The Confidence Factor for Women: The Gender Diversity Biases of Silicon Valley
OpEd: Which continues to be normalized to negate the value of women
Silicon Valley is a small town with major problems. I was invited to give a keynote presentation at a week long tech conference earlier this year. I was thrilled to have an opportunity to present a negotiation workshop, which strategically discusses the gender diversity effect on salary negotiations. However, the excitement ended when we negotiated my appearance fee for 3 days of work.
In the end, I walked away as we were very far away from each other in value. The final response from the organization was “We do not want to spend that kind of money on women who may never grow in the profession.” There was shock on my face as I had to read it at least 100X before I responded with “That is a stereotypical view of why the world continues to underestimate women.”
By the way, did I mention the decision maker was a woman?
There is more to the issue of gender inequity in the tech sector. From the disgrace of Google by a simple leaked internal memo, to the sexual harassment claims at Uber and others that may continue to remain unreported; Silicon Valley has work to do that goes far beyond the public attempt to politicize the issues by placing a “woman” in their diversity spaces. I hate to admit it, but two years from now, you will realize that the women who are now appointed to fix the issues in some of the largest tech firms in the world are all there for optics. They will never get a handle on the problems that predate their existence of hyper masculine values and beliefs.
In order to solve the problem in tech, Silicon Valley needs to be more proactive, rather than reactive. More than the dynamics of quick reactions, we need to remedy some of the biases that have contributed to the gender problem.
The Unconscious Gender Bias: As I stated earlier, the woman who was in charge of hiring a diverse pool of experts to create value for women in tech did not believe it was appropriate to invest in women in tech. The outcome of the story is they hired a man instead, with less credentials and paid him much more. The unconscious gender bias is actually normal, where we have specific associative beliefs toward gender and professions.
For example, I love import drag racing and actually own 3 stock cars. When I show up to races, the reaction of the crowd is utter shock — a woman drag racer? When all of the other cars enter, driven by men, it is an expectation. As a result, some people only cheer me on because I am a woman, not because they believe in my potential.
But import racing has been my hobby since I was 15. It is still a male dominated industry that continues to have speciific unconsious gender biases, as a result, very few women participate publically. There are women who continue to struggle with believing in the full leadership potential of other women.
The Status Quo Bias: “That is the way it has always been.” The belief of champions who are intimidated by change. The true definition of inclusion requires diverse perspectives. If every leader in the industry looks the same and believes in the growth of the company, rather than investing in the people that invest their time into growing the company, the status quo will be the bias that contributes to everything remaining “normalized.” Women remain where they are, until the next crisis.
As a result of the status quo bias, major tech companies are hiring “women” to fix the issue of gender diversity, rather than taking a moment to sit with some of the women leaders in the company and learn about challenges of their non-existant inclusive policies.
Those who believe in the status quo do not want lasting change, they want systems that work for the value of the company, not for the people who create value. A great example of the status quo bias can be viewed on the show Undercover Boss, where CEO’s operate their companies from their own view, sometimes for generations, without lasting change. The show highlights a temporary change at the end for a few lucky participants, then goes back to the old way.
The Assumption Bias: I recently gave a talk, where I recanted a true story about the early days when I met my husband 20 years ago. While we were dating, he would often pop up to take me to lunch, as he worked nearby. After the news hit the office that we were days away from getting married, which I wanted to keep quiet initially, my office manager made a celebratory joke “Please do not get pregnant too soon. I do not filling out the maternity leave paperwork.” I had no idea what that statement meant until after I became a parent 8 years later.
There is an assumption that women will take extended absences for family leave, illnesses, etc. I often believe the tech world publicly punishes women who choose to take a moment to have a family. It is very noble to applaud Mark Zuckerburg for taking a 2 month paternity leave for the birth of his child, but the same generosity never applies to women. There is the assumption that women will be interrupted by “life.”
The Access Bias: This is very simple — Women do not have access to the same rooms as male leaders. I recently discussed this issue in my recent article in Forbes the distinct differences in networks and events, which cater to men vs women. The access to the same level of information is not comparable, and most of the male leaders who believe in the status quo are very aware of the difference.
To begin to address the gender diversity problems in Silicon Valley, we need to be more truthful about the biases that contribute to the narrative. Women have the potential to play a value role in STEM and tech, but the exclusive practices of fixing a problem with reactionary measures and optics is never a solution. The proactive approach is male leaders in tech need to join the discussion and listen to the voices of women, who have been fighting to be heard and learn how to create affinity groups, which cater qualified women.
Carol Sankar is a high level business consultant and the founder of The Confidence Factor for Women in Leadership, which is a global executive leadership firm focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives for high level women. Carol has been featured at TEDx, The Steve Harvey Show, Bounce TV, Inroads, The Society for Diversity, SHRM, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, Forbes and more. For more details, visit www.carolsankar.com
