The reality of autistic women in tech
April 2, World Autism Day. A day devoted to people with autism and raising awareness. And what we’re about to say may sound cliché. As with other days where we pay attention to a minority or misunderstood group, every day should be World Autism Day.
Photo: Fredography
Admittedly, in recent years there has been a bit more attention to autism and neurodiversity in general. For example, we had the relative success of broadcasts about autism in TV programs such as “Taboe” and “Durf Te Vragen”, the work of lived experience experts such as Elise Cordaro and Magali De Reu, who published about the reality of living with ADHD and autism, as well as the research on inclusion and neurodiversity conducted by, among others, Odisee and Ghent University. We may forget many others here, but the point is that they have already moved many mountains.
A tale of flaws
At the same time, there is still so much work to be done. The time when autistics and people with other neurodivergences are considered equivalent to their neurotypical colleagues is still a long way off.
All too often, we view these divergences only as disorders or abnormalities. That’s not surprising either; from a medical or psychiatric point of view, they are also described as such. The name speaks for itself: “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” or “autism spectrum disorder”. The belief is that all people with autism, ADHD or dyslexia “have deficits” that make it difficult or impossible for them to function as ordinary people in our society. Unfortunately, this stereotyping causes the talents and potential of many capable, neurodivergent people to be overlooked and dismissed as unqualified. Stigmas like this make it more difficult for, say, a person with autism to thrive in our society — a true self-fulfilling prophecy.
Stereotyping unfortunately causes the talents and potential of many capable, neurodivergent people to be overlooked.
For example, someone with ADHD who has more difficulty focusing for a long time is often considered unsuitable to work for a company for a whole day. Or someone on the autism spectrum who needs clear guidelines and — at least according to the stereotype — does not tolerate change, for an organisation quickly seems only employable for specific, sometimes monotonous tasks. This leads to the belief that managing someone with ADHD or autism requires a lot of time and energy, resulting in a reluctance to recruit neurodivergent individuals or make them eligible for promotion.
This makes us sad and angry. And at the same time, we are not entirely surprised.
New wine in old bottles
Recently we watched an episode of the Belgian national television programme “De Inzichten” with William Boeva, a well-known Belgian stand-up comedian, as guest. William talks about his journey with a disability and inclusion in our society. He uses the metaphor of “the inclusion train”, in which the women’s carriage has left the platform the longest, but the carriage of people with a disability (including neurodiversity, which is not entirely correct) is still at the platform. A painful reality. And one that reminds us that women — hardly to be called a minority — too are still fighting for equity.
Indeed, relatively speaking, it was not that long ago that women were universally dismissed in society as inferior to men. This is evidenced by the late arrival of women’s suffrage and the idea that had been around for decades that women were naturally meant to stay at home with the children while men went to work. This inequity has still not been eliminated today, and in that context, initiatives such as Clusity, with their focus on women in tech, are desperately needed.
You may also notice a pattern here yourself... Labelling an entire group of people as less suitable or downright abnormal is something we have seen before. And later on also with, among others, people from the LGBTQIA+ community. Luckily, there has been a clear improvement in recent years.
Labelling an entire group of people as less suitable or downright abnormal is something we have seen before.
Intersections
However, those who find themselves at a crossroads of different (diversity) aspects often fight an even less equal battle today. This is undoubtedly true for women and nonbinary individuals on the autism spectrum. It starts with the diagnosis, which shows that women are less likely to be diagnosed with autism than men and are, therefore, less likely to know about and gain access to guidance. If the stigma then persists within the technology sector that men are better suited to technology, women and non-binary people will have an extra hard time and additional stigmas around neurodiversity certainly won’t help.
It is, therefore, not so rare that innovative ideas proposed by an autistic woman are more than once dismissed as nonsense, too theoretical, or even purist. A — in our opinion justified focus on the human aspect while scaling a tech company is also occasionally met with ridicule. “A woman’s idea,” you know, and it quickly ends up in the same drawer of unimportant, unnecessary, or unrealistic propositions.
As a result of the predominantly male environments, for a woman in tech, it often becomes a matter of adapting or leaving. Women with ASD then often appear to start copying the behaviour of others, an unhealthy coping strategy to fit in with the group. I (Daphné) can confirm that in tech companies I unconsciously dressed and behaved more masculinely to be accepted and heard.
In any case, the lingering stereotypes would make us almost forget that women and autistics were at the root of modern science and the computer — think Ada Lovelace, Albert Einstein, Grace Hopper, and Nikola Tesla.
Inclusive organizations
It goes without saying: the biases that remain alive and are based on outdated views, generalisations or clichés should disappear. It’s time to focus on the individual with their individual strengths. Because all too often, people are expected to live up to the same standards. We often see this for jobs with operational work, where all members of a team work separately on their assigned tasks and are, therefore, preferably interchangeable, while a multidisciplinary team consisting of different profiles would achieve better results. After all, research shows that diverse teams produce better products and ensure better customer satisfaction.
Although this does not mean that everyone is a perfect candidate for every job. Of course, specific criteria and hard skills often still apply. At the same time, things should occasionally be put into perspective, such as whether a strict requirement for a particular diploma does not cause indirect discrimination.
To those part of a minority or diverse group, recognise your strengths and the value these bring. Dare to put these on the table during a job interview and challenge stereotyped thinking. If necessary, seek support from advocacy groups like Clusity for women in the tech sector.
Recognise your strengths and the value these bring. Dare to put these on the table during a job interview and challenge stereotyped thinking.
It is time for management that prioritises people and the strength of teams even more. More than ever, let us look at what someone’s unique contributions can be to an organisation or team, considering their specific needs. Because, in the end, we all have them. In that sense, we are all (neuro)divergent.