Eric Voorhis

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Doucette, John

Area of Concentration

Computer Science

Abstract

This thesis explores the topic of social discrimination in the United States of America's technology industry with an emphasis on occupations related to the development of software products. Reported employment statistics provide clear evidence that the technology industry as a whole is lacking diversity. This lack of diversity is mentioned at the core of many reports and surveys about discriminatory treatment or harassment within companies. The sparse representation of minorities, low retention rates, first-hand reports, and general surveys of discriminatory treatment and harassment shows us that many of these work environments, occupied by predominantly cis white men, drive away minorities and reinforce a homogeneous culture. We investigate using resume audit studies to measure bias in the technology industry because most literature about social discrimination in the industry focuses on stages before and after employment, and resume audit studies have not been used to measure bias in software development roles within the United States.

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