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This Is How Sexism Works in Silicon Valley
Article

This Is How Sexism Works in Silicon Valley

My lawsuit failed. Others won’t.

New York, 2017

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Bold
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Some of Silicon Valley’s most renowned firms, such as Google and Uber, have been rocked by discrimination and sexual harassment scandals. The people who fund the Ubers and Googles of the world, however, are often as sexist as the tech companies themselves, concludes Ellen Pao, a former partner at one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful venture capitalist firms. Pao filed a highly publicized –  yet ultimately unsuccessful – sexual harassment lawsuit against her employer. In an excerpt from her book Reset, Pao recounts the events leading up to her decision to sue. getAbstract recommends her account to both men and women in the tech and venture capital industries.

Summary

During her six years as a junior partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Ellen Pao endured gender discrimination and incidents of sexual harassment. For example, she once found herself on a plane with an all-male group of fellow partners and superiors when her colleagues started talking about porn stars and sex-worker preferences. Feeling out of place, Pao didn’t join the men at a club later that evening. Pao was frequently left out of informal social gatherings, including male-only trips where crucial work-related discussions took place. At venture capital meetings...

About the Author

Ellen Pao is a tech investor, a diversity and inclusion activist at the Kapor Center for Social Impact, the former CEO of Reddit, and a co-founder of the award-winning diversity and inclusion nonprofit Project Include.