FEMILY: A year after tech companies made big promises on diversity, survey finds the industry isolating and offensive for those who are one of the only in a role

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In early 2021, 120 individuals from 120 different tech companies answered a survey on being a racial, gender, and/or sexual orientation minority in the field. 

Conducted by a Silicon Valley's gender/inclusion advisor, the survey was related to a 3 month leadership program for " tech onlies." The organizers, Femily Howe and Spectra Asala, shared in a recent LinkedIn post that "despite the tech community's increased focus on diversity since June 2020, under-represented employees themselves are not feeling improvements."

The techies reported issues in six main areas: offensive workplace cultures, being overlooked/ignored, experiencing extreme self-doubt, feeling isolated, difficulties "bringing their whole self to work," and exhaustion helping their companies improve on diversity.

"All day it's offensive humor in earshot," said one person. Another shared that "everything's just supposedly a 'joke', but it's frankly racist and unkind to the gay community." Another confirmed they were teased for being "the workplace activist or feminist" when they tried to nudge colleagues on inclusion.

Even post-#metoo movement, more than one woman shared "the level of straight up sexual harassment in tech even after #metoo." Others mentioned that women in engineering were often "given the 'girly' tasks ? like keeping the team organized" or "onboarding junior men."

Many tech "onlies" shared exclusionary patterns that can negatively impact one's ability to get work done, lead, or get promoted, such as "being left out of the important meetings" or getting "talked over, ignored, repeated, or disrespected... Several shared stories that pointed to the impact of this culture on their careers, "I'm so demoralized by seeing white men with inflated titles compared to their skills get promoted above me." 

Being the "only one" on a team can be harmful to one's career, mental wellbeing, and physical safety (McKinsey, 2020), especially in male-majority industries like tech. 

Femily explained, "In a year where most tech CEOs made statements in favor of diversity, it's clear their sentiments haven't reached the ground floor. Tech employees who are 'first, only, or different,' as Shonda Rhimes says, are suffering in spite of all the diversity fanfare." 

SOURCE FEMILY