Fix The System, Not the Girls: Girl Geek Academy’s Call for Government Action on Gender Inequality in STEM
Survey of over 300 ‘Girl Geeks’ share countless examples of gender discrimination, unconscious bias and sexual harassment in the technology and games industries
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, June 29, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Girl Geek Academy, the world-renowned advocate for women and girls in STEM, today released the report “Enough Talk: Girl Geek solutions for action & investment in gender equity in STEM” with a clear call for systemic change.
The report includes the results of a survey of over 300 ‘Girl Geeks’ – girls and women already interested and engaged in STEM, especially technology – to understand the barriers they face. The response was overwhelming, with participants voicing their frustration at the lack of action and calling for meaningful investment to drive change.
Sarah Moran, CEO of Girl Geek Academy, said: “It turns out the approach to addressing the lack of gender diversity in STEM has been wrong. It’s not about ‘fixing’ the girls and women; it’s about fixing the system that works to exclude them and continues to push them out. Too much attention has been on analysing how or why women exclude themselves rather than looking at how STEM education and industries block their progress.”
“Girl Geeks told us that no matter how interested and talented they are, or how dedicated to tech work, at all stages of their career journey they experience attitudes and behaviours designed to freeze or squeeze them out or make them feel uneasy and unsafe. And the incidents are not confined to just one workplace, but impact at an industry wide level. We’re particularly alarmed at how many Girl Geeks told us that industry conferences were not safe,” Moran said.
“Until now, we have expected Girl Geeks to be “more resilient” or learn to “act like the boys” or to “speak up and make change” in order to make it in STEM career. But placing the burden on individual women at individual worksites to challenge company culture is neither fair nor productive,” Moran said.
“Girl Geeks shared with us so many examples of gender discrimination, unconscious bias and sexual harassment within the technology industry, we only describe it as a widespread, systemic pattern,” she added.
In the report, Girl Geeks in tech and games provided insight into just how deep the problems are in education, recruitment, and retention across various sectors. While each participant in the survey had very personal experiences to share – including some that were distressing – there were themes that emerged across all responses.
The Top 5 Key Findings were:
1. Girls and women passionate and interested in STEM are squeezed out of learning and industry at all stages of their career. Fix the violence, not the girls.
2. The STEM career pipeline is designed for men, not women, and there is no gender lens on career advice and progression opportunities at school or within the tech industry. Fix the career paths, not the girls.
3. The STEM industry fails to provide effective role models for women, men or non-binary people. Fix the role-modelling, not the girls.
4. Investment in talented girls & women is inadequate and discriminatory, resulting in a loss of innovation and economic benefit. Fix the funding, not the girls.
5. Being a gender change agent in technology is exhausting and traumatising and the backlash is REAL. Fix the backlash, not the girls.
The report also outlines 16 recommendations for government including greater investment in funding solutions that have been proven to work, alongside non-financial commitments such as leveraging government procurement policies to encourage gender equality in tech companies that supply products and services to government.
“The reason gender equity is going backwards in tech is not because of a lack of evaluation of equity programs, it is a lack of investment in the solutions that we already know work,” Moran said.
Girl Geek Academy created the report in response to the year-long Australian Government review into gender equity design for the STEM industry was announced by Australian Minister for Industry & Science, Ed Husic MP.
“We believe conducting another review so soon after a previous one (Women in STEM Decadal Plan, 2019) that had already interrogated a number of recommendations was unnecessary. Girl Geeks are particularly frustrated by the lack of investment in the problem of their under representation and exclusion. They were scathing of the current investment in STEM diversity programs. of their under representation and exclusion,” Moran said.
“$2 million per year to address issues across 4 major industry areas is a tiny amount of funding. That’s maybe 10 peoples salaries per sector,” one survey participant commented.
The big message from Girl Geeks is that they are sick of talking about it. They want action. They want investment to turn things around.
Moran concluded: “The time for reviews and discussions is over. Our economy, our future, cannot afford it. It’s time to fix the system, not the girls.”
Australian coverage of this global story
Australian Financial Review: “Software engineer denied promotion because of her ‘annoying voice’”
Canberra Times: “Girls want coding funds: the push to keep women in tech“
GamesHub: https://www.gameshub.com/news/news/girl-geek-academy-australian-government-diveristy-stem-review-2622224/
Kotaku: https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/06/girl-geek-academy-diversity-in-stem-report/
Sarah Moran
Girl Geek Academy
hello+media@girlgeekacademy.com
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