Inside Intercom - Balance in the (work)force

Hey there,

Did you know that a lot of early jobs in the field of programming were held by women? Back in the 1940s and 1950s, programming was considered more like clerical work, an underpaid position with limited room for career progression. “Women are ‘naturals’ at computer programming,” in the words of Grace Hopper. Indeed, women occupied between 30 and 50 percent of US programming roles in the 1950s.

That changed as the computer revolution took off, and the industry quickly became almost entirely dominated by men. And it is only in recent years that the field has begun to tackle the gender imbalance – though progress is frustratingly slow.

Much of the discourse around that progress has fallen under the catch-all label “women in tech” – an umbrella term that describes the movement, the problem, and the solution. Any phrase doing that much work is going to mean different things to different people, and in our latest podcast, we explore those different meanings with some of the women who build Intercom.

It is a fascinating, nuanced episode, unpacking some of the challenges posed by how we collectively discuss gender equality, as well as celebrating the progress that has been achieved. Give it a listen, and give it some thought.

Let’s keep striving for equality,

P.S. We’re focused on building the future of customer communications. Join us – we’re hiring!

Intercom is the world's first Customer Communications Platform, helping businesses build better customer relationships through personalized, messenger-based experiences.

Intercom | 55 2nd St. | San Francisco, CA 94105

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