How do you look for jobs in an industry known for biases against women?
Check where they’re located: The location of a company will probably affect some of the subconscious biases. I haven’t read any detailed studies about this (please feel free to link them in the comments) but it seems likely that a company which is situated in an area just full of people like you is may be likely to exhibit biases. (This doesn’t always work, though — I live in predominantly hispanic New Mexico, but the clash of our proximity to the Mexican border and the cultural attitudes of the USA towards immigration leaves me hearing some appallingly racist things when I’m out in public.)
2. Don’t let the risk of bias scare you away from good jobs
What if you’re interested in smaller companies and there’s little to no way to get information about them short of setting up an interview? What if the organization you’ve always dreamed of has a bad rep? Should you steer clear?
That’s really a decision you have to make yourself based on the information you’ve gathered and your own tolerance levels, but by and large if you think the job is something you’d like to do, you should try anyhow. You can always hope that you’ll be so perfect for the job that you’ll blow away all biases!
3. Be a chameleon?
I hate hate hate giving this advice. But if I’m going to be honest with myself, I have to admit that I am a half-white, half-asian woman who sometimes spends some effort to “pass” as white because doing so greatly limits the amount of racism that I encounter on a regular basis. If it makes you more comfortable and gets you to the interview stage where you can rock their socks off, maybe being J. Smith instead of Jane Smith on your resume is a viable strategy. There was a widely reported study that showed that traditionally African-American names on resumes garnered fewer callbacks, so there’s clearly reason to believe that disguising yourself might give you a stronger chance.
The idealist in me thinks this is awful, but the practical scientist in me figures that this is just another tool to limit the bias to which you expose yourself.
4. Be prepared to handle bias
You’re not going to be able to diffuse every possible situation, but just like it’s worth preparing well for technical interview questions, it’s worth preparing yourself for things that might go wrong in the interview. Don’t be broadsided if there’s an off-colour comment when you have lunch with the team, or if someone asks an inappropriate question — being able to handle mishaps smoothly and without blowing up will tend to make you look better, and while there are shades of tone argument involved here, I think it is true that an interview is one way that an organization is evaluating you under pressure. Handling everything, even stuff you shouldn’t have to handle, with calm professional restrain will likely make you look good. The people you deal with may have absolutely no idea of their biases and will make you out as the bad guy if you point them out, and it’s up to you whether you’re willing to work with them as an employee or you’d like to just avoid the situation all together. (And do remember that you can sometimes quietly put in a word with the recruiter or hiring manager if you turn a job down.)
Also, please don’t let the “I must be professional” over-ride your own gut instincts — a job is not worth sexual assault or other abuse and should also prepare yourself to walk away if the interview environment seems unsafe to you. I’ve never had an interview that bad myself, but I’ve seen quite a range of highly inexperienced interviewers and heard some horror stories from other women. Please be safe.
It’s really hard to strike a balance between being prepared for bias and going in combative, expecting bias and maybe seeing it where it isn’t happening. I don’t have any great suggestions there except that you should use your judgement.
More generally, there are some good coping resources and examples of bias to be found on the Geek Feminism Wiki if you want to be prepared. If you have any other suggestions of great resources or specific pages within the wiki you’d like to highlight for job-seekers, please leave comments below!
So… that’s my list thus far of tips for job hunting in a biased industry, but I’m only just starting to gear up for my latest job hunt. Lots of you have more or different experiences: what would you suggest to make the job hunt more pleasant?
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