Findings expose that the crypto industry needs to catch up to the larger tech industry when measuring gender-based inclusion.
The Association for Women in Cryptocurrency (AWIC), the leading global community for women and supportive allies, released its State of Inclusion Report with findings on workplace culture and inclusivity across the digital asset industry. The report represents the most comprehensive effort evaluating the state of inclusion in the crypto industry to date, yielding over 500 responses from 215 companies, nonprofits, and government agencies.
“Our report represents an industry-wide commitment to understanding where the crypto industry falls behind when it comes to inclusion,” said Amanda Wick, AWIC founder and CEO. “While some of these findings may appear to be discouraging, it’s important to bring this reality to light, recommit ourselves to elicit change as industry leaders, and find ways in which we can work together to bridge the gap.”
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Key findings from the 2024 State of Inclusion Report:
Inclusion in crypto does not score well against the more significant tech industry.
- Survey results showed that the crypto industry had an inclusion score of 43.9 compared to the larger tech industry’s score of 78 (via survey partner Diversio’s six-metric inclusion framework)
- When inclusion score averages were analyzed at the cross-demographic level (differences like race, sexuality, disabilities, or health conditions), the primary differentiator was gender
The crypto industry has a distinct gender gap
- Women ranked lower in satisfaction than men across all six inclusion metrics (culture, management, career development, flexible work options, safe work environment, and individual-specific experiences)
- The most significant variance was between male and female subgroups, with the greatest difference existing between heterosexual men and non-white LGBTQ+ women
- Pay equity was the most prominent gender-based demand (according to 50% of respondents) among workplaces surveyed, followed by improved feedback culture (41.7%)
- When surveyed on workplace flexibility, the lowest scoring groups were among racial minorities, especially LGBTQ+ non-white men, but women generally scored lower than men across subgroups
- Responses showed that the main concerns were about parental policies and work flexibility, namely, women seeking better maternity policies
The crypto industry feels unsafe to many
- When surveying experiences of physical, mental, or sexual harassment in the workplace, there is an astonishing disparity between the crypto and tech industries
- The “safest” members of the crypto industry (white, heterosexual men with no conditions) are still scoring 70% lower than tech generally
- 82% of women reported experiencing the industry as not being free from harassment, compared to 48% of men
- LGBTQ+ individuals report feeling unsafe at a rate of 68%, whereas heterosexual individuals report feeling unsafe at a rate of 57%
Individual corporate efforts matter
- Some company-specific data resulted in a higher overall inclusion score compared to industry-wide data
- This variance indicates that some organizations are effectively creating more inclusive environments and underscores the importance of company-level initiatives and policies in fostering an inclusive culture
“As industry leaders, it’s important that we have conversations about the reality of inclusion across the crypto and wider Web3 ecosystem,” said Michelle O’Connor, AWIC board member and vice president of marketing & communications at TaxBit. “With this data, we now have a clear view of what needs to change, and as an industry, we can take action.”
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