In late winter of 2016, we here at Artemis Connection realized that there was wasn’t much action being taken by the startup community here in Seattle to achieve racial and gender equality. Martha Burwell, an independent consultant, and Ruchika Tulshyan, a journalist focused on the workplace, both agreed and together we set out to launch a survey that would give us some insights into our observations. After all, Seattle is home to some of the most data-driven companies in the world, but unlike Silicon Valley, there isn’t any data about the experiences and identities of the people that make up these companies.

The Impact of Gender and Ethnicity

The results are in, and our findings revealed that women and minorities continue to experience unequal treatment in the workplace. 85% of women and 74% of men believe men have more opportunities to advance, whereas only 1% of women and 2% of men believe women have more opportunities to advance. 60% of men but only 13% of women believe that their gender has positively affected their access to opportunities at Seattle startups. 35% of respondents felt their ethnicity played a role in missing out on a promotion or raise.

However, when it comes to their own workplaces, people seem to have a bit of a blind spot. While one-third of men think women are treated unfairly on the job in general, only 10% of the survey respondents think women are treated unfairly where they work. 79% of respondents think people at their respective organizations are treated fairly, but 56% believe that startups are not meritocracies, so one can surmise that it’s easy to overlook discrimination when you might be in proximity to it.

Attitudes about Kids and Family

Parents are perceived as higher-risk startup employees  – especially women, whom people expect to be busier with their families than their male counterparts, and therefore less able to dedicate themselves fully to their jobs. 77% of women think becoming a parent impacts whether someone can fully participate in the startup world, while 72% of men think otherwise. 82% of women and 58% of men believe this impact differs based on gender. While in principle there are company policies in place to address parental needs, many are still concerned that in a fast-paced business environment, taking advantage of those policies can cause parents to get out of the loop and miss out on key opportunities. 33% of women and 25% of men felt that using their parental leave would eventually affect them negatively in the workplace.

The survey results show that achieving workplace equity continues to be an uphill battle. Use these findings to take action to make your startup a better place for your employees.

 

We’d like to extend a thank you to all those that participated in the survey. If you have additional stories or data you’d like to share, feel free to contact us at mac@artemisconnection.com. Read the blog & full report here.