Information networks in engineering
Women talk about your company (yes, yours!). The question is: what’s the sentiment? And what can you do?
The “funnel”
Female engineers. Everybody needs them. Everybody wants them. Diverse teams perform better and have a lower risk-profile.
If only there wasn’t that pesky funnel problem, and the fact that highly-educated women leave STEM jobs faster than less-educated folks.
If only we didn’t have to deal with the fact that women in universities are told that they should do the “easy coding stuff”. Yes, that is a literal quote from a university professor. And yes, I’ve heard stories like that from female computer science graduates too often not to see a pattern.
If only women didn’t talk about companies and how well — or not well — you are treated specifically as a women there. Wait…. what!? You read that right. Women. Talk. About. Your. Company.
Information networks & messages
When I talk to female engineers, to female POs, to female designers, to female folks working in tech in general… well.. the topic in our conversation inevitably turns to this particular aspect. In fact, it is at the forefront of many an exchange.
“I mean, I kind of enjoyed working there. I learned a lot. But there was this culture that you could talk over a woman and it was seen as ok. So I left.”
“Franziska, you have contacts at [insert company]. What do the women there say about the working environment? Is it good? Ist it bad? What’s the deal?”
“I worked at [insert company]. They were really good! They even had some female engineering managers. There were no female tech leads but overall the statistics weren’t that bad.”
“You should definitely move to [insert company]. The CTO there is super committed when it comes to diversity!”
“Have you heard about [insert company]. A friend of a friend of mine worked there and was harassed by a manager. She left soon after.”
“I mean, I am the only women on my team [nervous laughter]. Most of the time I’m fine. Sometimes, though, I wish the ‘dudes’ wouldn’t act likes dudes.”
Here’s the thing. Most often, women only tell other women about these points. And consequently, information networks are forming.
This is the kind of information you only get in a hallway at a meetup, in a DM on LinkedIn, in a personal call or in the female washroom.
Women are connected
But sure enough, the message is spread. And the chance of hiring women highly depends on a) the content of the message and b) how connected women are.
Women in tech know each other and of each other. There aren’t that many to begin with, right? This is still tech.
Quick check-in over lunch and the experience was bad? Boom, there goes your chance of continuing with that candidate in the process. Heard something suspicious about your company while looking at the job ads? Poof, curiosity evaporates.
Bad news travel fast, good news spread slowly.
Companies need to take information networks more seriously. In both the good and the bad. How job ads are designed, how candidates are treated, how good the employee experience is, how the offboarding is handled — there are thousands of chances along the path to make it right.
Checklist
It’s ok to make mistakes. It’s not ok to not to fix the experience. So what can you actually do? Here’s a checklist:
- Listen. First of all, listen.
- Create allyship. Women talk to allies. As in, men can and should be allies.
- Create psychological safety.
- Fix your job ads by taking out all aspects that are not absolutely necessary.
- Do a thorough onboarding and offboarding.
- Coach and mentor, move away from directing.
- Form a talent pool that includes people from various backgrounds.
- Evaluate how bias plays a role in hiring and assessments.
- Hire juniors. Hire women and non-binary folks into management and lead positions.
- Acknowledge that there is a systemic issue. “We hire and promote by quality only, gender doesn’t matter” — women experience this differently.
- Promote women and non-binary folks. To C-level preferably.
- Pay women and non-binary folks equally.
- Internalize diversity thinking.
- Provide safe spaces.
- Believe women.
It’s a long and rocky path, but worth it. Already there? Congratulations, your gates will be stormed!
With these points realized, women will spread the best of news about your company. Because guess what? I know of a couple of companies that come highly recommended from women to women.
You know who you are :D Or do you? ;) Maybe you don’t because positive messages are also spread in information networks…
