How to break up the technology 'boys' club
A searing look at what's happening to women in the technology world. Journalist Emily Chang is the author of "Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley."
Her research shows women in technology are greatly outnumbered, and often face discrimination, sexual harassment, lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement.
In the 1940s and 1950s, she says, smart women studied math and were highly valued as human computers. In the 1960s and 1970s, as the high-tech industry started to explode, those jobs were given higher status and higher pay — and men wanted the jobs.
Psychologists did personality tests to determine which people would be most suitable for this work, and they concluded that "people who don't like people make better computers," Chang said, "which perpetuated the anti-social, mostly white-male-nerd stereotype."
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Emily Chang said the technology industry is changing the world, controlling what we read, what we see, what we drive, and "transforming our lives every day." She believes it's a "cultural crisis" if that world is 95 percent male.
"People believe Silicon Valley is a meritocracy, and a modern utopia." Chang says it is not, but she is optimistic about the future if this situation is no longer ignored.
Emily Chang is anchor and executive producer of Bloomberg Technology. She spoke with Gina Bianchini, the founder and CEO of Mighty Networks, on February 15, 2018 at the Commonwealth Club of California.
To listen to the program, click the audio player above.