Communications of the ACM
Gender Discrimination Linked to Poor Project Management
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A new Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) report suggests that technically oriented women may face gender discrimination in their jobs at high-tech firms in part because of mismanaged projects. The report says that tech firms rely on a "hero mindset" to save coding projects that are poorly organized, and employees with family responsibilities—often women—are sacrificed as a result.
The report is based on a discussion that took place between 59 senior business and technical managers from major technology companies in a closed forum last fall. The report says it is common to find a kind of "good old boys network" in the high-tech world, where managers tend to hire "people who are like them."
Another new ABI study found that women hold about four percent of senior-level technical positions and an estimated 25 percent of all technology jobs. However, at the higher levels, 36.9 percent of women end up in a manager's job compared to 19 percent of men. ABI suggests that all women candidates should at least get an interview, and that a software tool could be created to weed out any unconscious bias against hiring or promoting technical women.
From Network World
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