Women Got Only 7% of Speaking Time At Apple Conference

Apple’s WWDC 17 conference was dominated by White men. Women spoke for only 9 out of the 117 minutes, according to Mic.

What’s worse is that of those 9 minutes in which women spoke, most were dedicated to simply demonstrating a product, while another male speaker was in the foreground.

The three women who spoke -- iOS Apple Watch software engineer Vera Carr, Epic Games programmer Lauren Ridge, and App Store product manager Anne Thai -- did not demo anything new. 

Women only spoke for 8 minutes vs the 99 minutes the men spoke for at the Apple September 2016 keynote. They had fared better at the 2015 conference, speaking for 12.5 minutes, vs the 90 minutes men spoke for.

According to Apple’s 2016 diversity report, women comprise only 32 per cent of its workforce.  And 72 per cent of its leadership is male, 67 per cent of its leadership is White. But Apple is making moves in order to improve its gender diversity. It has appointed a VP for Inclusion and Diversity to inculcate diversity initiatives in the company. The latest person to hold the position, Denise Young Smith, will report directly to Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.

The percentage of female hires globally in tech was 37 per cent, according to the diversity report. Only 32 per cent of employees were female in the tech industry globally.

"We see diversity as everything that makes an employee who they are. We foster a diverse culture that’s inclusive of disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, and service to country. We want all employees to be comfortable bringing their entire selves to work every day," said Apple.

Also Read: Highlights From Apple WWDC 2017

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