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Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

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Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#41

Post by DanielleMolloy »

You need a filter that removes the toxic people, and moves you closer to potential jobs at the same time. I agree with some commenters here that this is a problem for all sorts of people, i.e. including white dudes; given that many are entering the field that are mostly driven by money and coolness.

One suggestion: Search for events and meet-ups where people gather that are driven by a higher-goal idealism – depending on your interests this could e.g. be privacy and hacker's events, the sciences, NGOs, environment, political movements. Talk to the men and women there and find out where they are working. It is far more likely to meet people there that are intelligent and work in interesting jobs, and their idealism and progressiveness usually affects other areas of life, too (i.e. they are less likely to be racist or misogynist). Of course I am talking about probabilities here, not guarantees.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#42

Post by unitorn »

Hello! I am a woman in the bay area. Here's what I do:

There are multiple online resources, like women's only whispernetworks. I don't feel safe posting details of these groups on a wesbite like this, but a google search/asking around will probably do. If I'm interviewing at a new place, I usually post on said whisper networks to ask if anyone has heard anything (positive or negative). InHerSight.com http://goodforpocin.tech/ The best way to find out about good companies is of course by word of mouth, talking to people who have worked there and getting input on pros and cons

Questions I ask: "What percentage of women, PoC, etc is on the dev team? "Are there women in leadership?" *One of my mentors refuses to move forward in the interview process if there were no women on her interviewing panel, which she says is a red flag that they are pretty clueless of how important inclusivity in tech is to her.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#43

Post by gizmo »

dang wrote: post #29
hiddencost wrote: post #13

Woman: "Women in tech, I'm looking for help navigating X issues that are specific to my gender's well publicized challenges in the industry." Men of HN: "None of this is real, stop making stuff up." ... I dunno; I've found metafilter has some folks in tech who might be more useful to you. Maybe this thread will become less of a clusterfuck as time goes on. My experience has been that asking to talk to a woman on the…

> Men of HN No, that's not fair. The commenters you're referring to exist, and so do many others. Edit: There's a pattern on HN, and maybe other internet communities as well, where the first comments to appear on a topic (especially one on which people are divided and have strong feelings) tend to be angry, reflexive ones by people who are quickly triggered and respond from pre-existing judgments. That doesn't mean t…

As a HN moderator maybe reconsider making #notallmen type responses. Sexism on HN is prevalent and it's harmful when moderators minimize this issue by emphasizing not all comments are awful.

The barrage of sexist comments that show up every time this subject is discussed is clear evidence this community has a sexism problem.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#44

Post by jarmitage »

Ideas for questions

- What % non-white male at junior, senior, management, executive and board levels?

- Are all employees bias trained?

- What is an example of an equality issue the company faced in the last year and how did they respond?

- What is the pay gap between genders, and if not equal and when will it be equal?

- How is the company contributing to addressing industry wide systematic bias? (meetups, philanthropy, education, conferences...)

- Does the office have unisex/non-binary facilities?

- What is the reporting structure for raising issues about other employees behaviour? (how are HR and executive team both accountable for addressing issues?)

- What are the company's 1-5 year priorities for improving the work environment for non-white male people?

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#45

Post by weeblywoo »

tptacek wrote: post #12
galkk wrote: post #7

I do think that you should change your attitude first, and try to expect best from people, not the worst. I worked in 3 of big4 (Google/Microsoft/Amazon) and you need to try hard to find any harassing environment. Usually, if it's bad, it's bad for everyone, due to project/managerial conditions. All companies have trainings that teach you to prevent harrasment and give ways to report it. Especially now, when woman ca…

But yeah, original poster, totally don't worry that the culture you're considering moving into might be hostile to your presence.

IT is a high-pressure environment. If you find that it's a toxic environment, maybe you should seek employment in a low-pressure environment like a non-profit.

This victim mentality BS is just another way for people to insert politics into the conversation. Every dev I have ever met has a horror story about an entry-level job where they were subjected to inordinate amounts of stress due to a number of factors.

Grow up already, no one cares about the feelings of an employee when there is money on the line and deadlines to meet. This OP sounds like a toxic candidate.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#46

Post by dang »

fwefwwfe wrote: post #26
emmab wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't know if you're going to be passed over for advancement or raises due to bias.

Yeah, let me know if you have a crystal ball that will detect that.

Please post civilly and substantively, or not at all.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#47

Post by phugoid »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #15

Disclaimer/warning: Straight white male responding. But it seems to me that an environment that is toxic for women is also an environment that I would find at least somewhat toxic - not because the crap is hitting me , but because there's a bunch of crap. So what I look for might be useful to you. I'm older - 55 - and some of what I have is just "hey, this feels like that place that I worked, and it was pretty crummy…

I'm a white dude, but I feel the same way. I have experienced first-hand that the attitude and vibes that make a workplace toxic for women or others will also make my time there unpleasant. For instance, frequent sharing of risque videos and lecherous comments about women are fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

For the specific situation I experienced, interviewer ego would not have been a tip-off. Some of the other posts suggest asking questions that I wouldn't dream of asking in an interview - they border on accusatory.

The number of women working is probably the biggest single indicator I can think of. Even if the problematic attitudes exist, they tend to stay hidden when women holding the same/higher rank are omnipresent.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#48

Post by romanows »

Could you ask this question directly in an interview? If you have to assume the response is actually talking about "white males" or that the respondent is confusing bias with ping-pong tables, perhaps you are not being direct enough or are speaking to HR instead of a manager?

Maybe it'd work best asked in an abstract, impersonal way: "I've had friends whose contributions have been dismissed because of their gender; what kinds of strategies can combat bias and create a positive environment for all employees?" Ideally this would lead into a nice 5 minute discussion where you could get a feel for their thinking.

Re: Ask HN: Women in tech, how do you find non-toxic work environments?

#49

Post by dang »

jecjec wrote: post #39

You are absolutely starting out with the wrong mindset. Assuming the worst is absolutely a mindset that self-fulfills. Based on your use of racist and sexist language, OP, I would probably NEVER hire you and I actively seek to keep people like you out of my organizations.

We've banned this account for making personal attacks. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email hn@ycombinator.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the site rules in the future.
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