Why Is Silicon Valley So Awful to Women?

"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.

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

"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?