The world of web 3 is a huge space where women and men can make huge amounts of money. Recently, women in web3 have been complaining about how there have been some signs of discrimination within the industry. According to many reports, many women joined the Web3 industry because it promised more decentralization and inclusion. But those promises are not kept as more ladies complain of discrimination.
Cointelegraph, a crypto reporting company, interviewed several women with Web3 jobs, and they shared the treatment they were receiving in the industry. Some of them complained about how the industry is male-dominated, and sometimes those males make them feel like women are less likely to succeed in the industry.
While speaking to Devon Martens, principal blockchain engineer at Sweet NFTs, she said the crypto and Web3 industry is male-dominated, making some women resent the industry. In her opinion, since women in web3 constitute a small proportion of the entire workers, it makes other women feel it is outside the norm to join the industry. She also mentioned that women rarely make the top part of any Web3 management. They are mainly made up of males, making the womenfolk feel relegated.
"It is hard to pursue something as a concept and feels a little more realistic when you see people in those roles already. That is why it is so important to talk about what we can do to cultivate talent across the board, including encouraging women to get into the space," Devon Martens said while speaking to Cointelegraph.
More Reactions to the Discrimination in Web3
More complaints came from different women working within the industry. Sandy Carter, chief operating officer of the Unstoppable Domains, said women made up only a tiny percent of the whole web3 employee population. From her calculations, only 12.7% of the Web3 workforce were women. She mentioned the need for diversity in the web 3 industry — Women need to be promoted to more important roles rather than creating a hostile environment.
"When I announced I was joining Unstoppable Domains, I included a link to apply for another role at the company. Out of over 1,500 applications for that job, only 3% of the total applicants were women, and this stuck with me," she added.
Briana Marbury, CEO of the Interledger Foundation, also added her voice to the pool of opinions. According to her, web3 jobs have a" Bro Culture," which makes them look like a job only men perform. This leads to many of the female folk being sidelined.
"People, women especially, often self-deselect themselves from pursuing potentially lucrative, rewarding and purposeful career pathways in crypto — or technology more broadly — because they believe ‘it’s not for people like them.’ Intentionality is key here. There needs to be a lot of intention in the crypto space in shifting old tropes into new and inclusive narratives," Briana Marbury said while speaking to Cointelegraph.
Why it is a Pressing Issue
The lack of diversity within the Web3 industry is a delicate issue; it has driven many talented women who were supposed to mark an era out of the industry.
As one of the women pointed out, the Web3 industry needed more diversity to help bring more innovation to the industry. Sidelining women into the Web3 industry will drive away women who were supposed to make groundbreaking contributions.