DINT 82: How to Cope with Being the Only One in the Room

Today’s article focuses on mental and emotional well-being for those under-represented in the tech world. The advice comes from me and the stats are from respected reserch agencies.

Plus: ITPro just published my latest article on AI powerhouse Nvidia.

Enjoy! - L

[DINT originally pubished the article on April 4, 2023]

That feeling of otherness, while familiar to the underrepresented in tech, can cause psychological safety issues. That’s according to a recent study by McKinsey & Company.

In their 2022 Women in the Workplace study, McKinsey revealed that 32% of women in the tech sector are the only women on their teams. Here’s what that can lead to say the authors of the study:

· Higher rates of bias.

· Judgement questioned in their area of specialization.

· Passed over for promotions or senior leadership roles.

This has caused women to leave tech roles, increasing the representation differential. For instance, in 2018 there were twice as many men as women in tech roles. In 2022, that number increased to 2.5 times more men than women.

One role in tech appears to have a slightly friendlier track record for women in tech. Software engineering is one of the most coveted for its low unemployment rates, high salaries, and career mobility (the opportunity to move from company to company with no decrease in skills, salary, or title).

Zippia keeps a rolling tally of these numbers based on 30 million profiles in their career placement system, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics findings, and U.S. Census data.

In software engineering, women make .93 cents for every dollar a man makes. While that isn’t pay equity, it is better than most pay differentials in tech. The average salary for a software engineer, across genders, is $100,260.

But the number of women in the field is decreasing with women making up 25% of the software engineering workforce in 2018 compared to just 22% in 2021.

The cause of these dismal numbers is a broken pipeline for women in tech, the McKinsey study shows. Women make up 37% of entry level roles in IT services and Telecom and only 24% of C-suite roles in that industry. Compare that to the healthcare industry where women make up 75% of entry level workers and comprise 32% of the C-suite.

There are companies that are working to change things.

Otherization and What to Do About It

Intuit, the makers of QuickBooks and other financial management technologies, implemented two programs to increase female representation in tech roles.

They launched an apprenticeship program and a return-to-work initiative. For apprenticeships at Intuit, workers enter a seven-month software dev program for entry level workers. Intuit makes concerted efforts to ensure women are aware of this program and have access to its benefits. After completing the program, 80% of participants entered full-time roles at Intuit.

For the return-to-work initiative, Intuit targeted their efforts at women who wanted to come back to the workplace after an extended period of time away form corporate life. It’s a 16-week training program that pairs participants with mentors and provides them with software programming skills.

In 2019, Intuit’s workforce was 27% women. By 2022, that number jumped to 33%.

This success shows more women are entering tech which could lower the ‘only one in the room’ effect. Here’s a quick guide for women and men in tech about becoming comfortable either being the only woman on the team or welcoming one woman to your team.

Women

• Know the resources available to you. If someone approaches you in a disrespectful way, who is the first person to speak with? You’ll want to know this from day one. If you’re already in-seat, it’s never too late to gather knowledge of the help that’s at your fingertips.
  

• Seek out other women in the company. We tend to stay in our silos and it’s overwhelming sometimes. Gain strength by connecting and maybe even helping each other out.
  

• Demand equal feedback from your manager. One woman was on a team of men, and she noticed the supervisor would lightly jibe the male workers if their code wasn’t clean. When he gave feedback to her, it was stilting, hesitant, and overly complimentary. She wanted to be treated in somewhat the same way as her peers, meaning, she wanted clear, direct feedback so that she could improve. If this isn’t happening for you, make it clear that it’s what you need to remain a productive member of the team.

Men

• You can make your new team member feel welcome by addressing the ‘otherness’ head on. Ask your new teammate what she would need. Ask her what offends her. In the absence of an answer, use your best judgement.
  

• Accept the team dynamic will change. Make room for your new team member by welcoming the changes she’ll bring to the team. It may be irritating to do this, but eventually you’ll find she adds more fun to the group if given a fair chance.
  

• Speak up. If you see a male team member giving your sole female member a difficult time, call him out on it. Please make this call-out immediate, public, but kind. To create a safe place to do this, ensure this is in line with your supervisor’s team norms. If it isn’t request guidance on constructive ways to provide feedback if a team member makes another feel uncomfortable.

Until change comes, work to create a place for yourself. Keep going.

Events: What’s Happening in Tech

Palate Cleanser