As engineer Susan J. Fowler’s viral account of her year at Uber underlined, a lack of gender diversity and faulty HR policies can lead to a vastly flawed corporate culture.
What Fowler Described
Fowler worked at Uber from November 2015 to December 2016. In her blog post, she alleged that her manager propositioned her when she joined the team, and that complaints to HR went nowhere. She also described a director explaining the falling number of women in her organization by saying “the women of Uber just needed to step up and be better engineers,” as the Guardian reported.
The post spread quickly because so many people in tech recognized parts of it. It wasn’t only about one manager. It described a system where reports were ignored and the people who made them paid the price.
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick replied indirectly to Fowler’s allegations with a company letter where he flagged stats of other leading Silicon Valley companies: Women make up less than 20 percent of technology teams at many, if not most, leading Silicon Valley companies.
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Women Supporting Women in Tech
Correcting imbalance and combating unacceptable behaviour are the responsibility of everyone in the tech industry. Right now, women are taking the lead. Whether through funding, advice, or mentorship, women are helping other women to thrive and succeed.
One of the keys to progress? Women funding other women:
The Clear Link Between VC Diversity And Success For Female Founders
But that’s not enough. VC firms often lack a female partner, which can create a culture of funding the familiar:
Propelling Tech Industry Success For Women: The Right Funders and the Right Insights
Funding the familiar is a real pattern, not just a slogan. Investors often back people who look like the founders they’ve backed before, or who come from the same schools and networks. When the people writing the cheques are mostly men, the founders getting them tend to be mostly men too.
Education as the Starting Point
Building the ranks of female engineers and innovators starts with education. Organizations like Hackbright Academy are bridging the gender gap in tech through teaching:
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Hackbright, a software engineering school for women, had been acquired by Capella Education Company in April 2016, according to Capella’s history. Capella later merged with Strayer Education, and Hackbright now runs as part of Strategic Education, offering coding bootcamps and training programs that employers sponsor for their teams, according to Hackbright’s site.
What Happened at Uber Next
Fowler’s post set off a chain of events that reshaped Uber. The company hired former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder to look into its culture, and law firm Perkins Coie investigated 215 claims made through an internal hotline. In June 2017, acting on the law firm’s recommendations, Uber fired more than 20 employees.
Later that month, Kalanick resigned as CEO under pressure from five of Uber’s largest investors. “I have accepted the investors’ request to step aside so that Uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight,” he said in a statement.
Fowler herself became one of the best-known voices on the issue. She was featured in Time magazine’s 2017 Person of the Year issue as one of “The Silence Breakers,” among other honours. In 2018, she was hired by The New York Times as its technology opinion editor, and in 2020 she published a memoir, Whistleblower: My Journey to Silicon Valley and Fight for Justice at Uber.
What It Means for Tech Companies
The Uber story showed that culture problems aren’t just an HR issue. They can cost a company its leadership, its reputation and its ability to hire. A single, clearly written account was enough to start that process.
For startups, the lesson is to build fair processes early, while the team is small: clear ways to report problems, people who are trusted to handle them, and leaders who act. It’s much harder to fix a culture after it has set than to shape it from the start.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Susan J. Fowler write about Uber?
In February 2017, Susan J. Fowler published a viral blog post about her year as an engineer at Uber. She alleged that her manager propositioned her, that HR didn't act on complaints, and that the company's culture held women back.
How did Uber's CEO respond?
Travis Kalanick replied indirectly with a company letter that noted women make up less than 20 percent of technology teams at many leading Silicon Valley companies.
What happened at Uber after Fowler's post?
Uber hired former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder to look into its culture, and law firm Perkins Coie investigated 215 claims. In June 2017, Uber fired more than 20 employees, and later that month Travis Kalanick resigned as CEO under pressure from investors.
What is Hackbright Academy?
Hackbright Academy is a software engineering school for women that works to bridge the gender gap in tech through teaching. It was acquired by Capella Education Company in 2016 and is now part of Strategic Education.
What did Susan J. Fowler do after leaving Uber?
Susan J. Fowler was featured in Time's 2017 Person of the Year issue as one of "The Silence Breakers." In 2018 she became The New York Times' technology opinion editor, and in 2020 she published the memoir Whistleblower.