Tech workers said they saw unusually high numbers of men in a monster line for a career expo at a tech conference aimed at elevating women and nonbinary workers.Tech workers said they saw unusually high numbers of men in a monster line for a career expo at a tech conference aimed at elevating women and nonbinary workers.
"Judging by the stacks and stacks of resumes you're passing out, you did so because you thought you could come here and take up space to try and get jobs," White said duringThe Women Tech Network . And that's on top of the industry's ongoing gender imbalance. Women hold just 26% of jobs across all STEM occupations and even less — 24% — in computer fields, according to the latest available data fromthat the shift in demographics had robbed the conference of the joyous and supportive atmosphere that had helped previous conference-goers grow."We tried to create a safe space. And this week, we saw the outside world creep in," she said.
Earlier in the week, the organization addressed calls to ban men from the conference by saying that"male allyship is necessary" to work toward overall inclusivity and also that federal law prohibited discrimination based on gender. NPR reached out to AnitaB.org for additional comment but had not received a response by the time this article was published.