This year’s International Women’s Day and theme, #BreaktheBias (or in the VanHack world, we prefer to look at it as ‘hacking’ the bias) is a timely reminder to honor and celebrate the amazing women who are part of our community at VanHack, while also acknowledging and redressing the deliberate and unconscious biases (gender, race, sexual orientation, age, disability, etc) and inequities that still persist. Without a doubt, the Women behind VanHack are the driving force behind breaking the bias and changing the lives of VanHackers globally.
Chances are you’ve already met or have worked closely with some of these talented individuals at various touchpoints of the VanHack journey, whether it’s an initial demo with our Growth team or receiving coaching and interview support from our Talent Success team.
By the numbers, we’re proud to have 44 women distributed across our internal team, and have achieved 50-50 gender balance at both the company and leadership level. With that said, there is still more work to be done to build a safe, balanced and equitable space.
Keeping with this year’s campaign theme #BreaktheBias, our team reflected on their career journeys and shared their challenges, perspectives, and personal initiatives towards breaking the bias #WeHackTogether.
What are some of the different biases you’ve faced in your day-to-day life or in your profession?
“As a woman, working in the tech industry is a challenge. One memory is from when I started my career, and hearing from colleagues doubting my competencies due to gender.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve encountered both racial and gender bias. There was an incident where I was trying to contact a recruiting partner to help hire for a leadership position. When I got on the call, I was immediately asked where I am from and my location given my accent. It was a strange question to me because it really didn’t have anything to do with the services I wanted to contract.
Being in a Human Resources role, I am always interviewing candidates and taking part in interview panels. I have definitely noticed the difference in treatment when a man with English as a first language conducts the interview, compared to when I interview this same person.
In many cases, I have felt rudeness and dealt with undermining behaviors, which my colleagues have also witnessed at the same interview panels.”
“When I worked as a recruiter at a previous company, I dealt with sexism. In one incident with a client, one of the hiring managers was delaying the selection process and mentioned that one of the reasons for the delay was because the recruitment team was made up of only women.
In his view, he thought it would be difficult for my recruitment team to have an idea of what a good engineer was since we didn’t think like men.”
What does it mean to be a part of an organization that aims to have a gender-balanced team and leadership?
“Having gender parity on teams, and especially in leadership is absolutely mission critical. There needs to be a balance of diversity to ensure all genders, disadvantaged groups and intersectionalities, including the queer community, are represented and have their voices heard.”
“It feels so good working in a place where amazing women fill managerial roles. Leading change comes from the top, so it’s absolutely inspiring to see. In my years of working, I feel I have room to grow and showcase my skills, which is reflected in the company’s culture.
We should keep in mind that there’s still a lot of work to do, in not only addressing unconscious bias but also actively working to take gender stereotyping out of tech by constantly asking ourselves, is there a preference to hire a man over a woman?”
“My team’s leaders are so supportive and they always open up the space for me to bring my ideas to the table, to create and to make decisions. And now, it’s not just me, we have Marina as well.
I feel so happy to see all the empowered women, and all the diversity we’re adding to the teams and company as we grow.”
“It’s so important to have female representation at the leadership level, as it gives women on the team the assurance that it is possible to rise through the ranks.
Having women involved in leadership conversations and decision-making processes directly contributes to a stronger, more innovative organization and culture and also improves the quality of work-life for everyone across the board.”
What steps are you personally taking in breaking the bias?
“Some 30 years ago, there weren’t campaigns raising women’s awareness of the situation, so we just went by accepting the rules.
Nowadays, I try to show the women I have contact with, both personally and professionally, the value they have and how by working harder to stand out, they can reach their goals even in a biased environment.”
“By respecting differences and showing that as a team we are stronger when we are open to working and dismantling bias together.”
“Instead of self scrutinizing, I have started to address this positional bias issue head on. A simple ‘I don’t find that respectful for my work’ or ‘Did you mean to say something stereotypical when you said that?’
It’s important to understand if its unconsciously said there may be an opportunity to help build their awareness on the topic or to share a different perspective.”
Progress takes time, and there are still ways to go to ensure women, and underrepresented groups are both supported and elevated not just during March or an awareness month, but to continue the work beyond 🚀.
Together with our allies, the VanHack team is committed to collectively working together to actively address and break the bias, and to take the step towards building a diverse, inclusive and equitable space for all.
Curious to learn more about the VanHack Team and how we’re working to build a more equitable workplace? Stay tuned for our Women in Tech and Leadership spotlight pieces.
Looking to support and hire more women in tech? 👩💻 From April 5-7 2022, VanHack will be hosting a Women in Tech Hiring Fair for companies looking to meet and hire talented, pre-vetted female candidates with 4+ years of experience in Javascript, Java, Mobile, Python, RoR, and Quality Assurance. Register to secure your spot.
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