How underrepresented are women in technology?
The award-winning film “Hidden Figures” delves into lives of three African American engineers Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan, who calculated the launch and landing trajectories of the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. Overcoming sexism, these women were recognized for their service; one received the Apollo Group Achievement Award, and another the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Despite these inspiring stories, women—and especially women of color—are largely underrepresented in technology due to significant issues of bias and discrimination.
Women account for more than half of the college-educated workforce, but only make up less than a quarter of science and engineering occupations. From 2017 to 2018, 36 percent of American women earned a bachelor’s across all science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and only 29 percent held a job in science and engineering. Women earned 22 percent of bachelor’s degrees and 27 percent of master’s degrees in engineering.
This underrepresentation in higher education translates to fewer women in the workforce, which creates a biased environment. Women face bias and discrimination in multiple forms, including:
- Myths and misconceptions
- Ignoring work-life balance
- The “Broken Rung”
- Historical and societal issues
- The COVID-19 pandemic
Factors Contributing to the Discrimination and Bias of Women in Technology
Myths, Misconceptions and Their Effects
Many women choose to leave the engineering field for reasons pertaining to it being a “male-dominated profession” or full of “introverted people who are difficult to work with.” Other misconceptions—such as women not being interested in STEM, and a perceived lack of ability—are certainly not encouraging women to enter these fields.
As University of Minnesota engineering professor, Rhonda Franklin explains, “I think a big part of not becoming an engineer is not understanding what it is [and] how they think about what engineering is…It plays a big role in how students see the profession. I think a big issue for anyone becoming an engineer is how does the public see the profession, and how does the public see the profession as an opportunity.”
Debbie Sterling, an engineer and the founder of GoldieBlox, said that society is persuading young girls from an early age that they don’t belong in the field through the types of toys girls are given to play with during childhood. This is not to say that we must create construction and engineering toys specifically for girls, but rather that society must create an environment that encourages girls and boys equally. Sterling argues that women crave more creative and interpersonal jobs, while stereotypes paint engineering as the opposite.
“As women, there’s this general consensus that we have higher emotional intelligence and require personal connections in our day-to-day life, whereas men are good with just numbers and facts and sitting behind computers. That’s not necessarily true,” says Avantika Khanna, president of Women in STEM. “Not all STEM careers revolve around analyzing numbers and graphs; there’s still a lot of interpersonal connections and interactions that we do have in the STEM career.”
Ignoring Work-Life Balance
According to Pew Research, flexibility is an important factor for both men and women when choosing a job, but only 18 percent say that STEM jobs offer the flexibility they need to balance their family and work obligations. There is also the fact that women have stated numerous times that their employers do not consider their work-life balance, stating that they were asked to have meetings outside of childcare hours, had to travel, or endured heavy workloads.
“A lot of the care responsibilities fall to the woman of the house. Whether you’re talking about childcare [or] household responsibilities, it often falls more heavily on the woman of the house. It can be a bit difficult to try and manage that with attending a meeting in person or being available, as their schedule may not allow that as easily,” says Roberta M. Rincon, the associate director of research at the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). With over 40,000 members, SWE is empowering women to excel in engineering and technology professions to increase their quality of life while maintaining diversity and inclusion.
Women also reported feeling that the job was simply not meaningful, or the pay was not enough to pay for childcare.
The Broken Rung
The broken rung refers to the many obstacles women have to face on their path to senior leadership. According to a Yale Study, there are twice as many boys as girls in middle school who intend to work in science or engineering-related jobs.
“As younger people, we mold our decisions based on society and what we see other people doing, rather than what we personally want to do,” says Khanna. “Girls in the eighth grade, for example, will choose those classes based on friends and less so on their qualifications. I think the main problem is that there aren’t these built-in communities for women in STEM that are really encouraging these girls to pursue some fields.”
About half of the women who intend to major in Science and Engineering switch to a non-STEM major when they reach the first year of university or college. This is partly due to how over 70 percent of women have experienced their judgment being questioned, needed to push themselves just to prove their skills, had things explained to them that were in their area of expertise, been judged as less competent, and gone unrecognized for their accomplishments, in addition to many other microaggressions.
This gap increases when analyzing the workforce. At the beginning of 2020, women held 38 percent of manager positions. There are even more challenges for colored women. Since men outnumber women at the manager level, fewer women are hired or promoted to senior managers.
Many women have also stated that they were not paid equally compared to their male counterparts or expressed that they did not see any management growth comparable to men. They also feel less confident due to perceptions around their leadership capabilities.
The “Boys Club” Mentality
This industry often falls into a sort of “boys club mentality,” where women have often been excluded from male bonding events such as poker games or golf, making them feel left out of the company community.
“There are feelings of isolation or exclusion when women are not invited to a round of golf or happy hour or some of those sort of social networking opportunities that also can lead to professional opportunities,” says Ricon. “There is a lot of thought around the idea of when an opportunity presents itself. Say there is an opening in management; those who are in the decision-making turn to people that they know, they turn to people that they’re comfortable with, and if women are not in those circles, they’re not people that automatically come to mind.”
According to Pew Research, the lack of women in the industry and opportunities to socialize can lead to doubts on whether they belong in the field. Often, women feel the need, or are expected, to be extra friendly and personable just because of their gender.
Lindsay Ramirez, general manager of Source Measure Units at Tektronix, further explains that the beginnings of this mentality begin during university. She states, “What can frequently happen is unless the teacher is actively promoting a culture of allyship … groups will just fall into a pattern of bad social dynamics where men in a group setting take ownership but do not leave space for women to do likewise.”
The Societal and Historical Discrimination and Bias Against Women
The surrounding societal issues and historic challenges always have an impact on businesses. Not only do women face challenges in getting the opportunities they deserve, but when sexism becomes a part of their daily life, they also start to have lower self-esteem, viewing themselves as less worthy and perpetuating the cycle of oppression.
“When you can’t learn how to assimilate with folks around you, it doesn’t take away the blind spot other people have to be able to improve sexism. [It] is real, it’s part of American history, it’s a part of American society, so it does seep into the workforce. Does it happen more in engineering? Obviously, there’s less of us in engineering so it’s not as addressed,” says Amr Haj-Omar, an R&D Innovator at Tektronix with a PhD in electrical engineering. “There needs to be a deliberate way to solve the problem.”
Franklin further explains, “Because it’s present in the world, there are certain professions that are hampered by it more. For example, in engineering, the dilemma is complicated. What’s hard for people who are underrepresented is that they don’t get the benefit that anyone who’s well-represented has. For example, when you’re in an environment where everyone looks like you, there are just so many things you don’t have to do because everybody communicates the same way. When you’re the underrepresented person, [you] spend a lot of energy creating the bridge for the two people to walk on.”
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Many women state that they cannot work and manage their families to the fullest degree. During the COVID-19 pandemic, family demands are now up front and center. Many viral videos show parents working from home and their children doing something hilarious in the background, or a call where other participants can hear children crying. For women, these issues cause them to worry about their performance and the way they appear. In fact, women are more likely to report that family responsibilities have made them decline jobs, work part-time or retire early altogether.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many women have had to pull double shifts—working their regular job and educating their children. There is a new need to “always be on” at work at all hours of the day due to the invisible work hours, adding a lot of pressure and anxiety. Although these factors hurt all employees, women feel it at higher rates. More women have been laid off or had their careers stalled due to challenges with balancing their home and work life in the same place. A study found that one in four women are thinking of downshifting their careers to help balance their multiple duties. Due to hurdles with homeschooling, mental health and burnout, America risks losing women in leadership and the industry overall. According to McKinsey & Company, many women have stated their bosses are unwilling to let them work part-time to take care of their family. Almost two million women have considered taking a leave of absence or have followed through with those plans.
While women of color also face similar challenges, they are also often more likely to be underrepresented in senior leadership due to their lack of opportunities. Many experience additional pressure to perform as they feel their actions reflect positively or negatively on their entire race.
“It’s very intimidating to put yourself forward as an underrepresented person. You feel like there are a ton of eyes on you and that you could never properly represent the entire population of people who you’re trying to represent. It makes people who come from underrepresented populations less likely to put themselves out there,” says Ramirez.
While many people proudly declare themselves to be an ally, they do not use their power to support those with less power. In addition, far fewer people have taken steps to stride towards equality, confront discrimination and mentor those who are underrepresented.
Why A Diverse and Inclusive Workforce Leads to a Better Workplace
According to Pew Research, a majority of Americans believe increasing the number of people from different backgrounds makes the country a better place to live. Companies with a diverse workforce are more inclusive and make all employees feel accepted and valued. They bring a diverse set of experiences and perspectives to solving issues and offer an expansive toolbox. Without a range of values, we limit the ability to understand and advance the industry.
“The whole idea of just throwing money at the problem, we know that’s not the solution. It comes from investment in terms of putting time and giving people the opportunity. Diversity at this point is not nice to have, it’s a part of the innovation. If you do not have diversity, you will not be able to push the limits,” says Haj-Omar. “If everyone in the room looks like you as soon as you walk in, there are cultural norms and it becomes like a dictatorship. Whereas if people come from different cultures, you’ll get into a situation where you’re not comfortable, and what comes out of that is pushing the edge and getting the best idea out there.”
A lack of diversity means a loss of talent, which means a decrease in economic growth and competitiveness. When companies are excluding women, then they are only looking at half of the talent pool—and therefore missing critical contributions and resources. It leads to a less than capable workforce.
Solutions to Keeping Women in Technology
Encourage Development and Advancement
The key is to encourage development, understanding and opportunities for all regardless of gender. Starting from a young age, society must promote integration and embrace diversity to achieve equality. Through individual personal connections or faculty mentors, encouragement and guidance can help students obtain opportunities they might not have sought out initially.
“In order to get more women in the profession, we all have to be willing to initiate and develop interactions with people who look different from us so that they can spend their time learning about the profession and developing in the ways that they’re interested. When they are successful, their success becomes marketing for the career path,” says Franklin.
In a study by SWE, one student received an internship at a university after a faculty member encouraged them to pursue engineering. Another said her relationship with her professors helped her with career guidance and recommendation letters.
According to Rincon, SWE is “trying to expose girls to women who are doing this work, so that they can see that it’s possible and so that they can gain a better understanding of what an engineer is and what an engineer does, hopefully through some hands-on activities and through meeting some of these women and young women who are studying engineering.”
When women are well represented at the top, companies are more likely to outperform their peers as they can embrace employee-friendly policies and programs as well as take a public stand for gender equity. They are also 38 percent more likely to act as a mentor or sponsor for women of color.
Mentorship
By reconsidering current industry goals, performance expectations and work-life balance, companies can set new norms and encourage more women to join careers in technology.
By starting at a younger age, the industry can be more effective in leveraging students’ opinions in STEM. The National Science Teachers’ Association has highlighted the positive effects of student clubs, noting the use of real-world experiences and activities has proven successful in getting kids, who would otherwise be disinterested, involved in STEM topics.
Ramirez states, “It’s really hard to feel welcome and to feel like you can be successful when you don’t see yourself anywhere in role models or in examples of … what teachers are teaching in schools. It’s hard to feel like you can identify and be a part of a community when you don’t see other people who look like you there.”
Partnership programs, advising and faculties can influence women’s persistence in STEM as well as their decision to pursue STEM careers. But many students do not know how to find a mentor or why.
Khanna explains how Women in STEM are helping students across America by pairing them with ambassadors in the STEM field.
In one instance, Khanna explains, “After being paired with the student from Yale, [a student] said she was going to study even harder for her SATs and persist even more to defy this STEM barrier. She was just so inspired after learning about the different opportunities.”
Bias Training
Open and frequent communication is critical. When companies find time to think about an employee’s mental health, foster empathy and commit to allyship, they are more productive and positive.
Bias training asks one simple question: “How do organizations address these biases?”
“This isn’t about fixing the women, it’s about fixing this system,” explains Rincon. “Bias training is really about understanding two things: 1) We all have biases, we all have unconscious biases, every single one of us. 2) Recognizing how those biases influence our decisions… and then learning how to mitigate them. You want to make sure that they are not negatively influencing any decisions. It’s all about thinking about ways in which we can all be better managers, better employees and better colleagues.”
Closing the Gap
Women face multiple discriminatory challenges due to myths and misconceptions, work-life balance, the broken rung, historical and societal issues. However, prejudice and discrimination are not inevitable.
“I truly believe education is the weapon that can eradicate [discrimination]. I think the tool that we could give the young generation is an equal opportunity and when it comes to education, that’s truly what’s going to close the gap,” says Haj-Omar.
Whether that education comes in the form of encouragement, mentorship or bias training, it’s not up to women to make the change—we must all work together towards this solution.
What are your thoughts? Stay tuned for part two of Discrimination and Bias in Technology, which examines the role of minorities in the industry.
