Where are we about equality in tech in 2021? Aren't we still there yet?
How long does it take to get there to have true equality in the tech industry?
The time of the pandemic and working from home shouldn't absorb people's voices and give companies to be a ghost if there are employees who belong to minority groups in tech who haven't have sufficient resources to be productive at home and can't raise their voices enough. It is the responsibility of the organization which needs to push and makes sure to have people's voices heard.
We are still seeing posts in 2021 telling us that if you want more women in tech then start training them. I believe to the opposite that it's not the problem we don't have enough women educated in tech, but the problem should be somewhere else if you don't see enough in your organization. I believe unconscious bias is something serious as much as conscious bias and people should have trained regularly since unconscious bias could be a very sneaky disease.
If you think about the math of the problem to get the equality equation right, you need to put absent positive values to fill the gap from the past that we had collected enough negative ones. The inevitable result is that the equation will never be achieved if only women who are the one embracing the equality approach in the tech industry.
To seeing enormous companies which we had seen diversity term in action when they were a start-up are taking the backward side of the road is just frustrating. Carrying the diversity in a company shouldn't be reminding employees that they are not male in tech, diversity should be about different voices we have that would contribute our products from different angles.
According to reports by TrustRadius[1], women are more likely to be laid off and have more pressure in terms of productivity than men in the tech industry which is still having issues about under-represented women. In addition to the burden taken by women for child care is 20% higher than men and the pandemic increases family responsible by 60%, we should be aware of the pandemic, and working from home opens the gap in terms of equality.
I feel very lucky to see people in my organization embracing the same approach. I have started my tech journey when I was in high school and started to deny the fact that it is a male-dominated environment. Now I'm finally feeling that I can raise my voice in my organization freely and my voice has no different than majority groups, however, not every woman or minority in tech has the same environment and that shows that we are not even close to accomplishing equality in 2021. If we are concerned about newly graduated women will eventually face an unconscious bias somewhere in their path until finding the right environment, this means we have a lot to do. If you have never seen any injustice towards women in tech, raise your voice for others, but if you do, you should have been already raised your voice by now with no excuse. Look at the glass ceiling and break it.
So now if this is not the right time to face your work environment and make it better for being equal in terms of diversity, then when is? I believe this is time to ask if we are where we want to be in terms of equality in the tech industry since every effort counts. Women do not need anything but equality on the 8th of march and every other day.
It's time for the tech industry to walk away from toxic masculinity and lead by example to the world. "The world is waking up, and change is coming whether you like or not."
[1] Foundation, T. (2020, May 12). Coronavirus is hurting women in tech. Retrieved January, from https://news.trust.org/item/20200513171548-bt842/
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