The Linus Tech Tips abuse allegations are yet another reminder that something absolutely needs to be done about the rampant sexism in the tech industry. If you haven’t heard them yet you can read about them here, but be warned, there is some potentially very triggering abuse and self harm detailed: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1691693740254228741.html
Madison’s story is not unique - we have heard stories like hers time and time again. As a tech professional it makes me sick to share an industry with these horrible people, and to know that little is being done to reign them in.
So, what can be done about this? I don’t have all of the answers, but one thing that comes to mind is that HR departments desperately need actual unbiased oversight, perhaps even from a governing body outside of the company. It has become common knowledge that HR’s primary purpose is to protect the company, and this prevents employees from speaking out and driving internal change even in terrible situations like Madison Reeve and countless others have faced. The way things are run clearly needs to fundamentally change
Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas on how we as a tech community might be able to address these issues, I am truly at a loss. All I want is for tech to be a safe space for everybody to find their passion and success, and it saddens me that we clearly aren’t there yet.
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That’s a great point, unions are really under utilized in tech and would help a ton with this. I’m not sure if forming a union is 100% of the solution though, there are powerful unions in hollywood and sexism has still been allowed to run rampant there for example. Unions are comprised of the workers, many of whom are contributing to the problem, this isn’t just an issue coming from the top
Unions are never the solution in and of themselves. They give workers the power to do something about problems together, no more no less. The alternative is to not have any power and maybe ask politely.
As someone with way too many years in the tech industry having suffered these toxic brogrammer cultures I can confidently say the reason unions won’t take off is people assume if “I am in a union then as an engineer I’ll only make as much as the project manager, and I want my 300k TC!” Which is completely incorrect but good luck convincing these younger engineers that, I’ve been trying for years.