woman engineer launched a “Blind” job app to take bias out of technical job hiring. The idea is to circumvent unconscious bias by removing gender and ethnicity from the equation. Another woman proposed that virtual reality could be the solution to sexism in tech, where women could use virtual reality to mask their gender during job interviews and consequently achieve greater equality in hiring.
While these ideas show a large deal of creativity in leveraging technology to achieve equality, they address only the symptoms, and not the cause.. They also inadvertently give the message that women need to hide their real identity in order to succeed in a male-dominated industry; a message I wouldn’t like to deliver to women currently working in tech or to future generations.
Instead, we should appreciate both men and women for the different sets of skills they bring to the table.
I personally consider diverse workplaces to be those that do not normalize, but rather recognize and appreciate the differences between genders and ethnicities. That’s why I prefer the term Gender Appreciation over Gender Equality as a way to push back on current stereotyping.
When we set the goal for women as being equal to men, we are aiming at having women follow in the steps of their male counterparts instead of embracing their unique personalities and perspectives. Hence, we need to socialize the understanding that it’s only with a mixed set of skills that teams succeed and innovate. Studies show that diverse teams are more innovative and more productive. Diverse teams are also able to combat unconscious bias while uniform teams tend to amplify it.
Finally, as we celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, it’s important to remember that while some challenges remain to be addressed, significant progress has taken place over the years. Women continue to succeed in tech and other domains and are setting good examples for the next generation. Men are also joining the movement and providing support for the cause. Companies are realizing how effective a diverse workplace can be and are starting initiatives like Intel’s $300 million diversity initiative to bring women to full representation in its task force. These efforts are helping to shape a better future where our daughters and sons are not required to conceal their identities to be appreciated.
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