Women’s Equality Day: Is Remote Work a Blessing or a Bane for Women in Tech?
Has the remote work culture made things easier for women in terms of work-life balance, gender bias or workplace harassment? Let’s hear from women technologists operating on the frontlines about their personal experiences.
Women’s equality vis-a-vis men in the tech industry, in terms of roles and responsibilities, salaries, representation in leadership positions, or freedom of initiative, has remained a concern for decades. Women have struggled to deal with stereotypes, ensuring a work-life balance and gender discrimination and harassment. But has the recent switch to remote work helped them gain more confidence and take initiatives? Let’s hear from women leaders on the frontlines!
Flexible work policies and schedules due to the pandemic have helped IT companies stabilize and reduce female turnover. The attrition rate has been trimmed by more than 40% for non-managerial positions and 20% at the executive/leadership level. Evidence suggests that more female professionals have entered the IT field since the outbreak, despite concerns about a three-fold rise in home work.
These statistics give an impression that remote or hybrid cultures have worked for women in technology. But is that truly the case? On Women’s Equality Day, Spiceworks News & Insights asked women technologists operating on the frontlines about their personal experiences and whether remote working was a blessing in disguise. Let’s hear from them.
See More: Fighting the Great Resignation: Enhancing Women’s Participation in the Tech Workforce
Was Remote Work a Blessing In Disguise For Women In Tech?
A boon or a bane?
Opportunity to restart careers 👍
Priya Hardikar, CFO at KPIT Technologies, thinks that autonomy and flexibility are something today’s top talent look for in general, especially women with children and family to take care of. Besides, it saves travel time. One of the key reasons for women at the managerial and above levels to drop out of careers are circumstances where the nature of work becomes demanding. They fall short of support from family, community, and society at large.
“With work from home, many women who have taken long breaks are applying to restart careers, and we can see industry-wide adoption of returnship, internship, and employment opportunities crafted for women. With tech roles having overlap with colleagues across the globe, work from home unlocks possibilities for women to plan their work timings with what family and other circumstances demand. Remote working will help us attract and retain women employees.”
Flexibility and enhanced productivity 👍
Rashi Srivastava, chief digital officer, Qentelli, agrees that remote work has been a blessing in disguise for women in tech. She believes that the tech world has evolved significantly regarding inclusion and gender equality over the years. But the ratios are still extremely imbalanced as the industry remains rather male-dominated.
“Ever since remote working has set in, women have enjoyed several benefits like flexible timings, the safety of their homes, enhanced productivity, easy time management, money savings, and a better work-life balance.”
“Women have experienced the elimination of bias based on physical stature. The ability to keep personal choices private without the interference of colleagues has also been an unparalleled benefit of remote work.”
– Rashi Srivastava, chief digital officer, Qentelli
Remote work has complicated work-life balance, dissolved the boundaries 👎
Limor Bakal, EVP, business and marketing operations at CTERA, says, “In general, I think remote working is a double-edged sword for women in tech. We can be home and accomplish work, but our workplace then becomes our office, and in theory, if you’re working from home, you’re never leaving the office.”
Women and everyone else must do their best to set boundaries when working, at home and when to “close the office.” It’s important to preserve personal space and downtime. Of course, women in tech work for some of the world’s most modern, forward-thinking companies, and maintaining a work-life balance for employees is often at the forefront for these companies.
Specifically for women, it is not just about never leaving the office but also about doing their ‘other’ job depending on their family role and involvement. If going to the office provided better boundaries and more definition between professional and family life (and duties), working from home has erased that for women and actually created more pressure and burden by having to do it all, and all the time.
Improved work-life balance 👍
Prasanna Anireddy, VP of product, enterprise application experience at Progress, thinks that flexible work options have helped women manage their personal and professional commitments better.
According to Anireddy, companies need to observe if the lower attrition trends we are observing right now can be sustained. We also need to understand the long-term impact of how this affects the growth and development opportunities. We have not been able to measure if remote work has increased productivity. However, it certainly has contributed to improved work-life balance.”
Impact on productivity
Remove work gives women plenty of time to complete tasks 👍
Rawan Disouky, brand ambassador at Conexiom, says, “Productivity has certainly increased by working from home. The research shows that now over 40% of Americans work remotely, and among them, a 10% increase in perceived productivity has been experienced.” The time and energy saved from tasks like a daily commute or even picking a full outfit to wear to the office every day, Disouky thinks, is now reallocated to other necessary tasks.
Citing her example, Katie Laughlin, head of offerings, IQVIA human data science cloud, says, “I have noticed personally that a task that would take me eight hours to accomplish in an office can be achieved in six hours at home. With my best remote employees, I see similar, if not better, results.”
Laughlin adds that without having to worry about a commute, she often finds remote workers working longer, whether at the start or end of a day. Of course, managers must check that this situation is an exception, not a “rule to ensure” employees don’t feel like they are being “taken advantage of or feel burned out and unproductive.”
See More: 6 Women in Tech on How To Close the Gender Pay Gap in the Industry
Protection from stereotyping, gender bias, and workplace harassment
Remote work hasn’t reduced bullying and harassment 👎
I don’t think remote work has saved women from workplace harassment, avers Bakal.
“Bullying and harassment are not always face-to-face, nor does it always require being in one’s physical presence,” she believes. It continues in virtual ways, too. “It’s likely that the harassment involved in face-to-face and physical interactions has been reduced as we have spent more time working remotely, but harassment still continues virtually. Bullying on conference calls happens all of the time.”
Anireddy highlights organizations’ constant efforts to ensure inclusive and safe work environments for all employees, especially women. “It will be very disheartening to learn if remote work is the means to avoid workplace harassment etc. We will build a better society if all employees utilize the remote/flexible work options similarly so that women are not going to be at a disadvantage in the future due to the shift in work culture.”
The toxic culture has found its way into Zoom calls 👎
Disouky does believe that even though women are not physically in the office, they are still subject to other types of non-physical violence, such as verbal harassment. “The toxic masculinity culture, as well as mansplaining, may still be experienced when interacting with men within an organization.” She emphasizes that these issues don’t just disappear because a woman doesn’t physically see them. As long as these personalities and cultures exist, they still make their way to zoom calls.
Laughlin points out that it’s difficult to say in unequivocal terms. “Anecdotal evidence suggests the industry has come a long way but still has work to do to ensure work environments are free of stereotyping and additional discrimination factors that females (and other gender identities) continue to face.”
But..
She adds that discrimination or harassment can happen over Zoom or similar platforms. “That said, by its very nature, web-enabled meeting technology and digital communication platforms remove the potential for direct physical harassment or un-monitored communication.”
Key takeaways
- Anireddy wishes that It would be great if women were not the only ones trying to accommodate the needs of the family and looking at adjustments to how they can have a career while meeting the needs of the family. “Instead, we should see both genders equally contributing to family needs. We can then build a more inclusive and diverse workforce.”
- Disouky says it’s also important to remember that the office has never been particularly hospitable to women. “That’s partly because office culture rewarded long hours and activities outside of professional duties that resulted in fraternization with superiors and peers, yet this inherently meant that a partner stayed back to help at home. It’s a situation that usually benefits men, not women. Working from home now gives women a fairer chance to be rewarded than their male counterparts.”
- Laughlin thinks that the recognition by some employers that women can integrate work and personal lives while remaining highly productive and motivated as a workforce is critical. “Some people prefer to work in person and in situations where it’s necessary. I have worked remotely for more than 20 years, and the ideal situation for me is to work remotely but have the flexibility for in-person meetings when I need them to move something forward.”
Has the remote work culture helped you in any way? Let us know on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. We would love to hear from you!
MORE ON WOMEN IN TECH
