Are Things Getting Better or Worse for Women in Silicon Valley?

I consult a female founder of a startup that is still in the prototype phase. She deals with the tech scene in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

From my personal experience working with her, I find that there are a few benefits, yet many shortcomings when it comes to dealing with the problems of being a female in the tech world.

When she goes to events and meets new contacts, most people try to flip from business to flirting with her after they exchange information. UX/UI developers and programmers tend to try to change their working relationship into a physical one. Potential customers try to ask her out on dates in exchange to help her test her product.

In other cases, a few of my female programmer friends say they have to deal with sexism at hackathon and other events, where their male competitors say that they were chosen just because they’re female and are overlooked for their actual skill set. More often than not, they’re treated like second class citizens.

It can be quite tough for female founders and programmers in tech because people want to benefit their own personal marital status or feel better about themselves by looking down upon their female counterparts in tech.

On the plus side, my client is able to generate a lot more in person leads than I can, however she has a lot more noise to filter through. Since more awareness on the topic has come up, women are having better opportunities than they have in the past though.

I personally know that there are companies out there like Yang Ventures, Precelerator and even female only networks like Girls Up that are dedicated to help female founders overcome the unusual obstacles they will face, from dealing with sexism, getting into accelerators, attaining clients and raising future rounds of funding. These companies are paving the way to create an even playing field for women in the world of technology.

Originally posted on Quora.

 

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