Founder of Hily Dating App and Taimi, an LGBTQ+ platform featuring a social network and dating app.

Tech has always been one of the most progressive industries. In recent years, the tech giants have made significant efforts to make sure they appear as diverse and accepting as possible. They hire diversity and inclusion managers, update their policies and make bold public gestures. But what is it really like to work in the tech industry as an LGBTQ+ person when Pride month is over and the cameras turn off?

Earlier this year, Science Advances published a study that explored inequalities for LGBTQ+ employees in the STEM workplace. Out of 25,324 full-time STEM professionals surveyed, 1006 identified as LGBTQ+.

Here's what the study uncovered with some insights into how tech leaders can better support their LGBTQ+ employees:

LGBTQ+ people get fewer career opportunities and resources.

The survey shows that most LGBTQ+ tech employees don't feel like they're getting enough opportunities to develop their professional skills. Compared to their non-LGBTQ+ peers, it's also more common for LGBTQ+ people to feel like they don't have access to the resources that would allow them to excel at their jobs, which hinders their career development. 

No matter if it's a part of the unofficial workplace culture or the company's formal policies, we need to ensure that all employees get equal opportunities regardless of their race, sexual orientation or gender identity. 

We need to ask ourselves if our current policies allow LGBTQ+ employees to grow as fast as their peers. If they don't, we need to rewrite the policies and take into consideration every step of an employee's journey from the recruiting process to parental leave and retirement or resignation. 

LGBTQ+ people are more likely to experience harassment at work.

LGBTQ+ people are 30% more likely to experience workplace harassment than their colleagues. It is a complex issue that can't be resolved by policy changes alone. New policy implementation must be accompanied by deliberate efforts to control and change organizational culture to make it more inclusive. 

That's a process that starts at the recruitment stage. You can't change the mindsets of your employees by a set of guidelines, but you can change and easily implement new guidelines when you hire people who are aligned with your principles from the get-go. 

One in three LGBTQ+ STEM professionals reports experiencing exclusion by their colleagues, which is an issue that must be addressed with preventative measures. To mitigate this issue, create opportunities for your LGBTQ+ employees to openly celebrate their identities and share their experiences during LGBTQ+ awareness periods such as Bisexual Awareness Week or Trans Day of Visibility. Remember that it is okay to encourage participation, but be wary of making your LGBTQ+ employees feel like it's their job to educate their colleagues. 

LGBTQ+ people are less likely to report workplace harassment.

Even though zero-tolerance policies are becoming quite common, we have to admit that for now, an organization with zero discrimination is no more than an imaginary utopia. We should make it clear that no harassment will be tolerated, but we still need to have a plan on how to deal with it when it occurs. 

Most LGBTQ+ people don't feel comfortable reporting workplace harassment since they don't feel like it's worth the risk. On the one hand, they don't have an opportunity to report an accident in a safe manner that wouldn't affect their careers. On the other hand, they may have no reason to believe that a report would make any difference. When companies take such incidents seriously and respond to them decisively, it sends a clear message to victims and harassers about how every case will be treated. 

LGBTQ+ people experience health and wellness problems more often.

Since LGBTQ+ people in tech often struggle to fit in or climb the corporate ladder, it's no surprise that they suffer from mental and physical health issues more often than their cisgender and heterosexual colleagues. Specifically, LGBTQ+ STEM professionals are 41% more likely to experience insomnia and 30% more likely to have gone through one or more depressive episodes in the last year. 

Even though their identities put them at a higher risk of experiencing various health problems, the healthcare system does not accommodate the needs of LGBTQ+ people properly. Employers need to step up and offer additional benefits to LGBTQ+ employees as well as partner with mental health organizations that can help create a safe work environment where everyone can thrive. 

LGBTQ+ people are more likely to leave the industry.

Tech is a highly competitive industry, and succeeding in it takes significant mental and physical resources. All the issues mentioned above make it even more difficult for LGBTQ+ people — the survey shows that 22% of LGBTQ+ STEM professionals considered leaving their job in the last 30 days. 

In 2021, it is our responsibility to radically confront the issues LGBTQ+ people face and stop perpetuating inequality and discrimination in tech once and for all. Otherwise, technology won't become society's great equalizer and will make the wealth gap bigger than ever.

Every time you stand up for one marginalized group, you simultaneously support everyone else who is at risk of harassment or discrimination. By dealing with people who discriminate against women or people of color, you're also standing up for LGBTQ+ people, and vice versa. That's why creating a positive workplace culture is just as important as composing fair policies. If we can make those two go hand in hand, LGBTQ+ people can finally get a chance to realize their full potential in the tech industry.


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