Unfortunately, discrimination in the tech sector is nothing new.
In 2015 ex Microsoft employee Katie Moussouris filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the company.
In 2017 three former Google employees filed a class action lawsuit alleging a pattern of discrimination against female workers which included paying them less than their male counterparts.
Earlier this year Uber was investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for gender disparities pertaining to hiring practices and pay.
And these are just the stories that made the headlines. Every day women (and men) are facing discrimination within the tech sector and a shocking new study has revealed some worrying facts.
Almost half of the tech employees who reported incidents at their workplace, like sexual harassment, have faced backlash from management or HR, according to the app Blind.
Blind is an app that allows tech workers to talk anonymously about their work environments, company culture and work perks.
Recently makers of the app asked users: “At your current workplace, have you or your co-workers experienced retaliation by management or HR after reporting an incident?”
The results were pretty disheartening. Out of the 4,386 tech workers who took part 41.4% responded saying ”Yes”.
These statistics highlight a worrying trend within the industry. If we really want to remove the bias and prejudice that is rife in the tech sector then we need to make sure that the people who are brave enough to speak out about it are supported and heard. That’s the least we can do.
