[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":2375,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"Silicon Valley is rife with alarming stories of sexist behavior like the ones detailed in Emily Chang's book \u201cBrotopia<\/a>\u201d of hot tub interviews with investors and drug-fueled sex parties.

But it remains unclear if such conduct exists in tech environments elsewhere too. Based on a SourceMedia survey, it appears bro culture is less of an issue for tech employees in other industries, yet it clearly exists. In some cases, the form it takes may just be less obvious.

Of the 386 survey respondents who indicated they work in the technology field, 12% said they have been the subject of unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace, 16% said they have witnessed such misconduct and 42% said they know of incidents that happened to others. (That broadly matched the findings among the more than 3,000 respondents across all professions, where the numbers were 15%, 19% and 42% respectively.)

Also in this series:<\/b>
\u2022 Sexual harassment in the professional workplace: behind the research<\/a>
\u2022 10 key findings: sexual harassment in the professional workplace<\/a>
\u2022 Wealth management fares the worst in broad study of sexual harassment <\/a>
\u2022 Banks wrestle with sense of futility on sexual harassment <\/a>
\u2022 Sexual harassment is a bigger problem than accountants think<\/a>
\u2022 HR\u2019s culture shift: Tackling workplace sexual harassment while navigating legal definitions<\/a>
\u2022 A #MeToo backlash is brewing in banking<\/a>
\u2022 From strip clubs to massages: When clients are sexually inappropriate<\/a>

In verbatim responses provided in the survey \u2013 and follow-up interviews with those who opted in \u2013 many of those in technology offer examples that would fall short of a legal definition of harassment. Instead, they describe more nebulous, but still disturbing, behavior that creates an environment in which women, and sometimes men, feel belittled.

Being shouted down in meetings. Hearing a woman who is not present described as a \u201charlot.\u201d Ill-concealed snickering when a new female employee joins an all-male team. Being treated in a dismissive manner. Such behavior, especially repeated over time, can cause low morale and high turnover among women and minorities.

Subtle indignities<\/b>

Sometimes it\u2019s hard to know when something crosses the line.

Arathi Mohan, a consultant at KPMG, said she\u2019s seen \u201cvery subtle\u201d harassment. \u201cEven small acts like a senior male not allowing you to express your opinion, or shutting you up when you try put forth a point that is contrary to his,\u201d she said. \u201cEven the body language \u2014 when you go to a meeting room, they just \u2018manspread\u2019 and it\u2019s vulgar. These are things you expect the other person to know. We\u2019re all professionals and I don\u2019t think anyone should expect to be given those lessons in etiquette.\u201d

Her company is fair about the things that really matter \u2013 for instance, people are paid and promoted equitably, she said.

\u201cYour work does get appreciated irrespective of gender,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cI see a good gender balance in the team. And now we are emphasizing actively recruiting more women in the team and seeing them grow within the organization.\u201d

But in day-to-day dealings with co-workers, there needs to be more respectfulness, she said.

In one meeting, in which she was one of four women sitting with four men, a male co-worker used the word \u201charlot,\u201d meaning \u201cprostitute,\u201d when referring to someone who was not there.

\u201cI felt it was uncalled for, especially in a professional environment,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cThe funny part was that the three other girls in the room did not seem to find anything wrong, did not seem to find it uncomfortable the way I did. I expressed my unhappiness with what the man said, but none of the others came to support me. Of course, the male co-workers also did not think anything was off.\u201d

Though he was confronted, the male colleague did not apologize. \u201cHe did not feel like he had done or said anything wrong,\u201d Mohan said.

This anecdote illustrates the uncertainty around what is or isn\u2019t harassment. One person may find a comment offensive, while seven others in the room do not.

It also exemplifies one of the top types of harassment people report: Of the 12% of IT people who said they\u2019ve been subject to harassment, 42% cited inappropriate personal questions, jokes or innuendo among their experiences. Far fewer, 18%, said they have received persistent unwelcome requests, 14% said they\u2019ve gotten suggestive text messages or emails and 8% complained of inappropriate pictures or posters. (The respondents were allowed to cite more than one type of behavior.)

Bullies in the office<\/b>

A male IT employee at a car manufacturer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he\u2019s seen instances of bullying of men and women in his department. For example, he\u2019s been asked whether he is \u201creally a man.\u201d

\u201cThe same people would do the same thing over and over,\u201d he said.

His department of 20 people has only one woman.

\u201cA woman coming into this will have to deal with a lot of unnecessary behavior \u2014 if not direct harassment, then bordering on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of sophomoric. Jokes, snickering, remarks about her ability to do the job.\u201d

His manager has made openly racist comments to an African-American male and an Indian male, and they\u2019re the only ones of their ethnic background in the group.

He has reported some of this behavior to the human resources department at his company, but it has backfired. His supervisor finds out and tells him so.

\u201cIf I go through the proper steps, even if I\u2019m reporting something that happened to somebody else, eventually, somehow, I don\u2019t know where it happens, but that confidentiality ends up back on me,\u201d he said.

\u201cThey have this process set up and it\u2019s loosely administered, so the bite comes back to the person who makes the accusation or report.\u201d

As a result, he no longer reports such behavior. The management in HR is changing and he\u2019s hopeful this circling back on those who file reports will change too.

Of the technology professionals surveyed, only 14% said that reports of unwelcome sexual conduct are always dealt with fairly and appropriately, 30% said they usually are, 18% said occasionally, 9% said rarely and 2% never.

Is it getting better? <\/b>

In Linda Jensen's first job, where she taught Air Force fighter pilots how to use simulation software, she was the only female in the group.

\u201cI was harassed unmercifully by the pilots,\u201d said Jensen, now a health information technology consultant at KRM Associates. \u201cOne time I was backed up against the console and kissed while trying to do some training.\u201d She reported the incident to her supervisor, who reported it to the commander, and the pilot was reprimanded.

When she worked at Northrup Grumman and was doing training for the Egyptian military, \u201cany of the female instructors were likely to be backed into corners and pushed for sexual favors by the client,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was primarily the older men.\u201d

These days, however, the younger generation seems less likely to engage in such behavior, Jensen said. She has not experienced harassment in 10 years, though she acknowledges she\u2019s \u201cof a certain age,\u201d and no longer viewed the same way.

Still, she sees a meaningful difference.

\u201cI love the millennial guys I work with; they\u2019re perfectly willing to accept a woman of any age as an equal in the intellectual realm,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cIt seems like the problem is the older guys.\u201d

She says she once felt dismissed and ignored, but that has changed. She also theorizes that there\u2019s less harassment in tech departments because software development is solitary work, often done remotely.

\u201cWe\u2019re all geeks,\u201d she said. \u201cWe sit at our desks and we work at our computers, we email and text message each other, but there isn\u2019t a whole lot of socialization going on. A lot of people work remotely, and people are just focused on what they\u2019re doing. We\u2019re pretty professional.\u201d

Other respondents to the survey echoed this.

\u201cNerds. I cannot speak for other companies \u2014 I hire nerds, not showboats,\u201d one respondent said.

Still others suggested that there is a gender divide in departments that makes harassment less of an issue.

\u201cMost co-workers are dudes,\u201d a male survey respondent wrote.

Another male wrote, \u201cFew females in industry.\u201d

Indeed, the survey results have the same built-in gender imbalance tech departments do: 71% of the IT respondents were men.

However, some survey data suggests harassment is still an issue among younger, theoretically enlightened generations.

Among female millennials and Gen Xers who work in tech, more than a third \u2013 36% \u2014 said they have been a victim of sexual harassment.

\u201cIt goes unnoticed and unpunished,\u201d a female millennial respondent wrote. She cited a \"boys will be boys\" mindset, lack of female executives and a \u201cfear culture\u201d as reasons for the high prevalence of harassment she perceives in tech.

\u201cIt is dominated by men and behavior goes unchecked,\u201d wrote another. \u201cUntil there are more female executives and pay parity exists, this pattern will continue.\u201d

What it would take to change<\/b>

Mohan said she thinks companies should hold more gender-sensitization workshops. Her company has sexual harassment training for employees, but it\u2019s an online module people are expected to complete in half an hour. Some don\u2019t even take the training, she said, but enlist others to help them answer the 10 questions at the end.

Even before people are hired, they should be taught about proper behavior in the workplace and toward the opposite gender, Mohan said.

Ideally, \u201call this should start much earlier in life,\u201d she said.

Mohan also suggested that the male executives who are respectful of women and make sure women\u2019s voices are heard should be held up as role models for others in the organization.

Jensen said that one thing that fosters inappropriate behavior is a rigid hierarchy with a lack of women in the upper echelons.

\u201cIn the environment I\u2019m working in now, there\u2019s very little hierarchy; we\u2019re a team,\u201d she said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s contributions of whatever sort are considered valuable. There\u2019s not a lot of power play going on. Also, we\u2019re equals, which is nice.\u201d

(SourceMedia, the publisher of American Banker, conducted its online survey of more than 3,000 professionals across multiple industries during the first quarter of 2018. The survey is titled \u201cSexual Harassment in the Professional Workplace: SourceMedia Research 2018.\u201d)<\/i>","saveContent":"Silicon Valley is rife with alarming stories of sexist behavior like the ones detailed in Emily Chang's book \u201cBrotopia<\/a>\u201d of hot tub interviews with investors and drug-fueled sex parties.

But it remains unclear if such conduct exists in tech environments elsewhere too. Based on a SourceMedia survey, it appears bro culture is less of an issue for tech employees in other industries, yet it clearly exists. In some cases, the form it takes may just be less obvious.

Of the 386 survey respondents who indicated they work in the technology field, 12% said they have been the subject of unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace, 16% said they have witnessed such misconduct and 42% said they know of incidents that happened to others. (That broadly matched the findings among the more than 3,000 respondents across all professions, where the numbers were 15%, 19% and 42% respectively.)

Also in this series:<\/b>
\u2022 Sexual harassment in the professional workplace: behind the research<\/a>
\u2022 10 key findings: sexual harassment in the professional workplace<\/a>
\u2022 Wealth management fares the worst in broad study of sexual harassment <\/a>
\u2022 Banks wrestle with sense of futility on sexual harassment <\/a>
\u2022 Sexual harassment is a bigger problem than accountants think<\/a>
\u2022 HR\u2019s culture shift: Tackling workplace sexual harassment while navigating legal definitions<\/a>
\u2022 A #MeToo backlash is brewing in banking<\/a>
\u2022 From strip clubs to massages: When clients are sexually inappropriate<\/a>

In verbatim responses provided in the survey \u2013 and follow-up interviews with those who opted in \u2013 many of those in technology offer examples that would fall short of a legal definition of harassment. Instead, they describe more nebulous, but still disturbing, behavior that creates an environment in which women, and sometimes men, feel belittled.

Being shouted down in meetings. Hearing a woman who is not present described as a \u201charlot.\u201d Ill-concealed snickering when a new female employee joins an all-male team. Being treated in a dismissive manner. Such behavior, especially repeated over time, can cause low morale and high turnover among women and minorities.

Subtle indignities<\/b>

Sometimes it\u2019s hard to know when something crosses the line.

Arathi Mohan, a consultant at KPMG, said she\u2019s seen \u201cvery subtle\u201d harassment. \u201cEven small acts like a senior male not allowing you to express your opinion, or shutting you up when you try put forth a point that is contrary to his,\u201d she said. \u201cEven the body language \u2014 when you go to a meeting room, they just \u2018manspread\u2019 and it\u2019s vulgar. These are things you expect the other person to know. We\u2019re all professionals and I don\u2019t think anyone should expect to be given those lessons in etiquette.\u201d

Her company is fair about the things that really matter \u2013 for instance, people are paid and promoted equitably, she said.

\u201cYour work does get appreciated irrespective of gender,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cI see a good gender balance in the team. And now we are emphasizing actively recruiting more women in the team and seeing them grow within the organization.\u201d

But in day-to-day dealings with co-workers, there needs to be more respectfulness, she said.

In one meeting, in which she was one of four women sitting with four men, a male co-worker used the word \u201charlot,\u201d meaning \u201cprostitute,\u201d when referring to someone who was not there.

\u201cI felt it was uncalled for, especially in a professional environment,\u201d Mohan said. \u201cThe funny part was that the three other girls in the room did not seem to find anything wrong, did not seem to find it uncomfortable the way I did. I expressed my unhappiness with what the man said, but none of the others came to support me. Of course, the male co-workers also did not think anything was off.\u201d

Though he was confronted, the male colleague did not apologize. \u201cHe did not feel like he had done or said anything wrong,\u201d Mohan said.

This anecdote illustrates the uncertainty around what is or isn\u2019t harassment. One person may find a comment offensive, while seven others in the room do not.

It also exemplifies one of the top types of harassment people report: Of the 12% of IT people who said they\u2019ve been subject to harassment, 42% cited inappropriate personal questions, jokes or innuendo among their experiences. Far fewer, 18%, said they have received persistent unwelcome requests, 14% said they\u2019ve gotten suggestive text messages or emails and 8% complained of inappropriate pictures or posters. (The respondents were allowed to cite more than one type of behavior.)

Bullies in the office<\/b>

A male IT employee at a car manufacturer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he\u2019s seen instances of bullying of men and women in his department. For example, he\u2019s been asked whether he is \u201creally a man.\u201d

\u201cThe same people would do the same thing over and over,\u201d he said.

His department of 20 people has only one woman.

\u201cA woman coming into this will have to deal with a lot of unnecessary behavior \u2014 if not direct harassment, then bordering on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of sophomoric. Jokes, snickering, remarks about her ability to do the job.\u201d

His manager has made openly racist comments to an African-American male and an Indian male, and they\u2019re the only ones of their ethnic background in the group.

He has reported some of this behavior to the human resources department at his company, but it has backfired. His supervisor finds out and tells him so.

\u201cIf I go through the proper steps, even if I\u2019m reporting something that happened to somebody else, eventually, somehow, I don\u2019t know where it happens, but that confidentiality ends up back on me,\u201d he said.

\u201cThey have this process set up and it\u2019s loosely administered, so the bite comes back to the person who makes the accusation or report.\u201d

As a result, he no longer reports such behavior. The management in HR is changing and he\u2019s hopeful this circling back on those who file reports will change too.

Of the technology professionals surveyed, only 14% said that reports of unwelcome sexual conduct are always dealt with fairly and appropriately, 30% said they usually are, 18% said occasionally, 9% said rarely and 2% never.

Is it getting better? <\/b>

In Linda Jensen's first job, where she taught Air Force fighter pilots how to use simulation software, she was the only female in the group.

\u201cI was harassed unmercifully by the pilots,\u201d said Jensen, now a health information technology consultant at KRM Associates. \u201cOne time I was backed up against the console and kissed while trying to do some training.\u201d She reported the incident to her supervisor, who reported it to the commander, and the pilot was reprimanded.

When she worked at Northrup Grumman and was doing training for the Egyptian military, \u201cany of the female instructors were likely to be backed into corners and pushed for sexual favors by the client,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was primarily the older men.\u201d

These days, however, the younger generation seems less likely to engage in such behavior, Jensen said. She has not experienced harassment in 10 years, though she acknowledges she\u2019s \u201cof a certain age,\u201d and no longer viewed the same way.

Still, she sees a meaningful difference.

\u201cI love the millennial guys I work with; they\u2019re perfectly willing to accept a woman of any age as an equal in the intellectual realm,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cIt seems like the problem is the older guys.\u201d

She says she once felt dismissed and ignored, but that has changed. She also theorizes that there\u2019s less harassment in tech departments because software development is solitary work, often done remotely.

\u201cWe\u2019re all geeks,\u201d she said. \u201cWe sit at our desks and we work at our computers, we email and text message each other, but there isn\u2019t a whole lot of socialization going on. A lot of people work remotely, and people are just focused on what they\u2019re doing. We\u2019re pretty professional.\u201d

Other respondents to the survey echoed this.

\u201cNerds. I cannot speak for other companies \u2014 I hire nerds, not showboats,\u201d one respondent said.

Still others suggested that there is a gender divide in departments that makes harassment less of an issue.

\u201cMost co-workers are dudes,\u201d a male survey respondent wrote.

Another male wrote, \u201cFew females in industry.\u201d

Indeed, the survey results have the same built-in gender imbalance tech departments do: 71% of the IT respondents were men.

However, some survey data suggests harassment is still an issue among younger, theoretically enlightened generations.

Among female millennials and Gen Xers who work in tech, more than a third \u2013 36% \u2014 said they have been a victim of sexual harassment.

\u201cIt goes unnoticed and unpunished,\u201d a female millennial respondent wrote. She cited a \"boys will be boys\" mindset, lack of female executives and a \u201cfear culture\u201d as reasons for the high prevalence of harassment she perceives in tech.

\u201cIt is dominated by men and behavior goes unchecked,\u201d wrote another. \u201cUntil there are more female executives and pay parity exists, this pattern will continue.\u201d

What it would take to change<\/b>

Mohan said she thinks companies should hold more gender-sensitization workshops. Her company has sexual harassment training for employees, but it\u2019s an online module people are expected to complete in half an hour. Some don\u2019t even take the training, she said, but enlist others to help them answer the 10 questions at the end.

Even before people are hired, they should be taught about proper behavior in the workplace and toward the opposite gender, Mohan said.

Ideally, \u201call this should start much earlier in life,\u201d she said.

Mohan also suggested that the male executives who are respectful of women and make sure women\u2019s voices are heard should be held up as role models for others in the organization.

Jensen said that one thing that fosters inappropriate behavior is a rigid hierarchy with a lack of women in the upper echelons.

\u201cIn the environment I\u2019m working in now, there\u2019s very little hierarchy; we\u2019re a team,\u201d she said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s contributions of whatever sort are considered valuable. There\u2019s not a lot of power play going on. Also, we\u2019re equals, which is nice.\u201d

(SourceMedia, the publisher of American Banker, conducted its online survey of more than 3,000 professionals across multiple industries during the first quarter of 2018. The survey is titled \u201cSexual Harassment in the Professional Workplace: SourceMedia Research 2018.\u201d)<\/i>","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

Does Silicon Valley’s ‘bro culture’ pervade IT elsewhere?

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