An interesting, important read. As a woman who worked in tech for nearly 30 years (and who holds B.S. and M.S. computer science degrees, plus an MBA), I have seen firsthand the gross disparity in the number of women in management/leadership positions, as well as the sharp decline in women entering the field since the early nineties. In fact, I've also seen dozens of women leave the field during the past three decades.
Disclaimer: I live in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, not Silicon Valley; and I have worked at traditional, hard-core tech telecom and IT companies, not social media companies like Facebook, Reddit, Uber, and Google. In my opinion, it is primarily the latter (social media app companies) that have given rise to the frat-boy "brogrammer" culture.
However, while the larger telecom and IT companies do not have openly misogynistic, lewd cultures, they do harbor serious rank and pay inequities among men and women. What's more, even at the Ciscos, IBMs, etc., there is certainly a tendency among men to dismiss women's ideas, or, as has happened to me several times, coopt those ideas as their own. I have seen arrogant, entitled men at the large, traditional IT companies, many in management positions. At the same time, those larger firms seem to do a better job of at least attracting more women in the engineering "worker bee" positions than the social media firms, probably because their culture is less frat-boy, more mature. For a thorough, holistic view of the industry, I would have liked Ms. Chang to examine a few of the dynamics at the larger, traditional (B2B) IT companies like Cisco, IBM, HPE, NetApp, etc.
I wholeheartedly agree with Emily Chang that the industry could accomplish so much more by promoting more women to management/leadership positions, resolving pay inequities for women and minorities (as Salesforce seems to have tried), seeking out diverse recruits from different industries, and changing their culture from the myth of a meritocracy, which only encourages white males to hire more white males, to an inclusive, creative, and diverse one. Finally, women in tech leadership positions, like Sheryl Sandberg and others, have a responsibility to use their power to recruit and promote more women.
High Tech
Alexa, Are You Listening?
in High Tech
Yesterday we received an Amazon package - another small, nondescript brown Prime box, much like any other, addressed to my husband, no return address. This in itself wasn’t surprising. Since the Pandemic, we’ve tended to exploit our Amazon Prime free-shipping privileges to buy a lot of online supplies, thereby avoiding in-person shopping. For better or worse, especially with the holidays, our Amazon purchases have increased.
But this box did not turn out to be another order of Fancy Feast cat food, hair glop, or batteries. It was an Amazon Echo Show 5 Smart Display Home device, retailing for $89 (now $44, with prices slashed since Christmas). My husband had not ordered the device, nor had I. For that matter, it contained no gift receipt or message. Now, we already have two Echo Dot devices in our home, which we use frequently, by commanding “Alexa” to play songs of our choosing from AWS. Additionally, we have four Sonos speakers, two of which have Alexa voice activation, which we also use for playing music.
An engineer by trade and natural technophile, my husband eagerly unwrapped the device and plugged it in. Surprisingly, the device showed registration to a “Megan Andersen,” whom neither of us has heard of before. My husband entered his own name instead and continued with the device setup - e.g. American English, EST timezone, location, etc. We then watched in fascination as the device circled through a buffet of choices on its display, inviting us to request the weather forecast, listen to a story about California extending its pandemic restrictions, use the voice of Samuel L. Jackson, watch a video from Panama, etc. Reasoning that we don’t have much need for the device, since we already have two Echo Dots and four Sonos speakers, my husband suggested we might use it for its clock display - maybe as an alarm clock that would wake us each morning to NPR’s Morning Edition.
However, as we ran through the list of people who might have sent it to us, even texting a couple of them, who confirmed they weren’t the senders, we began to feel a little uneasy. When I noticed the display also included a video camera, we decided to turn off the camera and ultimately unplug the device. Finally, my husband “chatted” online with Amazon Customer Service, who claimed that the device was a gift from someone, placed on December 17th, but due to confidentiality reasons, they couldn’t identify the sender. They assured my husband they would email the sender, asking him or her to contact us, so we could thank him/her for the gift. Meanwhile, he searched his Amazon order history to confirm the device hadn’t been ordered from his account.
Ten or fifteen minutes later, my husband received an email from Amazon Customer Service, beginning “Dear Megan..” It went on to request that the mysterious Megan identify herself to us so we could properly thank her for the gift. Then my husband received another email from Amazon Customer Service, this one addressed to him, indicating that the sender had been contacted via email. As if that wasn’t strange enough… I immediately wondered why the first email had gone to my husband. He assumed he had been copied on the email, but if Amazon wanted to protect the person’s privacy, why had he been copied on an email that identified the sender’s first name?
He returned to the “chat session” with Amazon Customer Service, asking if the sender was indeed one Megan Andersen and asking Amazon to name the city from which the gift was ordered/placed. Amazon Customer Service confirmed that the sender was Megan Andersen (a pseudonym, we wondered?), but again, due to confidentiality reasons, would not name the sender’s location. They also offered to return the gift and give us a credit of $5 for our “inconvenience.”
Separately, my husband trolled linkedIn and Facebook for anyone with the name of Megan Andersen or first name Megan he might know, and came up short. In parallel, I used voice activation to request Alexa to provide our notifications, just to check if this package was on the radar as one of our orders (it wasn’t). But to my great surprise, Alexa added, for the first time ever, “I don’t recognize your voice. What is your name?” (I didn’t reply).
After running through the possible scenarios of who this mysterious person could be, how they obtained our name and address, and why they would send us something, I thought of one plausible explanation: The sender was Amazon. A case of truth stranger than fiction? Disclaimer: Yes, I’m a fiction writer, but I dabble in historical and contemporary fiction, not sci-fi, dystopian literature, mystery, or fantasy. In my mind, this explanation clicked. First, that would explain why the email account associated with the mysterious sender was my husband’s own email address and therefore why he received the email addressed, “Dear Megan.” Second, it would explain why Amazon Customer Service (who I’m sure knew nothing of what had truly happened) was nonetheless authorized to offer us a credit for our inconvenience. (For receiving an unwanted gift? Really?)
Most importantly, it would fit Amazon’s crafty, somewhat unscrupulous business style and practices. Using Big Data analytics, they could target Amazon Prime customers who do a lot of online shopping via Amazon, and own Echo Dots (but not the Smart display model). By sending the device the week before Christmas, they could masquerade it as a Christmas gift, hoping the recipient would simply “accept the gift horse without looking it in the mouth.” Now, why would they do this? I can think of a few reasons:
Collect tons of marketing data about select Amazon users’ habits, specifically in communicating with the smart display model - perhaps encouraging them to become further entrenched in the Amazon eco-system
Write off (hundreds? thousands?) of these Echo models (Echo Show 5), which have since been replaced by the newer Echo Show 8, for tax purposes, or perhaps in an attempt to unnaturally prop up the product’s purported year end sales (to make it appear that more sold than not).
Who within Amazon would do this? If I had to take a wild guess, I suspect the Amazon Product Management or Marketing team of the Echo 5 was behind this. Of course, it could be my background influencing this conclusion - I’m a Senior Product Manager and Marketing Manager with nearly 30 years in the high tech industry. Or it could be I’m getting more and more paranoid. Or..it could be I really need to write something like this crazy scenario into my third novel, which will focus on a high tech startup. Even if truth isn’t stranger than fiction, this experience has given me some… great ideas.
Update 1/4/2021: Mystery explained! The Echo 5 was a gift from my husband’s new employer, HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise). Who would have thought? No note of explanation, but apparently the wife of an employee in his group sent the devices, on the manager’s request, to all the departmental employees. So I jumped the gun and let my imagination run wild. :) Made a cool story, anyway.
Perspectives of a Woman in High Tech
in High Tech
As both a woman and a long-time veteran of the male-dominated high tech industry (with nearly thirty years in telecom, energy, and IT), I’m an unusual statistic. Even more unusual, perhaps, is my pedigree. I hold B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science (plus an MBA), and for three decades I’ve held technical jobs in the industry, ranging from software development to technical product management. I wish I weren’t an anomaly.
Unfortunately, few women - particularly those who are American born and raised - major in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. That’s partly why the board rooms of tech firms are so barren of female leaders. A handful of prominent women like Sheryl Sanders hold executive positions at tech companies, but even Ms. Sanders’ role at Facebook is non-technical, and she majored in economics rather than a STEM discipline. However, a poor pipeline of female STEM candidates is merely a symptom, not the root cause of the low number of women in the industry.
Below are my observations and thoughts about why so few women enter and stay in tech, and why so few of us have STEM educations:
The “brogrammer” cult-like culture of Silicon Valley discourages women from joining. By “brogrammer,” I mean the twenty and thirty-something guys who stay up till three in the morning eating pizza, coding, and playing video games. They may also shoot pool or play foozball during their free time at work, while slurping down caffeine and cracking geeky jokes. (While this is a stereotype, it’s also a perception that carries some root of truth). Women who don’t identify with the brogrammer culture, who can’t see themselves playing video games, cracking inside jokes about Monty Python with “the guys,”, or holing up in the office till the wee hours, may decide not to pursue careers in high tech at all. This creates a chicken and egg scenario.
Stereotypes persist of women not being proficient in math and science. From the time they are little girls, women are often encouraged to play with dolls and mini kitchen toys instead of solving puzzles or tinkering with science kits. They are drilled in rote memorization - learning their ABCs, counting, and other mnemonic exercises. As they enter middle school and high school, their perception that boys are superior in problem solving continues and even increases. Many girls, modeling after the mothers, female relatives, and teachers in their lives, may grow frustrated with math and science classes and decide they don’t like these disciplines. In fact, about a decade ago, a Barbie doll was programmed to say, with the pull of a string, “Math is hard.” The perception that boys are naturally more proficient than girls at analytical thinking and problem solving is a myth that needs to be debunked; but sadly, people continue to perpetuate it.
Then there’s the question of why women who do major in STEM and enter high tech careers don’t stay in the industry. Of the dozen or more women I know who joined Nortel Networks in the summer of 1992, I and maybe one other are the only ones remaining in a tech job.
The brogrammer culture may play a role in causing women to exit the industry, as women in tech firms may feel alone and socially isolated. But the other gender-biased stereotypes that often persist in the workplace are to blame, as well. For example, women are sometimes more soft-spoken and less competitive than men in voicing their opinions in meetings. As a result, their ideas may be dismissed, or worse, co-opted by an aggressive male counterpart. Women may not ask for promotions for themselves, either, unlike their male counterparts who have no qualms in doing so.
Likewise, the societal expectations that women grow up with - helping others, collaborating, not rocking the boat, falling in line, memorizing lessons - unfortunately can be their demise in the workforce, as they may be labeled un-creative “followers,” whereas men who ignore these rules are often seen as confident and innovative thought leaders.
On the other hand, women who do speak up and claim their opinions are sometimes seen as unnaturally bossy or hostile, while men who do the same are often commended and rewarded. In fact, women who assert themselves may still be passed over for opportunities like speaking engagements with customers or presentations to executives.
Then there’s the blatant discrimination. The white male managers in power (of typically every high tech department from Product Management to Marketing to Services and Operations, except Engineering) may smirk as women speak, or actively ignore them by playing on their phones or laptops. Maybe these men have decided that they can afford to do so, as women largely do not hold positions of power; and therefore, men’s antisocial behavior in their female co-workers’ presence will not result in repercussions.
The truth is, many of the largely male leaders in tech firms still hold negative perceptions of women as not being analytical or innovative, or they may dismiss women as “doers,” not “leaders,” regardless of the evidence presented otherwise. For those of us in the industry, this is a disappointing and frustrating but all too familiar double standard.
Even with my tech experience and STEM degrees, I still sometimes struggle to be heard and to receive the respect and recognition I feel I deserve, despite having learned to be assertive, calm, and insightful over the years. However, based on my firsthand experience in working for nine different tech companies, this is not as much a problem at corporations who have embraced diversity, and who actively employ a larger number of women.
Finally, when women have children and decide to temporarily leave the workforce, they may have a difficult time returning. And even in 2020, it is still largely women who take leave to care for children and new babies.
What can be done about the problem? Let me be clear that it is not only women’s responsibility to solve. It will take a major societal upheaval to help more women enter STEM disciplines and careers and earn promotions in their jobs. But in the meantime, below are a few short-term things that can help:
Provide positive STEM female role models for girls. For instance, if you’re a woman in tech who has a school-age daughter, talk with her about why math and science are important. Introduce her to the high level duties of your job, and explain how you use your STEM background. If you’re not in STEM, find other women who are, and introduce your daughter to them. They can be female math and science teachers, engineers, product managers, and IT employees.
If you have a young daughter, give her puzzles to solve, Sudoku, and other math games. Buy kits for her to put together, and help her put them together.
Encourage your daughter to excel in math. Help her with her homework. Help build her confidence that she can do well in this subject.
If you don’t have a daughter, consider tutoring girls in math or computer programming (if you have these skills), or joining a mentoring volunteer organization for girls in STEM.
Form a club for women in high tech in your company or locale. Hold meetings, and share experiences and ideas. Tech jobs are often very demanding, and it takes a lot of strength, willpower, and support to remain in what could be a cold, unfriendly, unrewarding environment and still produce high quality output.
If you’re a manager in tech with women on your team, provide them with encouragement and positive feedback. A simple “thank you” can go a long way in showing appreciation and support.
Someday, after I have exited Corporate America for good, I plan to write a novel based on my experiences in the tech industry. For now I’m too close to it, but with some time and distance, I will let my perceptions and experiences flow into my creative writing in what I hope will be both entertaining and insightful - a wider call for action.