Ellen Pao is a former Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers employee who sued the venture capital firm for mistreatment and gender discrimination. Pao argued that she was held back and eventually fired because of her gender, and her willingness to question supervisors about the situation. Pao sought $16 million from her former employer. Last Friday, a jury sided with Kleiner Perkins when it claimed Pao was fired for poor performance.
Nancy Koehn, a historian at the Harvard Business School, said the case was important despite the court's ruling.
"It's just a win. [There's] another glass ceiling having some serious cracks in it here. Silicon Valley has — for all its trumpeting of its own iconoclasts and non-hierarchical nature — been very much a boys club," Koehn said Tuesday on Boston Public Radio.
Koehn said the case made it clear that Kleiner Perkins was a very male-centric and male-dominated culture. She cited Pao's account of a company trip in which a male colleague made Pao uncomfortable.
"A junior partner said she should've been 'flattered' a colleague showed up in only his bathrobe at her hotel room," Koehn said. "What does this say about the surrounding culture and unconscious sense of behavior? It says a lot."
Koehn said a lot is explained by employees' after-work behavior. At male-dominated companies, women may not be invited out for drink gatherings, golf, or weekend ski trips.
"You can imagine that it's not necessarily malicious [to disclude women]. It is a kind of strangeness," Koehn said. "When you have networks of people that are remarkably similar, there can be something" threatening about anybody who looks different.
Koehn said, Pao's case could have profound implications for venture capital firms, Silicon Valley, and in industries where hiring and promotions for women lag.
"What we're seeing is another thunderbolt," Koehn said. "Silicon Valley is roiling — roiling! — in the aftermath. And that's a good thing."
>> Nancy Koehn is a historian at Harvard Business School. Koehn is the author of Ernest Shackleton: Exploring Leadership. Koehn joins Boston Public Radio every Tuesday at 1:30 PM.
