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Check your biases: the discrimination keeping women out of tech

Women make up less than 20 per cent of the UK's tech workforce

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Women make up less than 20 per cent of the UK's tech workforce

The boys’ club has to go

The public perception of technology is of a male-dominated space, ruled over by Silicon Valley ‘tech bros' who create a hostile environment for anyone who isn't a straight white man.

But that doesn't tell the whole story. Men certainly outnumber women in most tech roles - this LinkedIn data, from January, tells a damning story of gender distribution in the UK - but women have been at the heart of technology development for literal centuries; starting, in the modern era, with French mathematician Nicole-Reine Lepautre.

Lepautre worked with a mixed-gender team to predict the return of Haley's Comet, and that co-operative style has become a repeated theme throughout history. Marie and Pierre Curie, Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, the Bletchley Park codebreakers: the story of tech has always been one of men and women together.

If cooperative working was so widespread in the past, why isn't the modern tech workforce totally balanced between men and women? Unfortunately, a large part of it is unthinking, systemic bias that makes tech a man's world.

The theme of International Women's Day 2022 is ‘Break the bias', to forge a world free of discrimination and stereotypes. Despite the progress of recent decades, these are still all too widespread.

Joanna Poplawska, CEO of The Collaboration, Technology and Innovation Forum, says, "Bias is inevitable and present, but it is only in the last couple of years that business has become aware of its high cost to effectiveness. When I started working at CITF 12 years ago, I was usually the only women in a meeting room, and certainly the only Polish woman in the room! I really needed to counter the negative stereotypes and be recognised for my own personal attributes."

I was told that being pregnant is a lifestyle choice

Joanna is far from the only woman to have experienced negative stereotyping and discrimination. Tree Hall, CEO of Charity IT Leaders, can recall several experiences of her own:

"I was at a conference recently and was having problems connecting my laptop to the Wi-Fi. The tech support at the venue told me it was a problem with my laptop and to contact my ‘IT guy'. Actually, the problem wasn't with my laptop, but that's not really the issue. The issue is the casual assumption that my IT support is male. This systemic bias is, in some ways, more of a challenge than the time I was told I shouldn't apply for a director role because I was pregnant, or the occasion when I was informed that childcare commitments are incompatible with the workplace - oh, and that being pregnant is a lifestyle choice."

In some ways, says Tree, the ‘IT guy' comment is more problematic than the explicit statements against pregnancy and motherhood, because it represents "deeply entrenched, specious and casually verbalised 'truths'."

I was there on merit, not affirmative action

Lianne Potter, information security transformation manager at Covéa Insurance, faced her own casually verbalised truths - although not to her face. Having retrained herself for an IT career over evenings and weekends, she encountered discrimination on her first day as a developer. "There was no-one in just yet except for a handful of people opposite the bank of desks I was sitting at, from another team," she says. "They hadn't seen me come in and with me being petite in stature, I couldn't be seen behind the monitors, so nobody knew I was there. As I waited for my team to arrive, I overheard a member of that team say to the other: 'You know why they have hired a load of women this time, don't you? To hit diversity quotas!'

"I felt my face flush... I had sacrificed so much of my life to work hard to retrain to get my dream job, I had gone through the same rigorous interview and assessment process as anyone else, and I had proven that I deserved to be there - I was there on merit, not affirmative action."

Navigating the 'politics of niceness' is exhausting

Securing a job, as Lianne found, doesn't guarantee respect, and the problems don't end there. Women are more likely to be seen as cold, bossy or less likeable simply for being confident - which is why having the self-awareness to question your feelings is important.

"Women in tech face a number of additional biases, both internalised and from others, that can make day to day work more challenging," says Weiting Xu, head of product analytics at Cazoo. "There are numerous studies that show women are not rewarded for confidence in the workplace unless tempered with other traits like empathy and altruism. I remember at the start of my career hearing senior women being discussed by colleagues for being too assertive and not friendly enough.

"These extra considerations, navigating the 'politics of niceness' so that people think you are approachable but not a pushover, are exhausting. They make you second guess yourself before giving constructive feedback or voicing a dissenting opinion and can take your focus away from the job at hand."

The menopause has been an unspoken subject for too long

Lianne and Weiting were at the very beginning of their careers in IT, but bias runs rampant across all ages. Laura Meyer, CIO at HarperCollins Publishers, says issues relating to middle-aged women are often taboo - but they shouldn't be.

"Every year thousands and thousands of women leave their jobs due to the struggle with menopause symptoms in the workplace. As women account for nearly half the UK workforce, this is simply shocking.

"Employers can help by having a menopause policy and supporting their team members who are perimenopausal or menopausal; they can educate managers and colleagues so that those experiencing one or more of over 30 symptoms related to the menopause can be helped. Companies can look to sign the workplace menopause pledge run by the charity Wellbeing of Women, and encourage their employees to form a menopause group - we have one at HarperCollins UK and it is a fabulous group of amazing women who are able to talk openly with their co-workers, get advice and encouragement and generally have a laugh.

"The menopause has been an unspoken subject for too long - making it an open topic of conversation and showing that anyone who needs support has a network to help, is invaluable."

The IT industry has lower barriers to entry than I had imagined

Ecaterina Harling, associate director of information at the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, has a more positive view. She points out that the IT industry is, at least, easier to get into than many imagine, valuing a mindset over formal qualifications.

"In my early days in IT I had the preconception that, to be successful, one needed a degree in computer engineering and lots of experience in deeply technical work. This was reinforced by the way job descriptions were written and floors full of mostly male technical engineers in many companies I worked with. However, my personal practical experience shows that the IT industry has far lower barriers to entry than I had originally imagined.

"Firstly, many roles required courage and curiosity over a technical degree, and an analytical mindset over the ability to code. Secondly, organisations have explicit diversity and inclusion agendas and placement skills that are more inclusive than ever. Education in technical skills is now widely available and often free. Thirdly, the pandemic has proven that the IT industry is well suited to flexible ways of working, allowing for better mental well-being and work-life balance."

I was bullied and belittled because of my gender

Sometimes the discrimination is more overt, as Busra Demir - ethical hacker and senior solutions architect at HackerOne - explains:

"It took more than eight years to not feel intimidated by my male colleagues while working in infosec. In a previous role, I was one of the few female hackers in the company and I was bullied and belittled because of my gender. I really felt like I needed to work harder in my role in order to be recognised and appreciated at work. Everyone should be treated equally in infosec, regardless of gender, culture, and other personal differences. People need to be recognised for their skill sets, and for the culture to truly change, women must be the voice for that change."

What does change look like?

Having women in visible leadership roles is a major step to encourage more women into the tech space, says Adenike Cosgrove, cybersecurity strategist at Proofpoint:

"In order for organisations to truly progress in the tech industry, they must cultivate an inclusive work culture that encourages women to advance their careers, and where everyone is given an equal chance to progress - otherwise they risk losing out on valuable tech talent. By having key women in leadership roles who can support and encourage other women in the workplace - as well as sharing their achievements and expertise - this will help businesses retain existing female talent and attract future female workers."

Mentors and role models are great, but if they're not already there then getting them in place takes time. There's something else both men and women can do right now to effect change, and that is to challenge the default, says Tree Hall.

"What can we do about this? We have to challenge. Every. Single. Time. When people talk about the ‘IT guys', we correct them. When we're given an ‘expert panel' of white males at a conference, we challenge. We use gender neutral language as much as possible: they/them instead of he/she/him/her. We look for recruitment channels that will reach individuals outside of our usual recruitment demographic. We have to be visible and vocal in celebrating role models who look, sound and feel like the people we want to reach."

Women and men both have a part to play in successful tech development, but the industry still has a diversity problem, with as many as four men for every woman in the space. It's up to all of us to work to change that, especially now that tech touches everyone's lives. The boys' club has to go.

Check your biases: the discrimination keeping women out of tech

The boys’ club has to go

What does change look like?

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