A Double Whammy

As trans people we see the results of male privilege as no one can see it. We see life from both sides, male and female…

Transgender employees in tech: Why this "progressive" industry has more work to do to achieve true gender inclusivity
The tech industry is seen as being inclusive, but the reality for transgender workers is often very different.Tech RepublicBy Alison DeNisco RayomeOctober 25, 2019

Delaney King created a successful career as a freelance digital artist working in video games in Australia—with more than 20 years of experience and several awards under her belt, she had been headhunted by large studios and offered salaries of over $100,000 AUD. 

But that was before her gender transition. 

King is intersex, which means she biologically falls somewhere between the definitions of male and female. About four years ago, she decided to transition from presenting as a man to presenting as a woman. 
Despite her years of experience and accolades, suddenly studios were no longer eager to hire someone with the name "Delaney" on a resume. When presenting as a male, she had sent out about 10 applications, and received eight interviews and seven offers over the course of her career. As a female, she sent out about 10 applications, and received two interviews and two offers, one in a more junior position. 

"It's absolutely striking," King said. "It is essentially the same CV. It's simply that the rules are different as an apparent cisgender woman." (Cisgender is a term for people who are not transgender, according to GLAAD.)

The tech industry represents itself as a champion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. But the experience of transgender individuals working in tech has not always been as positive, suggesting there is still plenty more work to do before the tech industry is as inclusive as it likes to think it is.

One of the things that tell trans people if asked is try to transition after you get the job and you had one or two reviews under your belt… it makes it harder for the company to say that you didn’t fit in with the company was looking for.

Hill returned to freelance work, and began applying again to full-time jobs. She quickly noticed a far lower response rate with the name "Olivia" on her resume, and decided to conduct an experiment: She sent out about 100 resumes under the name "Michael" (*name has been changed) and 100 resumes under the name "Olivia" to jobs all over the world. 

The result? "I've had about 30 responses under my male name—I've had two under my female name, and one was a staffing agency," Hill said. "This isn't margin of error. The only thing that's different is the name." 

Research on unconscious bias—when someone makes a judgement based on a job candidate's gender, race, or other factor without realizing they are doing so—reflects Hill's experiences: Both male and female managers are twice as likely to hire a man as a woman in the academic sciences, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

I know a trans woman who was a project manager (she has a BSEE and a MBA) and before she transitioned “his” word was law, once she transitioned “her” word no one paid any attention to and it was until a man said the same thing that people that others listened. One time even a client asked her to get the coffee.

Before Averill transitioned from female to male, he had already worked his way up to an advanced technical team at Symantec. When he decided to transition to male in 2009, he first checked state and company anti-discrimination policies to ensure he wouldn't lose his job. His manager was supportive, and he worked with HR, legal, and the management team to draft an email to send to the company letting them know.[…]After a few years of hormone replacement therapy, Averill began to notice a distinct change: The people he had been working with for years started treating him very differently. 

As a help desk technician, his job was to help employees fix technical problems and explain his process for doing so, and teach them how to solve issues themselves the next time around. Suddenly, the same people who he had been teaching for years would stop him mid-process and say the same thing: "No, no, no, I trust you. Just give me the answer."

Here are my words of wisdom…

You are going to face “male privilege” first hand whether it is losing privilege or gaining privilege… be prepared!