Catalyze Seattle: The first study on gender in Seattle startups
Seattle’s startup ecosystem is among the fastest-growing in the country. The Emerald City also continues to earn its status as one of the hottest job markets in the United States. Yet, just one in five jobs in the rapidly-expanding technology sector are held by women, and just 17 percent of venture-backed startup companies in Seattle had at least one female founder.
Who we are:
M. Burwell, independent gender equity consultant and researcher, and author and journalist Ruchika T. Malhotra, both Seattleites, wanted to find out why those numbers were so low. But when we sought data on gender and entrepreneurship in Seattle, virtually none existed. So we set out to to fill that information gap.
Why startups:
Startups hold the opportunity not just to create jobs and financial value, but also social value. If we better understand how to build more diverse and inclusive startups, the potential impact as the company grows could help close gender and racial wage and leadership gaps.
What we learned:
Our study, the first of its kind, revealed fascinating insights into what contributes to gender inequities in Seattle startups. See key findings below, or explore the detailed findings. Due to a small sample size, we were unable to include nonbinary, genderqueer, transgender, agender, and other gender diverse statistics.
As an all-volunteer project, we are thrilled to share this data with the public. The startup industry is full of talented, innovative people. We invite you to use this information to create groundbreaking new companies that are inclusive from inception. Let’s do this right.
Key findings
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Seattle startups exhibit gender and racial wage gaps, plus a gender leadership gap.
Women are more highly educated, have more work experience, and are older than men in startups. Yet they are paid at least 10% less. We also found a 15% racial wage gap, and that women were more likely to hold entry-level, rather than leadership roles. See detailed findings on wage and leadership gaps.
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Startups push out parents, particularly moms
Survey results showed that unequal division of labor in the home, and startups lack of support for parents, are linked to gender gap in Seattle startups. Yet we also found that some startups were able to successfully support parents. See detailed findings on parents.
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Gender plays a role in feeling included in startup culture
It’s “death by a thousand papercuts” for women at Seattle Startups. Survey results reveal that feeling out of place or discriminated against due to male-dominated culture is indicative of a significant contributor to lower numbers of women. See detailed findings on Seattle startup culture.
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Gender linked to access to resources
We found that men tend to have easier access to mentorship, that mentors for all genders are more likely to be male, and that women likely face barriers in accessing funding. See detailed findings on access to resources.
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The percentage of women on the founding team linked to diversity
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Women, people of color, and parents of all genders were more likely to work at a startup that has more women on the founding team. See detailed findings on women founder effect.
Methodology
We surveyed over 300 employees or founders at startups in the Seattle area about their experiences. To gather responses, we invited folks from our personal networks that work at Seattle startups, and asked them to pass on the survey as well. We also promoted the survey online.
Data was collected December 2016, using the survey platform Qualtrics. Respondents self-identified as working at a startup, and we limited the company size to 250 employees or less. All responses were anonymous, and we collected both qualitative and quantitative data.
Catalyze Seattle was an all-volunteer project. It was ideated and led by M. Burwell, who also conducted the data analysis. This project was completed in collaboration with Ruchika T. Malhotra. More details below.
Respondent demographics
Gender
58% female
39% male
2% non-binary/prefer to self describe
1% prefer not to say
*Note: we would have liked to include data analysis of non- binary/prefer to self-describe respondents, but were unable to do so due to small sample size.
Race and ethnicity
1% American Indian / Alaskan Native
12% Asian / Pacific Islander
4% Black / African American
5% Hispanic or Latino
68% White / Caucasian
6% Multiple Ethnicity
2% Prefer not to say
Age
0% were under 18
4% were18-24
46% were 25-34
27% were 35-44
18% were 45-54
5% were 55-64
1% were 65-74
0% were 75 or older
Education Level
1% High school graduate
5% Some college
2% Two-year degree
52% Bachelor's Degree or equivalent
32% Master's Degree
8% Doctoral or Professional Degree
Job Level
34% Owner/Executive/C-level
14% Senior Management (Ex: Director, VP)
13% Middle Management (Ex: Manager, Sr. Manager)
5% Supervisor / Team Lead
33% Individual Contributor
Company Size
50% worked at a company with less than 25 employees
22% worked at a company with between 25-99 employees
28% worked at a company with between 100-259 employees