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Computing the Gender Gap in Tech and IT

April 10, 2018

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The well-known Women in the Workplace study carried out by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company describes women’s position and attitudes in corporate America. According to the study, women remain underrepresented at every level in their career. While numbers vary from sector to sector, technology, IT services and telecom continue to fall short in attracting women in their workforce. As reported by the findings, technology struggles to attract entry-level women: in 2017, only 36% of workers in entry-level positions were women. In other industries, such as telecom and IT services, the numbers are even lower: just 33%. As corporate America struggles to create an organizational culture that sets aside gender inequality and discrimination, companies may face big challenges: providing an organizational environment that fits both genders and giving women better reasons to join their workforce.

In 2017 Google fired software engineer James Damore after he wrote an internal memo that expressed doubt about the company’s diversity policies and stated that women tend to be less attracted to join tech and IT industries as a result of biological characteristics, not discrimination. The memo, titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber,” prompted a reaction from Google’s chief executive, Sundar Pichai, who said portions of the document went against the company’s code of conduct. Specifically, Pichai questioned Damore’s statement that biological differences make women less likely to pursue a career in tech. In his own memo, he stated that these claims cross the line “by advancing harmful gender stereotypes.” While Pichai agreed with one of Damore’s points, namely that Google should be more tolerant of conservative viewpoints, he argued that “to suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK.”

“The memo has clearly impacted our co-workers, some of whom are hurting and feel judged based on their gender. Our co-workers shouldn’t have to worry that each time they open their mouths to speak in a meeting, they have to prove that they are not like the memo states, being “agreeable” rather than “assertive,” showing a “lower stress tolerance,” or being “neurotic.” At the same time, there are co-workers who are questioning whether they can safely express their views in the workplace (especially those with a minority viewpoint). They too feel under threat, and that is also not OK,” Pichai wrote. As companies struggle to develop an organizational environment that fits not only both genders, but also different viewpoints, Google had to fire Damore. He went on to claim that his termination was due to being a conservative in a company that only follows liberal views. This prompted another reaction from Sundar Pichai, who later said that Google did not fire the software engineer for political reasons.

Google soon found itself in another controversy when three former employees sued the company for the lack of compensation and opportunities it provides to female employees. As Kelly Ellis, Holly Pease and Kelli Wisuri filed a lawsuit against the company, they argued that Google continues to keep women in lower compensation levels than men with equal skills, education and who do similar work. A California state judge dismissed the gender pay gap lawsuit, calling it inappropriate and vague, as it was brought on behalf of all Google female employees from the state of California. A revised lawsuit followed soon after this decision. As the company’s conformity to equal employment laws was up for debate in yet another trial, Department of Labor Regional Director Janette Wipper appeared in court and said that she found “systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce.” Google reacted promptly and released its own analysis that states there is no gender pay gap within the company.

The Women in the Workplace study shows that “women remain underrepresented at every level in corporate America, despite earning more college degrees than men for thirty years and counting.” It also suggests that companies must realize “there is a pressing need to do more” and that, despite their commitment, “progress continues to be too slow—and may even be stalling.” The study’s representation of women across industries shows that certain sectors, such as tech and IT&C, are still struggling to attract women in their workforce. While the gender gap still proves to be hard to close, companies need to find new ways to provide an organizational environment that fits different genders, views and opinions.