Current Events > Gay lesbian tech industry CEO claims she quit due to lack of diversity

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Its hard enough being the only woman in the room, and then to come out as gay? Its even harder, says Hayley Sudbury. But theres a different energy when you have a diverse workplace that includes people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and genders. Thats what gets me out of bed in the morning, she says.

The situation for many LGBT workers in the male-dominated tech industry can be trying, with instances of bullying and hostility commonplace. A 2017 report by the Kapor Center for Social Impact, which surveyed more than 2,000 people who had left a job in the tech sector in the past three years, found 24% of LGBT people had experienced public humiliation or embarrassment, and 64% of LGBT employees who were bullied said the experience contributed to their decision to leave.

It doesnt help that there are very few women leaders in tech who are openly gay. Just two made this years list of 100 LGBT executive role models, published by the Financial Times in October: Sudbury and Cynthia Fortlage, from GHY International. Seven gay male leaders made the list.

Sudbury, a vocal advocate of women and LGBT inclusion, says having a better gender balance will make tech workplaces not just more inclusive for women, but LGBT people too.

One way to make workplaces more inclusive is through mentoring and role models, Sudbury says. Its a lesson she learned the hard way. Despite being a vocal advocate of LGBT representation, Sudbury hasnt always felt able to speak openly in the workplace about her sexuality. She grew up in an entrepreneurial family in north Queensland, Australia. After moving to the UK for a second time at 27 she worked in finance, another male-dominated industry. I picked up that being a gay woman wasnt celebrated, she says.

Sudbury left so she could work out what success looked like in the context of being a woman who was openly gay. There were no visible gay women at that point that I could point to who were CEOs or in positions of power, she says. So I felt like I had to leave and do something different for a time.

Picking up various pieces of consulting work, she tried to work out her next professional step. It was my walk into the wilderness, she says. I was in a serious same-sex relationship at the time, but struggled to present myself as a gay woman in the male-dominated workplaces I was working in. Overhearing homophobic comments made it worse. I remember once overhearing a conversation about a colleague who had been to a play that had homosexuality in it and he was grossed out by it, she says. Its those conversations in the workplace that inform how comfortable people feel about coming out, whether its said by a man or woman. Sudbury says she also knows people who have hidden the fact that they are LGBT when raising money from investors.
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But its hard to connect with colleagues in the workplace when youre hiding something about yourself, Sudbury says. People sense it and they attribute it to all sorts of different things, like they think maybe youre looking for a job elsewhere, she says. But the reality is you are hiding a part of yourself.

Eventually Sudbury founded Werkin, a platform that connects mentors and mentees across global organisations via an app. And she decided to be open about her sexuality. It wasnt immediately all rainbow flags from day one, she says, but being a woman who is openly gay in tech feels great. Theres a real power and freedom in being your whole self, she says.

Whether youre coming out late after being in a straight relationship, which is an issue thats come up on a few occasions, youre navigating your familys response, or you just want support with accepting yourself, its about finding the person who can actually help, she says.

Business leaders must also tackle their unconscious biases and sponsor a more diverse range of people, she says. That way we can see more women in leadership roles who are openly gay. I rocked up at an LGBT event a few months ago and ended up in a breakout group that was all men, she says. They were all very senior people and for a minute I took a step back, despite being there as an expert in my area.

Sudbury is also a regular speaker at LGBT-focused events and is actively involved with communities such as Lesbians Who Tech, which describes itself as a community for queer woman in the tech industry. She also sits on the steering committee of LB Women, which celebrates the success of lesbian and bisexual women.

Unlike her earlier experiences, Sudbury wants young LGBT women who are interested in tech to have role models. The tide is turning against the stereotypical all male bro culture, she says.

Theres a lot more support than there was even five years ago, she says. I dont think its necessarily so hard to come out [in tech workplaces] any more and having a gender mix in an organisation always makes it better. It feels like things can change, Sudbury says. But theres still quite way to go.

Full Article: https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2018/dec/17/i-felt-like-i-had-to-leave-life-as-a-gay-female-tech-ceo


Have you ever had a gay boss? Let alone a lesbian boss?

And has a collegue ever come out to you?

If so, how do you feel they were treated?
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Gay and lesbian?
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JACKBUTTMOMMY posted...

I had a gay guy who supervised me unofficially. He claimed he wasnt gay and that Americans are obsessed with labeling others. He slept with other men. When he started supervising me even though I was his supervisor, and making sexually inappropriate comments routinely, to the point a sexual harassment policy had to be made, he sexually harassed me and I quit the job on those grounds.

Sounds like an unplesant experience.
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I would have kept collecting that ceo salary. Who needs diversity shit. If you want me to go to a meeting full of rich snobby white guys keep signing those paycheques.
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"Gay lesbian."
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Sexual identity wasnt the reason why it was hard to connect with low level employees as the CEO...

UnfairRepresent posted...

Despite being a vocal advocate of LGBT representation, Sudbury hasnt always felt able to speak openly in the workplace about her sexuality. She grew up in an entrepreneurial family in north Queensland, Australia. After moving to the UK for a second time at 27 she worked in finance, another male-dominated industry. I picked up that being a gay woman wasnt celebrated, she says.

Sudbury left so she could work out what success looked like in the context of being a woman who was openly gay. There were no visible gay women at that point that I could point to who were CEOs or in positions of power, she says. So I felt like I had to leave and do something different for a time.

This is stupid. Why should speaking openly about your sexual orientatiin or preference be done at the work place? Why should someone's immutable characteristic that they did not choose be celebrated?

This just makes it harder for people you wouldn't know are gay or bi or lesbian, because they may not be advertising their orientation as if it's some cheap label or something. Plenty of people who you wouldn't know have those orientations just work and don't want to do anything but work, yet you wouldn't be able to measure how that affects this narrative.

And this entire narrative is based on her anecdotes. She's trying to get brownie points in the blogosphere by peddling SJW nonsense to people who will just accept it and run with it. This entire subject has been repeated so often and it really is annoyingly fatiguing at this point.
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Baaaaawwwwww people aren't being handed high paying cushy jobs because of their sexual identity and have to work for them.

Cry me a fucking river
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FLUFFYGERM posted...

And this entire narrative is based on her anecdotes. She's trying to get brownie points in the blogosphere by peddling SJW nonsense to people who will just accept it and run with it. This entire subject has been repeated so often and it really is annoyingly fatiguing at this point.

Yeah she quit CEO big bucks to get.... blog outrage...bucks?... several years later.

A cunning plan.
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There's not enough diversity, so she quits so there's even less? That seems to be the logic of people looking to bring up these issues, but they just want to bring attention to them because actually trying to fix it is too hard.

I also like how she blamed being gay for not being able to connect with low-end employees. It's not like they'd be walking on eggshells around the CEO or something unless she had a reputation for being cool af, and even then, they still would be to a degree.

Honestly, it just sounds like she's blaming being socially inept and not understanding how workplace social structures work on being gay.

What an idiot
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"this isn't diverse enough so I'm gonna make it less diverse by leaving"

??????
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R_Jackal posted...

I also like how she blamed being gay for not being able to connect with low-end employees. It's not like they'd be walking on eggshells around the CEO or something unless she had a reputation for being cool af, and even then, they still would be to a degree.

if you say so
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LittleScootaIoo posted...

What an idiot

Lol. I like how she says different ethnicities and genders get her out of bed. What a crock of shit lol.

Shes the CEO of a tech company, not like it was a real diverse place of employment to begin with. Go work at a gas station or McDonalds if diversity is what gets you out of bed every morning.
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She never cared about being CEO to begin with
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