{"id":43412,"date":"2018-04-25T17:01:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T00:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=43412"},"modified":"2018-04-25T17:01:37","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T00:01:37","slug":"women-in-tech-suffer-because-of-american-myth-of-meritocracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/women-in-tech-suffer-because-of-american-myth-of-meritocracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in tech suffer because of American myth of meritocracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nThe\u00a0American dream is built<\/a>\u00a0on the notion that the U.S. is a meritocracy. Americans believe success in life and business can be earned by anyone willing to put in the hard work necessary to achieve it, or so they say.<\/p>\n

Thus, Americans commonly believe that those who are successful deserve to be so and those who aren\u2019t are equally deserving of their fate \u2013 despite growing evidence that widening inequalities in\u00a0income<\/a>,\u00a0wealth<\/a>,\u00a0labor<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0gender<\/a>\u00a0play a major role in who makes it and who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And this very fact \u2013 that Americans believe their society is a meritocracy \u2013 is the biggest threat to equality, particularly when it comes to gender, as research by myself and others shows.<\/p>\n

The meaning of \u2018meritocracy\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Gender inequality<\/a>\u00a0is pervasive in American society.<\/p>\n

Women in the U.S. continue to experience\u00a0gender bias<\/a>,\u00a0sexual harassment<\/a>\u00a0and little progress in relation to equitable\u00a0wages<\/a>. Top positions in government and the business sector remain\u00a0stubbornly male<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the same time,\u00a075 percent of Americans<\/a>\u00a0say they believe in meritocracy. This belief persists despite evidence that we tend to use it to\u00a0explain actions<\/a>\u00a0that preserve the status quo of gender discrimination rather than reverse it.<\/p>\n

This myth is so powerful, it influences our behaviors.<\/p>\n

\u2018Work harder\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Entrepreneurship is an area where the myths and realities of the American meritocracy come to a head.<\/p>\n

In the U.S.,\u00a0women own 39 percent<\/a>\u00a0of all privately owned businesses but receive only around 4 percent of venture capital funding. Put another way, male-led ventures receive 96 percent of all funding.<\/p>\n

Yet the meritocracy myth, which\u00a0my research shows<\/a>\u00a0has a stronghold in the world of entrepreneurship, means that women are constantly told that all they have to do to get more of that\u00a0$22 billion or so in venture capital funding<\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0make better pitches<\/a>\u00a0or be more assertive.<\/p>\n

The assumption is that women aren\u2019t trying hard enough or doing the right things to get ahead, not that the way venture capitalists offer funding is itself unfair.
\n

\"\"

Ellen Pao, center, sued her venture capital firm for allegedly discriminated against her because she was a woman. AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\u2018Pipeline\u2019 problem<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Another explanation for the lack of funding for women is pinned on the \u201cpipeline\u201d problem. That is, women just aren\u2019t interested in the fields that form the backbone of the industry \u2013 science, technology, engineering and math.<\/p>\n

Thus, if more women entered\u00a0STEM fields<\/a>, there would be more women entrepreneurs, and more money would flow to them. Pipeline explanations assume that there are no obstacles\u00a0preventing women<\/a>\u00a0from becoming entrepreneurs in technology.<\/p>\n

Yet, we know the opposite is true. According to technology historian Marie Hicks and her book \u201cProgrammed Inequality,\u201d\u00a0women in tech were pushed out by men<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research I\u2019ve conducted with management professor Susan Clark Muntean on entrepreneur support organizations, such as accelerators, shows that they often engage in outreach and recruitment tactics that\u00a0benefit men rather than women<\/a>. This is further supported by\u00a0survey data from Techstars<\/a>, one of the best-known and respected tech accelerators in the world. About 4 in 5 companies that have gone through their programs are white and almost 9 in 10 are male.<\/p>\n

\u2018Gender-neutral\u2019 myth<\/strong><\/h4>\n

And yet these tech accelerators are guided by an implicit understanding that gender-neutral outreach and recruitment practices rather than targeted ones will bring in the \u201cbest\u201d people. This notion is often expressed as\u00a0\u201cOur doors are open to everyone\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to indicate that they do not discriminate.<\/p>\n

Ironically, many organizations in the tech sector\u00a0adopt this idea<\/a>\u00a0because they believe it is gender-neutral and, thus, unbiased.<\/p>\n

Yet claiming to be gender-neutral prevents organizations from recognizing that their practices are actually biased. Most outreach and recruitment takes place through word-of-mouth, alumni referrals and personal networks of accelerator leadership, which are\u00a0predominantly composed of males<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These approaches often bring in more of the same: white male entrepreneurs rather than diverse professionals. As a result, women do not have equal access to resources in entrepreneurial ecosystems.<\/p>\n

And all this is despite the fact that data on returns show venture-backed tech startups with women at the helm\u00a0outperform<\/a>\u00a0those led by men.<\/p>\n

Being \u2018gender-aware\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The first step to solving this problem is for tech startups, investors and accelerators to realize that what they call meritocracy is in fact itself gender-biased and results in mostly white men gaining access to resources and funding. By continuing to believe in meritocracy and maintaining practices associated with it, gender equality will remain a distant goal.<\/p>\n

The next step is to move away from gender-neutral approaches and instead adopt\u00a0\u201cgender-aware,\u201d proactive measures<\/a>\u00a0to change unfair practices. This includes setting concrete goals to achieve gender balance, examining the gender composition of boards, committees and other influential groups in the organization, and assessing the tools and channels used for outreach, recruitment and support of entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

The return on investment in\u00a0gender equality<\/a>\u00a0is clear: Supporting and investing in businesses started by half the world\u2019s population will create thriving societies and sustainable economies. And it starts with male allies who want to be part of the solution and recognize that meritocracy, as society currently defines it, isn\u2019t the way to go.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Banu Ozkazanc-Pan is a Visiting Associate Professor of Engineering at Brown University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0American dream is built\u00a0on the notion that the U.S. is a meritocracy. Americans believe success in life and business can be earned by anyone willing to put in the hard work necessary to achieve it, or so they say. 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