He became distracted, his eyes wandering from my shoes to my body, before asking me if I was single. I can handle myself, but that upset me comments from colleagues. When Susan Fowler, a former Uber software engineer, spoke out in February about the sexism she encountered at the ride-hailing service, she prompted the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick — the man who once described his company as ‘Boob-er’, because it helped him bed more women — and set a domino effect in chain. In June, Dave McClure, co-founder of the accelerator and investment firm 500 Startups, apologised for ‘being a creep’ by making multiple sexual advances towards women he worked with. The same month, Binary Capital co-founder Justin Caldbeck announced he was taking an indefinite leave of absence after six women accused him of lechery.
London’s tech scene isn’t immune. Earlier this summer, 52-year-old Melindi Nicci met an ‘angel investor’ she hoped might provide capital for her startup, Baby2Body, an app for new mothers. But towards the end of their one-on-one he became distracted, his eyes ‘wandering from my shoes to my body, before asking me if I was single. I can handle myself, but that upset me.’
James Damore reckons the under-representation of women in tech isn’t due to sexism, at least not primarily, but the fact that, at a population level, boys have a greater interest in maths and science than girls. To be fair to him, the stats aren’t exactly heartening. In Britain, women represent just 16 per cent of the total number of computer science students at degree level. The memo also references several scientific studies, including the work of developmental psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen (Ali G’s more cerebral cousin), that claim a difference exists in male and female psychological traits. BaronCohen’s essential thesis is that the male brain is ‘systemising’, while female brains are better at empathising.
Baron-Cohen heads Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre and holds several prestigious academic posts. The guy clearly has credentials. But so does Cordelia Fine, who has also written extensively on gender differences. She says that while there are some differences between men and women’s brains, there is no convincing evidence that they are biological in origin. Fine’s take is that our brains are shaped by our physical, social and cultural environments.
Hands up: neuroscience, behaviour genetics and evolutionary biology are not my strong suits. Credible voices on both sides have raised interesting points that merit debate. But if from the outset you give a little girl a doll to play with instead of Lego and tell her, ‘Don’t worry, darling — girls are rubbish at algebra’ when she fails a maths exam, it’s unlikely she’ll be itching to pursue a STEM career in later life. Last year, Gap came under fire over an ad campaign that featured a boy wearing an Albert Einstein T-shirt, with the headline ‘The Little Scholar — your future starts here’. The girl next to him was dressed in pink alongside the caption ‘Social Butterfly’ and a promise that she’d be ‘the talk of the playground’. Hardly inspiring stuff.
There may well be some truth in the argument that men are more drawn to certain fields than women. But the controversy surrounding Damore’s memo detracts from a wider issue. The question isn’t whether women want to work in male-dominated industries — it’s what the industries can do to attract and retain female talent. The frat-house lifestyle of Silicon Valley’s startup scene isn’t exactly female-friendly. Late, boozy nights are the norm — where does that leave working mothers? Even Apple’s glitzy new campus has no childcare facility. It all comes down to the culture, says Telle Whitney, CEO of the Anita Borg Institute, a California-based non-profit that supports women in technology. ‘Small startups are typically launched by a few men, who hire their friends, so it’s very easy for the first 100 people to be mainly white guys,’ she says. ‘They don’t have any advice about basic best practices for their employees. That’s what you’re seeing with Uber. It grew really fast and they didn’t pay attention to some of their infrastructure, like HR.’
However, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Last year, Facebook pledged $15 million to the Seattlebased non-profit Code.org, which promotes diversity in computer science. There are a number of UK initiatives aimed at tackling sexism in tech, while networks like Decoded and Women Who Code are helping to close the gender gap. Because whether or not self-selection is at the root of the problem, technology — like every other industry — needs diversity to thrive. •
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