This document discusses making space for mothers in the tech workplace. It notes that diversity of experiences leads to better ideas and decisions, and that tapping into a wider talent pool means better talent. Blind hiring data from one company found that 58% of those hired were women after removing identifying information. Barriers for women include untenable work-life conflicts and difficulty re-entering the workforce after taking time away. While flexible policies could help, many companies resist implementing them. The document discusses the impact of career gaps on mothers and calls for a discussion around reducing work-life conflicts, offering flexible options to all, and recognizing biases in hiring and promotions.
3. Why does gender balance matter?
1.Diversity of thoughts, experiences, perspectives leads to
better ideas and decisions
2.Tapping a wider pool of talent means better talent (that
is: open up competition to the other half of the
population)
4. GapJumpers gathered data from nearly 1,200
auditions across 13 companies—attempting to see
how the numbers stacked up when the early stages
of hiring were done blindly. Once the blind challenge
was completed, the gender breakdown of those
candidates hired was 58% women, 42% men.
5. What are some barriers to gender balance in the
workplace?
1.Some women reluctantly leave the workforce because of
untenable work/life conflicts and find it difficult to re-enter
2.Some women choose to take time away from work, most of
whom intend to return, but find re-entry difficult
And yet … many companies resist the policies and practices
that would help more women stay in and re-enter the
workforce.
6. … So I quit.
“They pressured me to come back 6 weeks after I had
my son and I wanted to take the full 12 weeks, or
maybe more …”
“I asked if I could work from home one day per week
and they said no.”
“I’d run through all my vacation and PTO and my mom
still needed me.”
7. Myth buster: most
moms want to work
•When part-time options
don’t exist some choose
to “grin and bear it” and
others choose to quit.
•Neither of those
outcomes is great for
businesses
8. Myth buster: men prefer part-time too – even
those without children
In a survey, 59% of working fathers said “I would choose
to work part-time if I could still have a meaningful and
productive career”
AND, 57% of men WITHOUT children agreed!
Source: How Men Flex: The Working Mother Report, July 23, 2015
10. … and pay the price
One study in the American Journal of Sociology found
that mothers are 79% less likely to be hired for a tech
position and are offered an average of $11,000 less in
salary.
11. The Impact of the gap
“At every interview there was this awkward pause when
they noticed the gap. They acted like I’d spent the time
in jail.” – a 2015 returnee who was out of the workforce
for a little less than two years caring for her newborn
son
12. What’s going on here?
EVERYONE experiences work/life conflict
What’s different is :
• Our perception (read: bias) of who has conflict and who
doesn’t and what impact that conflict has on
performance
• The extent of the conflict and how people respond to it
13. The way we treat moms is the way we treat
women
14. Let’s start the conversation
1.Make reducing work/life conflict a corporate goal, not an individual burden
2.Model work/life integration – especially at senior levels
3.Offer flexible and part-time options to everyone and make it truly okay to take advantage
of them
4.Be open to “radical” solutions – open PTO was radical until it wasn’t
5.Value results instead of face time
6.Don’t overlook great talent because of career gaps – it will be impossible to increase
gender diversity without providing on ramps for women who’ve taken time off
7.Recognize bias – in recruiting, hiring, promotion, performance evaluations
8.Engage women in conversations about their careers and remember (and remind them)
that what will work for them will change over the years
15. Control of your time matters more than volume
of hours worked. One study done by BYU and
IBM found that people who could control when
and where they worked could log 57 hours per
week before a significant number experienced
work-family conflict.
Without that control, the tipping point happened
at 38 hours per week.
16. Change is hard …
96% of people surveyed said sleep was important to them
But 57% said that while their sleep could be better they
were not taking any steps to improve it
Source: Phillips Global Sleep Survey
Brief bio: decade in tech marketing, now launching a nonprofit to help women/men with career breaks return to the workforce
Take it as a given that the people in this room believe equality and inclusion are a social good
But what are the specific business benefits to gender balance?
Two BIG ones and they both have a direct affect on results
Men apply for jobs when they believe they meet roughly 60% of the criteria listed in the job spec
Women apply for jobs when they believe they meet 100% of the criteria
Many companies will brag that they only hire the “best” and “A players”? But can they confidently say that is true when their pipeline is full of men who are (by their own estimations!) 60% qualified and missing women who are 70% qualified?
There is a disconnect between what companies say is important to them – and important to their results – and the actions they are taking to change the reality of their company’s level of diversity and inclusion
What does leave the workforce reluctantly look like? These are actual quotes from women who found that they couldn’t align their work and home life. Many times the solution is right in front of everyone.
I bet this slide surprises you more than the last one. But why should it? Most people would like to work less!
But interesting to note that a father is far more likely to experience a career interruption than a childless woman
Childless women don’t get a free pass – many of the biases that moms experience extend to all women. Lack of gender balance and diversity is a self-reinforcing system. All women lose when moms get forced out or are unable to return to work.
The impact flexibility can have. This is a great example of how companies win when they adopt progressive policies.
I wanted to end with a funny little stat that I think illustrates the point I made at the beginning. Why would companies, knowing the benefits that come from diversity and inclusion, not take proactive steps to make the changes needed to achieve that benefit?
Change is HARD. Even when we know it will lead us to a better future. But the only way to change is to change.
https://www.sleepapnea.com/worldsleepday/Sleep-survey-report-FINAL.pdf
