IBM turned off its controversial #HackAHairDryer online campaign. In an attempt to entice more women into the field of science and technology, IBM gets criticized on social media for nurturing sexist stereotypes.
IBM introduced the #HackAHairDryer campaign in October on social media. The initiative was meant to break a common, sexist stereotype that women don't like science or can't code.
Through social media, IBM sent a shout out to all women working in the tech industry to join the initiative by hacking their hairdryers. The posts received major blows and ridicule from women who said they would rather build robots than hack their hairdryers.
"The videos were part of a larger campaign to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers. It missed the mark for some and we apologize. It is being discontinued," said IBM. The company subsequently deleted the #HackAHairDryer page, posts, tweets and videos related to the burned initiative.
British businesswoman Baroness Martha Lane-Fox spoke about the ''unconscious bias'' women in tech experience. Lane-Fox hoped that the Internet would give women in tech an advantage. The lack of women in the tech industry continues to baffle Lane-Fox.
"All that's happened is that one bunch of very rich white men have transferred their money to another bunch of very rich white men and, worse than that, they are in a very small concentrated area of the world, in Silicon Valley," said Lane-Fox who co-founded leisure and online travel retailer Lastminute.com.
Women account for 13 percent of all STEM professionals in the United Kingdom, as per Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) figures. Many tech companies have tried in to break the stereotype that women are not interested in STEM careers. In October, EDF Energy's "Pretty Curious" also received major criticism for feeding off the same unfortunate stereotype of women in tech.
Women in Science and Engineering Director Helen Wollaston said that people were fired up by the thought that a woman has to be pretty to work in science. Wollaston explained that it's not what the "Pretty Curious" campaign is saying. EDF used the word "pretty" to attach a young girl's attention to science and start a conversation.
On the other side, educator and science communicator Emily Grossman added that using the word "pretty" is not exactly helping. Girls should see science as a field of work that embraces who they are, regardless of appearance and personality.
