Eye on Asia | Closing the blockchain gender gap calls for more than token inclusivity
- Making the male-dominated world of cryptocurrency and NFTs more inclusive requires addressing deep structural biases
- Gaps in education prevent women entering the sector, while those who do pursue careers as artists or developers must contend with lack of funding, lower wages and crypto’s notorious ‘bro’ culture
Given that, at the same time, women were disproportionately affected by rising global unemployment, a surge in female employment in the space would have been expected.
However, less than 5 per cent of the world’s leading blockchain and crypto firms are led by women. In fact, all of the industry’s major projects have at least one male founder. The conditions are seemingly ripe for greater participation – why aren’t we seeing it?
Education determines a lot. Only 18 per cent of girls globally are pursuing tertiary studies in STEM subjects, compared to 35 per cent of boys. Meanwhile, children’s interests at school are equally shaped by prevailing cultural norms and biases.
Consider that in India, over 50 per cent of illustrations in maths or science textbooks predominantly feature boys, while only 6 per cent show girls. From a young age, children are inundated with gender-based ideas of what their futures should look like.
In Southeast Asia, especially, deeply entrenched gender norms continue to limit women and girls. In the early years of my career, I could see that women were expected to be quiet: to be seen as “difficult” to work with could mean missing out on opportunities to advance.