Software giant IBM apologized this week after inadvertently insulting women engineers in what was supposed to be a campaign to recruit more women.
The company aired a commercial in early October starring a woman inventor hacking a hair dryer. The video, which mostly flew under the radar, highlighted the dearth of women in science and tech but was criticized for reducing women’s STEM contributions to beauty routine hacks.
Tech companies have been more open with their struggles with diversity, releasing troves of demographic data to give the public a better glimpse at who makes the products and content consumers use everyday. Women in tech have added to those efforts by being more vocal.
Women engineers used the #ILookLikeAnEngineer campaign this summer to break workplace stereotypes. The campaign was started by a full-stack engineer who was criticized online for not representing the typical engineer in her company’s recruiting video. The hashtag took off with thousands of women in STEM sharing photos of themselves and explanations of their work.
IBM’s ad seemingly countered those efforts. The company pulled the hairdryer video Monday and admitted the #HackAHairDryer campaign “missed the mark” but was intended to be “an experiment in re-engineering what matters in science” in a statement.
IBM’s overall campaign to promote more women in STEM, however, had a different direction and tone than the hairdryer video, featuring 26 videos of women IBM employees working on projects in medicine, plastics, and online privacy, the Huffington Post UK reported.
The company’s misstep isn’t the first example of the gender disparity in the tech industry and its consequences. Apple and Adobe were criticized for making a woman smile during a Photoshop promo at Apple’s September product launch. (The move nearly out its praise for having four women executives as event keynote speakers.)
The tech startup, Sportacam, received blowback for a programmer job ad last yer that requested applicants “be totally gay for code” and enjoy “making it rain on them hoes.” The company posted another job listing in February that wasn’t much better.
Last year, IBM executives were reportedly overheard discouraging the hiring of women because they “get pregnant again and again.” And Microsoft aired an ad for its All-in-One computer and tablet that showcased a bride-to-be using the device to plan her wedding and check Pinterest with ease.
As for IBM’s recent diversity efforts, it seems their initial instinct of showing actual women employees working for the company was a better call.