Gender Inequality in Technology

Vivek Wadhwa's gender gap talk critically examines the lack of women working in technology.

As a Researcher of immigrant entrepreneurship, Wadhwa was pleased to find that Silicon Valley was incredibly diverse. After moving there, Wadhwa attended a TechCrunch event with his wife, who was disheartened to see that, save for a few staff members, there were no women in attendance. Wadhwa immediately began looking into the issue; to his dismay, there seemed to be a complete scarcity of women. He wondered, "How can you have the most innovative land on this planet [and] not have women?" He described the experience as surreal. Wadhwa vocalized his disappointment on a project titled 'Silicon Valley You and Your Venture Capitalist Have a Gender Problem.' Unfortunately, his observations were met with hostility.

Wadhwa has preserved, despite the antagonist attitudes of those in the industry. He is committed to revealing the injustices, whether it be general ignorance or horrifying instances of sexual harassment. The fact of the matter is, women are graduating at higher rates and displaying equal proficiency in science and mathematics. Coupled with what Wadhwa identifies as a higher sense of empathy, an invaluable asset when it comes to design, women would make a tremendous contribution to the industry.