In San Francisco, Ellen Pao sued her former employer, venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins alleging sex bias in the hi tech industry. The case went to a long trial, but in the end the jury rejected all of Ms. Pao’s claims. See article in the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/technology/ellen-pao-kleiner-perkins-case-decision.html?_r=0 What does the verdict tell us about the state of sex bias in the hi tech industry?
1. This was a civil trial and, unlike a criminal trial, the level of proof that Ms Pao needed to establish was lower. Still, the defense was able to convince the jury that even that lower standard was not met. The jury decided she was fired because of bad job performance not sex bias against her.
2. Only 6 percent of partners at venture capitalist firms are women and 77 percent of all firms have never had a female investor. That alone is suspicious but isn’t proof that in Ms. Pao’s case, sex bias was the reason she was fired.
3. The hi tech industry has thrived and grown with their attitude of being outsiders. They have purposely ignored the bureaucracy and rules that most older, larger companies follow. As these hi tech companies mature and get bigger, maybe they should consider taking on some of the formal processes that ensure equal treatment for everyone. Unless they can assure gender equality, they may have a difficult time attracting high level female employees.
4. The entire computer industry has always been a “band of brothers.” I recommended Walter Issacson’s new book, The Innovators to readers earlier. One of the points he makes that struck me hard was the fact that 99+% of the people involved in the development of the computer industry were men. Some of this can be explained because for years the people inventing the tools for computers were all geeks—and these, for the most part, were always men.
5. Today, that has changed. Many young girls are gamers and love competing with boys in video games. Women are entering the engineering and science fields in more numbers than ever before. If they sense unfair treatment in the hi tech industry, will they still contribute or will they take their skills somewhere else?
6. Ellen Pao may have lost her suit, but many people think she still focused a powerful light on the hi tech industry to expose the existence of sex bias.
Photo courtesy of Marin at Freedigitalphotos.net
Do you have any experience in the industry that you feel constituted sex bias?
