The past few years have been significant ones for a number of reasons. A fresh decade brought with it advancements in\n science, tech, entertainment, and politics. And women have a significant role to play in all of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take politics, for example. With the rise of female candidates and advocacy, it\u2019s clear that women are intent on\n making their voices heard. In fact, women have outvoted men<\/a> in every midterm election since 1998. And\n those stats hold for presidential elections<\/a> since 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it hasn\u2019t been that<\/em> long<\/em> since women got the right to vote in the United States.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two years ago marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, which made it unconstitutional\n to restrict the right to vote on the basis of sex. First introduced in 1878, the amendment required decades of aggressive campaigning<\/a>, countless protests, and the\n unlawful imprisonment of suffragists to gather enough votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A century later, our society has made huge strides toward equality. But there\u2019s still a gender gap<\/a>. Women\u2014especially minorities and LGBTQ women\u2014continue to face massive\n obstacles in advancement and quality of life as they are outnumbered, underpaid, and overlooked in the workplace. One\n of the sectors where the gender disparity is easiest to spot: The tech industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This report will explain the historical background of women in the workplace before looking at women\u2019s gains in\n academia, and the role bias plays in the tech industry. Finally, we\u2019ll outline action items that can be implemented by\n both individuals and organizations\u2014things we can all do\u2014to make the future more inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related:<\/strong> 30 Ways to Be an Ally\n for Women in Tech<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the rearview mirror of history, it\u2019s easy to pinpoint exactly what brought an unprecedented number of women into\n the workforce for the first time: World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the U.S. entered the conflict, the need for industrial production on the homefront skyrocketed. But with men on\n the front lines, the responsibilities for filling the gaps in the domestic labor force fell to the women\u2014who answered\n the calling in true Rosie-the-Riveter fashion. While their contributions were essential to the war effort, these\n pioneering women faced unmeasurable bias without the benefit of legal protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take the first computer, for example. Six women programmed the first electronic computer<\/a>\u2014the Electrical\n Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC)\u2014during WWII but weren\u2019t given credit for their work. They were even\n identified in photos as \u201crefrigerator ladies,\u201d models used to make products appear more alluring. Their groundbreaking\n work went unrecognized and unlauded for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s more, it has taken years for women to earn equalizing legal rights to protect them in the workplace, with most\n of the milestones happening in the last 50 years. Here\u2019s a sampling:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission<\/a> of 1968 determined that it\n was unlawful to continue separating job listings and help wanted ads by sex.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978<\/a>, employers cannot legally fire or pass on (for\n jobs or promotions) otherwise qualified female applications because they are or might become pregnant. Previous to\n enacting this law, women were often let go to spare employers the costs of healthcare<\/strong> and\n maternity leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sexual harassment is a huge part of the national conversation today. It wasn\u2019t always this way, however. In\n 1991, Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas<\/a> of workplace harassment,\n a pre-#MeToo spotlight on sexual harassment<\/strong> that was, in many ways, the first of its kind.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the 1986 Supreme Court case, Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson<\/a>, it was determined that the making\n of repeated sexual references or advances in the workplace amount to a hostile work environment.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act<\/a>, legislation that allows employees to file a\n complaint of pay discrimination within six months of receiving their last paycheck. The act also confirmed\n that discrimination occurs every time a woman is paid less for equal work. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now for some good news: Women are doing better than ever, where education is concerned. According to a recent report,\n women are more likely than men to be enrolled in college, at a rate of nearly 67%<\/a>. And\n women are more likely to earn those diplomas, with college completion rates now reaching 65%<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n These on-the-rise figures don\u2019t reach many tech fields, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some numbers seem to be spiraling backward. In the mid-1980s, 37% of computer science majors were women<\/a>. Now? It\u2019s dipped to 18%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, women make up only 19.9% of engineering graduates<\/a>, and an even smaller number\u201417% of the engineering workforce is made up of women<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, a Google survey reported that many girls don\u2019t believe<\/a> computer science is important. The\n perpetuated influence of this retrograde thinking has a significant (and alarming) impact on future generations of\n young women in tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related:<\/strong> This DreamHost Customer Is Helping\n a Generation of Young Women Own Their Power<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Step inside any office, and it\u2019s easy to see that most aren\u2019t staffed to be gender-equal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only <\/strong>24%<\/strong><\/a> of computing jobs are held by\n women. <\/strong>Research shows that, in the last 21 years, the number of female software engineers has\n increased by only 2%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The turnover rate is <\/strong>more than twice as high<\/strong><\/a> for\n women<\/strong> as for men in tech industry jobs\u2014with one-in-three<\/a> saying they experience gender bias at work. 38% of women in tech\n plan to leave their employers within the next two years. Regarding the biggest challenges they face in tech, women\n named lack of opportunities for advancement (52%), lack of female role models (8%), and lack of mentorship (40%) as\n the top items. Thirty-two percent cited the pay gap. 50% of\n women leave their tech jobs<\/a> by age 35, a 45% higher rate than males.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From 1980 to 2010, 88%<\/strong><\/a> of all information technology patents were by\n male-only invention teams<\/strong>, while 2% were by female-only invention teams. So essentially, the technology\n being created for a diverse population has historically been formed by a homogeneous group. Plus, patent-holders are more likely to receive VC funding<\/a>, perpetuating future\n male-dominated businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 19.78%<\/strong><\/a> of engineers at Silicon Valley\n startups are women.<\/strong> Only one in four startups<\/a> have a female founder. Women are being\n passed over at the top too. Among Fortune 500 companies, 22%<\/a> of tech leadership positions are held by women. Also,\n only 2%<\/a> of female-owned startups receive venture capital funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And their growth is stunted; more than 20% of women over the age of 35<\/a> are still in junior positions. In\n fact, women are far more likely to be in junior positions than men\u2014regardless of age. Women were also twice as likely<\/a> as men to leave their job or be furloughed during\n the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Men make up significantly more than half of the job applicant pool in tech, while women are still\n underrepresented <\/strong>16%<\/strong><\/a> of the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not just the lower numbers of women in tech that poses a problem. Another issue? How they\u2019re perceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, merely knowing the gender of a programmer considerably affects perceptions of work quality and success.\n This kind of bias is pervasive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a study of GitHub users, code written by women was accepted 78.6% of the time\u20144% more than code written by men.\n This trend, however, only worked when the programmer\u2019s gender was kept secret. So women were better coders<\/a> when their\n gender was left unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s barely a start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While everyone is subject to failings and mistakes in the workplace, when women in high places fail in\n the public eye<\/a>, it\u2019s perceived as a harder fall\u2014viewed as a reason women shouldn\u2019t<\/em> lead\u2014with\n more intense media scrutiny and criticism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For marginalized groups, prejudice can amplify underrepresentation. Perhaps more than gender bias, racial\n discrimination is a critical concern for women in tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2013, Black, Hispanic, and Native American women made up 18% of the\n college-aged population<\/a>, yet they only earned 6% of computing degrees and 3% of engineering degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The underrepresentation of women in tech is a huge liability for the industry. Diverse companies are more likely to report growth<\/a>, perform better<\/a>, and have an increased competitive edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Companies are often tight-lipped about the breakdown of intersectional ethnicities represented in their female\n employees. However, Slack stepped up in 2016<\/a>, and other companies have followed suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pinterest currently leads other tech firms for its percentage of underrepresented minority groups at management and\n executive levels. That winning number is only 8%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, as of 2020, women of color represent only 12%\n of tech positions in the U.S<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related:<\/strong> What\n it\u2019s Like to Be a Black Woman in Tech\u2014Q&A with Kaya Thomas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n LGBTQ women in technology are also craving representation<\/a>. Over 7% of Americans identify as LGBTQ<\/a>, and in thriving tech-centric cities, these\n populations are higher than the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook released diversity stats<\/a> in 2021 that included LGBTQ data. Of its\n workforce, 10.6% of its American workers identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or asexual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with many companies earning the Human Rights Campaign Foundation\u2019s rainbow seal of approval (meaning they have\n LGBTQ inclusion policies), few numbers in this group are reaching the top levels<\/a> of these\n companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Women in the Workforce<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Education for Women<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Gender Makeup in Tech Today<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Perceptions of Women in the Workplace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Women of Color in Tech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Queer Women in Tech<\/h2>\n\n\n\n