Articles about women in tech often inappropriately quote men as authorities on the experiences of women in tech, regardless of the man's actual expertise in the area. Editorials about women in tech are also often written by men who are less qualified than many women in tech. This is a problem for several reasons:
- It removes the voices of actual women in tech from the conversation about women in tech.
- It replaces actual expertise with feel-good hand-waving ideas that take energy away from real solutions.
- It allows men to build reputations and business opportunities on the suffering of women.
- Men in tech are likely to suggest "solutions" to diversity problems that are self-serving and reinforce the existing power structures that these very same men benefit from in their careers. For example, suggesting that the solution is to encourage young girls to be interested in code recuses men from responsibility for fighting harassment aimed at their adult female colleagues. Men who have utilized an unfair advantage in their careers because of their gender are unlikely to want to dismantle the structural inequalities that served them so well.
- Often, men who write and are quoted in these articles suggest "solutions" that involve women changing their behavior so as to cope with sexism from men.
Remedies
- Reporters working on stories about women in tech should seek out the voices of women in tech.
- Editors should reject stories about women in tech that quote mainly men.
- Men who are asked for quotes about women in tech should refuse and refer reporters to more qualified women in tech.
- Men who are asked to write editorials about women in tech should refuse and recommend more qualified women in tech instead.
- Editors should seek out women in tech to write editorials about any topic they are qualified to write about.
- Prominent men likely to be sought out for comment should publicly pledge not to give comment for women in tech studies.
- Articles that suggest changes in behavior should focus on what *men* can do to be less hostile to women, not on what women should do to cope with hostility.
Examples
- What Silicon Valley Thinks of Women by Nina Burleigh for Newsweek, quotes Vivek Wadhwa
- Women Are Thriving in Tech -- Why Are They Still Invisible? by Vivek Wadhwa for Huffington Post
- I'm So Sick and Tired of Men Marginalizing Women in Tech by Ben Parr for INC.com, who uses it to plug his new book
- Filling the Pipeline With Powerful, Female Role Models by David Cohen for the Wall Street Journal
- Keeping Women in the Tech Workforce by Vivek Wadhwa for the Wall Street Journal
- Steps to Increasing the Number of Women In Tech by Vivek Wadhwa for the Wall Street Journal
- Innovating Women by Vivek Wadhwa and Farai Chideya
- Let the boys have their social media while women save the world by Vivek Wadhwa for VentureBeat
- Over a dozen articles on women entrepreneurs by Vivek Wadhwa for Women 2.0
- 10 Men Waking Waves for Women in Tech by Ruthe Farmer for TechCrunch
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