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Why are men overrepresented in tech?
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Tech fields lack gender diversity

With a higher percentage of men aiming for tech-related education, most of the jobs are occupied by them in the industry. Due to their dominance, men are offered higher wages than their female peers, which discourages women from joining tech fields.

The Argument

Women occupy only a quarter of computing jobs, and in recent years, the number of women majoring in computer science has declined. [1] Men make up the majority of leadership jobs in central Silicon Valley companies. The lack of gender diversity begins with the discrimination of women right from the recruitment process. During the recruitment process by tech companies, different questions are asked towards male and female candidates. Women are asked if they have children and if that would affect their job performance, whereas men are exempted from such questions. Male applicants are at an advantage during recruitment. [1] A diverse team brings talent, broad perspectives, and improves company culture. The lack of gender diversity in the tech industry contributes to gender inequality and biased company culture that caters towards men only. [2] The wage gap between men and women in the tech industry shows that women aren't paid the same as their male peers. The median male makes 61% more than the median female in Silicon Valley. [3] Fewer women join the tech industry because of the tech industry's biased recruiting processes, lack of women already in the tech industry, and the wage gap. These challenges for women result in the overrepresentation of men in the field.

Counter arguments

There is no difference in salaries between men and women in the tech field if they have the same credentials. [4] Women don't pursue an education in tech fields because they are not interested in it, not because of gender inequality in classrooms or during the recruitment process. Women take 76% of teaching jobs in humanities, and 61% of masters and doctorates in humanities are also earned by women. [5] Men are interested in things. In contrast, women are due to their empathetic nature, lean towards humanities and not towards STEM-related jobs.

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/workplace-gender-equality-tech-industry-brotopia-emily-chang/
  2. https://thenextweb.com/insider/2019/12/28/decade-of-diversity-how-tech-failed-to-fix-its-gender-disparity-problem/
  3. https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/state-of-women-in-tech/
  4. https://qz.com/182977/there-is-no-gender-gap-in-tech-salaries/
  5. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/10/02/besides-encouraging-women-study-stem-fields-we-need-more-men-humanities-opinion
This page was last edited on Sunday, 4 Oct 2020 at 23:14 UTC

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