Discrimination in Tech
Despite the Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) policies put in place by tech companies over the past few years, the data suggests we’re still a long way from eradicating discrimination within the tech industry. Let’s break down some key numbers that illustrate the depth of the current issues:
of tech professionals said they experienced racial discrimination in 2022 (compared to 18% the previous year).
of tech professionals said they experienced gender discrimination in 2022 (compared to 21% the previous year).
Discrimination Remains Major Issue for Tech Professionals
Overall perceptions around gender and racial inequality remained relatively flat year over year. However, a closer look at the data makes clear that some groups perceive inequality at a much larger scale than others. For example, 53% of Black tech professionals said they think racial inequality occurs either very frequently or frequently, significantly higher than all other groups. And that number has only declined slightly from 57% in 2021, despite the tech industry’s very public efforts to stamp out inequality.
Perception of Racial and Gender Discrimination
(Use the drop down menu to view data on racial discrimination and gender discrimination.)
Other underrepresented groups perceive inequality differently. While 11% of Black tech professionals believe inequality occurs rarely or very rarely, Asian/Pacific-Islander (19%), White (24%) and Asian Indian/Indian Subcontinent (32%) tech professionals were more likely to believe inequality rarely or very rarely occurs.
Despite these differences, it's important to emphasize one thing: a relatively small portion of respondents thought racial inequality never occurs. For example, only 19% of Asian Indian/Indian Subcontinent tech professionals said they think racial inequality never occurs — and that’s the highest of all groups.
Perceptions of racial inequality were also endemic among tech professionals with disabilities: 43% said racial inequality occurred frequently; among those without disabilities, the number drops to 30%.
Unsurprisingly, tech professionals who identify as women think that gender inequality occurs at a rate of 51% compared to those who identify as men at 30%. That sentiment was only compounded when posed to tech professionals with a disability, with 51% saying gender inequality occurred either frequently or very frequently.
More Tech Professionals Experiencing Racial and Gender Discrimination
In yet another sign of potential trouble for DEIB programs in tech, significantly more tech professionals said they experienced racial discrimination in 2022 compared to the previous year (24% vs. 18%, respectively). This was driven primarily by Black tech professionals and, to a lesser extent, their Hispanic/Latinx colleagues. Significantly more respondents said they experienced gender discrimination compared to the previous year (26% vs. 21%, respectively), particularly tech professionals who identified as women (48%, versus 15% for those identifying as men).
Again, experiences of racial and gender discrimination vary wildly by group. While 54% of Black tech professionals said they experienced racial discrimination (significantly higher than all other groups), 73% of White tech professionals said they didn’t (also significantly higher than all other groups).
Compared to tech professionals, far fewer HR professionals think racial and gender discrimination happens frequently in organizations. This is a potentially negative sign for organizations attempting to make their hiring more equitable and inclusive, which depends on HR professionals recognizing the issues that confront underrepresented groups. Read this article for more on the perception discrepancy between tech and HR professionals.
Those with a disability appear to experience both racial and gender discrimination at higher rates than those who don’t: 30% said they experienced racial discrimination vs. 23% of those who indicated they did not have a disability; 42% said they experienced gender discrimination vs. 23% of those who indicated they did not have a disability.
Not all the data is negative, however. For instance, significantly more women said they did not experience gender discrimination in 2022 compared to the previous year (31% vs. 26%, respectively). Perhaps that’s a sign of workplace training, pay transparency laws and other programs proving to be more effective in some areas.
Is there a correlation between organizations’ investment in DEIB programs and declines in discrimination and perceived inequality? Based on this data, it’s tempting to say “no.” However, no DEIB program proceeds in a vacuum, and it can often take quite a bit of time to shift culture and mindsets. No matter what the size and industry of an organization, it’s up to executives and managers to figure out whether a.) their DEIB efforts are actually effective, and b.) how to adjust for better results.
Experienced Racial or Gender Discrimination
Underrepresented Groups Aren’t as Happy
As with last year’s Equality in Tech Report, we see that those from underrepresented groups are generally less satisfied with their career overall than their White counterparts. Compared to last year's report, those indicating they were very satisfied with their career either increased slightly or remained unchanged for all groups except Hispanic/Latinx, which dropped significantly (from 34% in 2021 to 24% in 2022).
Discrimination can have very real impacts on tech professionals’ satisfaction, burnout rates, perception of compensation fairness and general quality of life. A higher percentage of Hispanic/Latinx tech professionals reported being burned out (43%) than those within Black (31%), Asian/Pacific Islander (31%), Asian Indian/Indian Subcontinent (27%) and White (30%) groups. For organizations everywhere, these high percentages hint at complicated problems to solve, some of which are beyond the scope of DEIB programs.
Feeling Burnout as it Relates to One’s Job
There’s a lot of nuanced data to absorb when it comes to perceptions and experiences around gender and racial inequality, but one thing is explicit: for many underrepresented groups in tech, things haven’t noticeably improved. Fixing culture is an arduous, time-consuming process that requires buy-in and effort from everyone in an organization, but this work is critical... and it can be done!
What You Can Do
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the complexity of DEIB-related issues. Fortunately, there are things that anyone can do to help make their organization more diverse, equitable and inclusive. For example:
If you see something, say something.
Transparency is key; if you see instances of discrimination and inequality in your organization, speak up about them.
Encourage “DEIB infrastructure.”
If your organization lacks a team dedicated to DEIB policy and advocacy, ask that it invest in resources to put one in place.
Make sure everyone is heard.
If you’re a manager or team leader, create an environment that allows everyone on your team to safely voice their concerns.