The Experience Tax: The extra toll Black women in tech pay in “years of experience”

Originally published in ZORA

About 6 months into a job, a (cishet, White, male) teammate asked whether my current role was my first as a Software Developer. I calmly explained that, no, I had been a Software Developer for more than five years, and that this was my fourth role in the field. After the conversation ended, I proceeded to have a brand new wave of imposter syndrome, anxiety, rage, and embarrassment.

Then I realized something: my five years of experience look very different than those of a cishet, White male. Yes, I had five years of software development experience, but I had also been paying what I now refer to as the Experience Tax on those years.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

The Experience Tax: the additional time and energy that folks with marginalized identities must put into navigating various challenges in their careers, which their overrepresented peers do not face.

Five Years of Experience Tax

During the first five years of my career in tech, I worked at four different companies. Each time I left a role, it was because of the racism and sexism I experienced at each company.

So, over the course of five years, I had to:

1. Learn four different architectures and code bases
2. Navigate four different team and company cultures
3. Encounter four different flavors of microaggressions and problematic company policies, both written and unwritten
4. Wrestle with three separate decisions of whether these issues were worth leaving the company
5. Conduct three different job searches and offer negotiations
…
Oh, and I had to manage two pregnancies through 18 months of those five years

Photo by Daniel Chekalov on Unsplash

So, forgive me if my technical skills have not advanced at precisely the same rate as my cishet, White, male counterparts. I imagine that if I didn’t have to worry about any of the nonsense listed above, I would have spent a lot more of my time and energy learning about data structures, scalability, and complex architectural decisions. But here I was, a mid-level engineer, getting mistaken for a brand new, baby eng.

A Brief, but Colorful Example

For those who need a more concrete example, or who doubt that the experiences were “really that bad” to rise to the level of leaving the company, here’s a quick example:

After coding bootcamp, I landed a junior developer role along with two of my bootcamp cohort-mates. About a year into that job, the highest ranking member of HR licked my face at the holiday party. Please read that sentence one more time.

Viola Davis “Unimpressed” GIF from Giphy

And so began my next job search.

It took about a month of applying and interviewing, then there was the two-weeks notice, orientation at the next company, ramping up on new technologies, and navigating a new company where I knew no one. So that all took three to six months in total.

During that time, my cohort-mates were advancing their skills in their original roles, and getting opportunities to solve more complex problems in a familiar codebase. We graduated from bootcamp on the same day, but a year and a half into our careers, they were moving forward while I was essentially starting over.

So, What Do We Do about It?

As Individuals

The most important thing we can do as individuals is to remind ourselves that we do deserve our seat at the table. We bring valuable perspective, and our voices matter. It’s not just your imposter syndrome telling you that you don’t belong; it’s systemic racism and sexism. And we’ve been dealing with that sh*t forever.

So instead of getting down on yourself about where you are in your career, take charge. Advocate for yourself. Take that online course. And surround yourself with people who will support you as you grow.

As Institutions

Tech companies need to eliminate the Experience Tax by creating a culture of belonging for everyone.

Oof…that might be an article for another day. I’m tired, y’all.