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The tech industry has a problem with women.
Despite the industry’s rapid growth, the percentage of female workers has actually decreased, from 35 percent in 1990 to just 26 percent today. Those with degrees in science, engineering and technology quit private-sector tech jobs at twice the rate of men, driven out by macho cultures, sexual harassment, lack of mentors and similar factors, according to a study published in the Harvard Business Review.
Tech’s lack of gender diversity has always been a problem, but the Ellen Pao sexual discrimination trial, consistently low showings among the ranks of tech giants and the often hostile online climate for women have together reignited the debate in Silicon Valley over what should be done.
Today, Re/code launches a new video series, “The 26%: Women Speak Out on Tech’s Diversity Crisis,” which features leading women on the front line of this issue discussing their own experiences, the challenges they’ve faced and how the industry can become more inclusive.
Our first episode is a conversation with Leila Takayama, senior user experience researcher at Google X and one of the world’s leading experts on human-robot interaction. In the video above, she discussed her early days at robotics pioneer Willow Garage, the importance of diverse perspectives in product design and how she has tackled subtle or explicit gender discrimination in her career.
Read all the stories in “The 26%” series:
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
