A/B testing sexism: Interviewing as a female executive in tech

Lisa van Gelder shares what she learned from an accidental A/B test. Last year, she interviewed for a new executive job at the same time as two (white, male) friends, and they compared notes. Lisa explains how "unqualified" is used to reject marginalized groups in tech and what we can do about itboth as individuals interviewing and as hiring managers looking to improve the interview process.

Last year, Lisa van Gelder was interviewing for a new job at the same time as two (white, male) friends. Because they had a similar amount of experience and similar interests, they ended up interviewing at the same companies at the same time, and Lisa found herself in an unintentional A/B test. When they compared notes, she found that she had a radically different interview experience than did her friends. Lisa discusses what she learned from her accidental A/B tests, how the term “unqualified” is often used to reject marginalized groups in tech, and what we can do about it—both as individual interviewees and as hiring managers looking to improve the interview process.