Surviving Tech’s Bro Culture: Lessons from those who have been there

1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions

This is a piece of advice close to my heart, because I suffered from it. But that’s a whole other story – Maybe I’ll blog about it some day.

From Nora Mullaney, Software Engineer at Facebook:

Don’t be intimidated by those who seem to know more than you. It’s very easy to techno-babble at someone and seem intelligent. Never be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something. It’s a great way to learn. If the person you ask can’t/won’t explain, it’s likely he/she doesn’t really understand.

2. Don’t underestimate your own abilities

My 2nd favorite advice is from Sheryl Sandberg because it reflects one of the most insidious ways sexism impedes women’s success:

Studies show that women often underestimate their own abilities, which holds them back from taking on the challenges that help any of us achieve to our potential. Stereotype threat – the phenomenon that if people are aware of a stereotype they are more likely to act in accordance with it – is a real issue for girls in science, math and technology. Girls don’t think they can do well, and therefore they don’t. (This is why girls often do better in these subjects at all-girls schools.) If women believe they can succeed in tech, they will. And so many amazing technical leaders already do.

See the original thread here :http://www.quora.com/Women-in-Technology-1/What-advice-would-seasoned-women-in-tech-give-to-younger-girls-deciding-to-make-a-tech-career-for-themselves

92% founders are male

Despite seemingly big strides in education equality, women still face significant barriers in entrepreneurship.

 

http://www.cbinsights.com/blog/venture-capital-human-capital-report-gender-and-education

“Gangbang Interviews” and “Bikini Shots”: how brogrammers push women out

Why aren’t more women holding tech jobs? Maybe it’s because they were eliminated before the pre-lim. When “bro-ing down” is part of the job description, the “sisters” automatically do not belong.

At one of the world’s biggest gatherings of Web culture, a 28-year-old executive of a popular social network gives advice on landing a tech job. He proudly recalls landing his first job after sending the CEO “biniki shots” from a “nudie calendar.” No wonder all the women walked out.

From Tasneem Raja:

At the South by Southwest Interactive festival in March, I attended a talk titled “Adding Value as a Non-Technical No Talent Ass-Clown.” It was given by Matt Van Horn, a 28-year-old executive at the social-media company Path. Path had generated a lot of buzz at the tech and media confab; it was recently valued at $250 million.

A crowd of about 100 was packed into the conference room, overflowing into the aisles. Van Horn stood stiffly in the center of the room, clipboard in hand, boyishly hip in a grey blazer, expensive-looking jeans, and eyeglasses with flashy white stems. He began with a story about chasing down a job at Digg, the once popular bookmarking site, shortly after he graduated from the University of Arizona. He said he’d won over Digg’s elusive cofounders by sending them “bikini shots” from a “nudie calendar” he’d put together with photographs of fellow students posing in their swimsuits.

Van Horn continued with some tips for hiring managers: He cautioned against “gangbang interviews”—screening prospective employees by committee—and made a crack about his fraternity’s recruiting strategy, designed to “attract the hottest girls” on campus. He seemed taken aback when nobody laughed. “C’mon, guys, we all know how it was in college,” he muttered.

 

Read the full article here: http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/04/silicon-valley-brogrammer-culture-sexist-sxsw

Silicon Valley’s “Men” problem

Tech bros presenting “Titstare” at TechCrunch Disrupt SF credit: sbs.com.au

Elissa Shevinsky can pinpoint the moment when she felt that she no longer belonged.

She was at a friend’s house last Sept. 8, watching the live stream of the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon on her laptop and iPhone. Entrepreneurs were showing off their products, and two young Australian men, David Boulton and Jethro Batts, stood behind the podium to give their presentation. “Titstare is an app where you take photos of yourself staring at tits,” Mr. Boulton began, as photographs of women’s chests on a cellphone flashed on the screen behind him.

After some banter, Mr. Batts concluded, “This is the breast hack ever.”

The crowd — overwhelmingly young, white, hoodie-wearing men — guffawed. Something in Ms. Shevinsky’s mind clicked. If ever there was proof that the tech industry needed more women, she thought, this was it.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/technology/technologys-man-problem.html?_r=0