Exploring women-only Spaces in Tech
Guest post from Shanice Blair at Collaborative Future
According to a new report from Kaspersky, male-majority teams continue to outnumber female-majority teams at a ratio of almost 5 to 1. For those of us struggling to assimilate into our working environments, workplace culture and policy need to change, no-one should have to spend their time at work defending themselves and their identities or feeling isolated.
“52% of women in STEM careers will eventually leave because of hostile work environments where the company culture is not accommodating of women”
Women in Tech Nottingham (WiT Notts) hosts a meetup on the first Thursday of every month, which has the overarching aim of increasing opportunities for women and gender minorities to have a seat at the table and not be afraid to use their voice and be heard.
Regular socialising with networks such as WiT Notts is a great way to achieve this because, as Carolyn Childers attests, these spaces provide all attendees with the sense that they are part of a community, that they are in a safe space.
“The fact is, building relationships with others increases trust, leading to buy-in and results. In our research, we find that successful women invest deeply in peer networks. ”
However, Women in Tech is a community in which all are welcome to participate, regardless of gender, and an increasing number of voices are calling for women-only spaces for those working in tech.
Are women only spaces the answer?
In her article on the Zendesk blog Rebecca Huval contends that while we are working to achieve parity everywhere, women-only spaces are a unique way to gradually help women to feel more comfortable being open and honest in territories where they are traditionally excluded.
Both women and gender minorities spend a significant amount of their time explaining themselves and their identities (particularly in male-dominated spaces) and it is therefore important that they are made to feel able to be themselves without worrying about being disrespected.
Photo by Gemma Chua-Tran on Unsplash
Providing women and gender minorities with spaces in which they feel they can share ideas and provide as well as receive mentorship (however informal) propels us towards inclusive working environments at a far greater speed. Carrie Kerpen takes this point a step further by rightly pointing out the fact that “the power of the “boys club” has contributed to the gender disparity we’re still fighting today”. These conversations will therefore encourage more women and gender minorities pursuing a career in the tech industry. While the controversial quote “you can’t be what you can’t see” can provoke a tokenistic approach to diversity and inclusion, it can’t be denied that seeing more diverse teams within tech is really beneficial for those who are interested in entering the industry.
Gender-specific spaces do create challenges. Some consider them antithetical to the advancement of gender equality and question whether gender exclusivity can be enforced, as well as if there is a risk of excluding gender minorities?
How is WiT Notts working to achieve gender-diversity in tech?
WiT Notts allows and welcomes all genders at their events because their participation enables them to understand the ways in which they unknowingly contribute to the difficulties faced by women and gender minorities in the workplace. They are also often better equipped to facilitate inclusion in an industry where men are overrepresented. While WiT Notts does not wish to alienate or offend men, their top priority is the women and gender minorities attending.
It is important that the events are free from condescension and judgement and focus on affording women and gender minorities working in tech the same opportunities as their male counterparts. WiT Notts therefore do not want men to dominate the conversation but to encourage them to actively listen.
The goal is to, contrary to Nazia Saddiq’s opinion, legitimise the need to move away from spaces that are designed by men, for men and demonstrate the numerous advantages of cultivating a gender-diverse workforce.
Creating a safe, gender-diverse space at Women in Tech
WiT Notts always aspires to ensure that their events are inclusive, safe and welcoming spaces because they want them to be enjoyable and positive experiences for both seasoned attendees and newcomers. They realise that attending a new event can be a daunting task and you can therefore find information about the venue and event on this page: https://www.technottingham.com/wit-notts.
All attendees should read WiT Notts’s code of conduct and to report any breaches or instances of exclusion so that everyone feels included and valued at any WiT Notts event they choose to attend.
While talks are delivered exclusively by women and gender minorities, everyone is welcome to join WiT Notts events, regardless of their current employment status or job title.
“One of the main reasons we are not realizing a faster pace of change in this area is because too much of the activity surrounding gender equality in IT focuses on one-off gimmicks and bandaid solutions that can be spotlighted in the press, instead of focusing attention on female employees and the actions that will truly make a sustained difference in their professional lives.”
Shanice Blair
About the Author
This post was researched and written by Shanice Blair.
Shanice is an intern at Collaborative Future.
A word from the Women in Tech team
We can’t thank Shanice enough for researching and writing this post for us! From Shanice’s research and after talking to our community, we are now…
Introducing a Women in Tech Safe Space on Slack
The women-in-tech channel on the Tech Nottingham Slack is a great place for the community to chat and meet friends outside of the events. The channel welcomes allies on the same terms as the events and will continue to do so; however as shown above, sometimes it’s beneficial to have a safe space to discuss things in an environment with people facing the same struggles as you - therefore we have created a private channel exclusively for women and non-binary folk.
To join, the only requirement is if your gender identity is non-binary or female. It's completely up to you if you'd like to to become a member of the channel. Sign up to Slack here if you haven’t already then simply message Anna, Carol or Louise “Hi, I meet the joining requirements for the women in tech safe space channel and I would like an invite!“ and you’ll be added to the channel no questions asked. This is to make sure that everyone joining understands this is a safe space with a deliberately limited audience.
If you would like to discuss this more, you can email safety@technottingham.com or reach out to us on Slack. Like all our initiatives, we really value our community’s input and would love to hear from you if you have any feedback.