The EEOC just released its report on diversity in the technology sector.
The report has a wealth of information on the tech sector in general.
For this post, I’m focusing on the data surrounding EEOC Charge filings and lawsuits in the tech sector.
According to the EEOC:
“The four most common types of charges filed—those alleging discrimination based on retaliation, disability, race, and sex—are nearly equally as common in the high-tech sector as in other sectors with the percentages of charges within about one percentage point between sectors. The greatest difference in the relative frequency of allegations was in charges alleging age discrimination (Table 18). 19.8% of allegations filed by individuals against high tech employers included age discrimination claims, whereas such allegations comprised only 14.8% of allegations in other industries, a 5-percentage point difference that is statistically significant. There is also a statistically significant difference between the frequency of allegations of equal pay violations and genetic information discrimination in the high-tech sector versus in other sectors.”
Retaliation charges are the highest share of charge filings at the EEOC in the high tech, which is consistent with other sectors of the economy. That makes sense given that retaliation claims are not necessarily dependent on a particular protected class. They’re sort of all-encompassing.
After retaliation claims, disability-based discrimination charges are the next highest proportion of charges filed in the high-tech sector.
According to the EEOC, “[i]n general, women are more likely to experience sex-based discrimination, including harassment, when working in occupations and in a sector that are dominated by men.” The EEOC says that women occupy less than a quarter of high-tech jobs (22.6%) and make up only one third of all employees in the high tech sector (31.9%).
The entire report has a wealth of information on how the EEOC views the high-tech sector. Tech employers would be wise to review the attached report to get an understanding of the EEOC’s data. Generally, when the EEOC issues these types of reports, it’s signaling an area of focus.
Tech employers can get ahead of the EEOC by reviewing the data and making sure they’re mitigating risk going forward.