IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2023 - 35

negative stereotypes about their ability with computers
[21]. These stereotypes continue to manifest later
on in careers [22]. For example, Kathryn Kun, the
director of information security who identifies as a
nonbinary mentions an incident in which she was
complimented for her baking and the importance of
a sponsor who advocated on her behalf [23].
Therefore, initiatives should not be an isolated
occurrence or happen just in a particular context.
Along the way, there will be mistakes made. To avoid
backlash, we need to anticipate the possible negative
consequences of these initiatives and explicitly
address them, as being diverse should not come at
the price of being less inclusive. Programs aiming to
increase diversity should not be the responsibility
of a small group of people but instead of an organizational
aim to which everyone buys subscribes.
Diversity initiatives are more effective when participation
in them is voluntary rather than obligatory
[11]. Empowering participants to take part in these
initiatives is more desirable than mandatory training.
These initiatives also have more chances of
succeeding if men are also actively involved. Men
receive less backlash when challenging sexism in the
workplace and their intervention is more likely to be
perceived more legitimate than when a woman does
it, as they have less perceived vested self-interest
[24]. As a result, men lose less social capital when
compared with women when challenging sexism
[24]. Having male buy-ins, however, requires support
from leadership [24] and incentivizing them to
be an active participant in initiatives that otherwise
do not have an immediate perceived value for them.
Men could voice support by proactively challenging
gender discrimination, advocating for women, and
acknowledging the work done by women [18]. Furthermore,
actively involving also white men in diversity
recruiting initiatives has shown to help improve
the diversity recruitment and reduces the negative
feeling that these initiatives are discriminatory [14].
Finally, we should remember that at the core of
these initiatives, the focus should be on fixing the
system and not on the women [25]. Instead, we
must address the underlying issues including why
the voices of women are given so little importance
[26]. Aiming to change women to fit within the existing
structure might actually be counterproductive to
diversity, as at the core of diversity is the value of a
multitude set of approaches and opinions.
September 2023
the pandemic has already highlighted that the jobs
in which women are traditionally employed were
affected by lockdown restrictions. Until the gender representation
in IT fields is skewed toward men in most
countries, it means women will miss lucrative opportunities.
Furthermore, as we more and more rely on technology:
we have the technology developed by men who
might not accurately represent the needs of women and
we risk reinforcing the same stereotypes. Diversity initiatives
aiming at improving the number of women in IT
have increased over the last couple of years. These initiatives
aim to address existing factors that impede women
to consider and succeeding in these roles. Despite the
progress achieved by some initiatives, it can also happen
that these initiatives do not always have the desired
effect and could lead to a backlash. The potential negative
implications need to be identified and addressed
before these initiatives are being deployed. Furthermore,
when employing these initiatives there needs to
be an evidence-based approach.

Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF) and the Free State of
Bavaria under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal
Government and the Länder, as well as by the Technical
University of Munich-Institute for Advanced Study.
There are no financial competing interests to declare.
 References
[1] X. Li, " Strategic flexibility in a male-dominated
occupation: Women software engineers in China, " J.
Gender Stud., vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 330-342, 2021, doi:
10.1080/09589236.2021.2006615.
[2] E. D. D. Santos et al., " 'Science and Technology as
Feminine': Raising awareness about and reducing the
gender gap in STEM careers, " J. Gender Stud., vol.
31, no. 4, pp. 505-518, 2021.
[3] A. Melnichuk. (2019). Software Engineer Shortage in
the World. NCube. Accessed: Apr. 4, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://ncube.com/blog/software-engineershortage
[4]
EIGE. (2018). Economic Case for Gender Equality in
the EU. Accessed: Apr. 4, 2022. [Online]. Available:
https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policyareas/economic-and-financial-affairs/economicbenefits-gender-equality
[5]
P. T. Kim, " Addressing algorithmic discrimination, "
Commun. ACM, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 25-27, 2021.
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https://ncube.com/blog/software-engineer-shortage https://ncube.com/blog/software-engineer-shortage https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policy-areas/economic-and-financial-affairs/economic-benefits-gender-equality https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policy-areas/economic-and-financial-affairs/economic-benefits-gender-equality https://eige.europa.eu/gender-mainstreaming/policy-areas/economic-and-financial-affairs/economic-benefits-gender-equality

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2023

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