Gender Gap in Tech Still a Heavy Burden

SEATTLE—Large tech company gender discrimination stubbornly endures—even during the current pandemic, reveals Gender Divide in Tech, a 2020 study conducted by the Washington Labor Education and Research Center.

Dozens of women and non-binary tech workers were interviewed at Seattle’s four major tech companies—Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. Their experiences, imbued by years of research in the tech sector, graphically reveals the obstacles they and their colleagues continue to face as they seek to thrive and advance in this growing workforce.

Researcher Kimberly Earles shows how gender discrimination in the tech sector remains a persistent and even rising regional and national concern, bringing new evidence as well as a framework for changing the tech industry’s culture and working environment to increase gender equality. The report combines recent academic research, media reports, and new qualitative research on the experiences of workers in Seattle’s tech industry.  

Earles presented her findings at a recent UW Bridges Center Town Hall on the tech industry, along with nationally-known authors Margaret O’Mara (The Code) and Mary L. Gray (Ghost Work) to discuss the past, present and future of labor in the global tech economy. Watch the Town Hall recording here.

The Gender Divide in the Tech Sector is available at the WA Labor Center’s website with this link: https://tinyurl.com/genderdivide.

See press coverage of The Gender Divide in the Tech Sector: https://mynorthwest.com/2219844/tech-companies-gender-divide/

Author Kimberly Earles can be reached at Kim@Kimearles.net.