State of Women in Tech Report 2023
It’s been 6 years since the #MeToo movement and three years after the wake of Black Lives Matter protests across the US, when Big Tech and VC funds promised to hold sexist and racist harassers accountable, made diversity and investment pledges, and hired chief diversity officers to help fix this broken system. What progress do we have to show after all these years later?
Women founders and women in tech continue to face significant sexism and toxic workplace culture. Our latest survey showed that 40% of women founders say they have been harassed. 50% of women who were sexually harassed shared that they have been propositioned for sex in exchange for funding, etc. And nearly 40% of women working in tech experienced unwanted physical contact.
Women Who Tech anonymously surveyed 930 tech employees, startup founders, and investors about their experiences in tech and startups. The survey identified trends and shifts in the treatment of underrepresented tech founders and employees since 2017 and 2020. See the results
State of Women in Tech Report 2020
Nearly 50% of women founders and women working in tech have experienced harassment, a statistic that has barely budged since 2017.
Despite the #MeToo movement that spurred trending hashtags, diversity pledges among Silicon Valley’s biggest VCs, and tech companies hiring Chief Diversity Officers, women in tech continue to face significant sexism and toxic workplace culture.
Women Who Tech anonymously surveyed 1,003 tech employees, startup founders, and investors about their experiences in tech and startups. The survey identified trends and shifts in the treatment of underrepresented tech founders and employees since 2017. See the results.
State of Women in Tech Report 2017
In 2017, Women Who Tech partnered with Lincoln Park Strategies to conduct the first iteration of this survey to anonymously poll 950 tech employees, founders, and investors on their experiences working in tech. See the results.
The Rise of Women-Led Startups
Women are founding startups and companies more than ever before, but face a drastic funding gap when it comes to investors. See the infographic.
Facts and Stats
- 2.8% of all investor funding goes to startups founded by women, while 97.2% of funding is distributed to startups founded by men.
- Private technology companies led by women are more capital-efficient, achieving 35% higher ROI, and, when venture-backed, 12% higher revenue than startups run by men, according to the Kauffman Foundation.
- Women founded companies in First Round Capital’s portfolio outperformed companies founded by men by 63%.
- In 2017, there were 114% more women-owned businesses than 20 years prior.
- The number of women-owned businesses in the U.S. increased by 21% from 2014 - 2019.
- The number of black-women-led startups doubled between 2016 and 2018.
- 41% of women surveyed experienced harassment in tech.
- For women founders who were harassed, 77% experienced sexist harassment and 45% experienced sexual harassment.
- 65% of those who were sexually harassed were propositioned for sex in exchange for funding, introductions, a job, etc.