Why We Must Pay Attention to the Equity Gap

As the new Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact at Carta, I was thrilled to speak at and participate in our third annual Table Stakes event. For much of my own career, I had been taught to focus on the gender pay gap. According to the most recent U.S. Census data, a woman working full time earned 81.6 cents for every dollar a man working full time time earned. And for most women of color, the gap is even wider.

Having worked in public companies for most of my career, the gender equity gap was something that I had never considered.

In 2018, the #ANGELS hypothesized that the gender equity gap was worse than the salary gap. At Carta, we have the data to help track and analyze what we originally called #TheGapTable. Together, we created the first-ever report on equity wealth distribution by gender and have continued to report on the data every year since. Equity is the largest lever for wealth creation in Silicon Valley and beyond; we believe it must be distributed equitably.

At this year’s Table Stakes event, thanks to users who voluntarily and confidentially self-reported demographic information, we had enough data to analyze equity distribution by race and ethnicity in addition to gender. Here are three key takeaways from our event:

1. Without consistent data, there can be no progress.

Our 2020 Table Stakes study showed that for every dollar in equity that men collectively own, women own just 47 cents.  

While representation of women in the startup ecosystem has increased since 2019, an encouraging leading indicator, we have not yet seen that translate to commensurate ownership. 

Our data shows that women employees own less equity largely because they lack representation in the positions that have the highest equity ownership, including senior executives, early-stage employees, and engineering roles. 

Unfortunately, the lack of representation for women is compounded for People of Color, who make up a very small proportion of employee stakeholders in this dataset, consistent with reports showing an overall lack of racial diversity in the startup ecosystem. Notably, of Black and Hispanic/Latinx employees surveyed, very few hold a significant amount of equity wealth.

What gets measured can be improved. We must measure consistently so that we can push for progress when it comes to the gender equity gap. Carta is committed to continuing to do this analysis and provide the resulting information publicly every year. 

As leaders, how will you ensure progress in 2021? Will you review current workforce demographics, review your compensation structure, or study exit interview data to understand why your employees are leaving? What can you be measuring in your organizations on a consistent and on-going basis?

2. This community is ripe for change – and it’s already underfoot.

More than 3,000 people registered to attend the Table Stakes virtual summit last week. It’s clear that leaders are yearning for access to information, to understand how we can change our behavior to impact the greater startup and venture capital ecosystem. Each and every one of our actions can have a ripple effect to accelerate progress. 

“It’s not a pipeline issue- it’s a network issue. We need to get the right people to make the introductions,” said Stephanie Cohen, Chief Strategy Officer at Goldman Sachs. Access is what’s missing. It’s access to opportunities: to get capital as a new founder, to get hired as an early employee, and to get a seat at the table as a senior executive. 

In a recent piece I wrote for Entrepreneur, I discussed how the pipeline for Black and Brown talent exists. And that organizations need to invest in key partnerships. Leaders also need to be talent scouts and be intentional about making the time to diversify their networks. In our new world of remote working, be intentional about getting connected to talent you don’t know through virtual conferences and LinkedIn.  

As leaders, how will you ensure access in 2021? How will you create a more inclusive hiring process, and how will you ensure that all voices are heard when they have a seat at the table? How will you intentionally diversify your networks to ensure talent can get access to opportunities?

3. There’s a lot more to learn through grit and grace.

“You have to have confidence in order to have success. And you have to give back and bring others up with you,” said Andre Iguodala, Catalyst Fund.  

As we reflect on our own successes, we must also reflect on how we give back, and who we decide to support with our money and time. There’s a lot we can learn from our past actions and to reflect on how we can interrupt our own biases.  

As a leader, I am on my own learning journey and am working on uncovering my own biases. Do I have the same group of individuals I ask for coaching and advice at work, and why? Do I choose to work with the same suppliers and how else could I broaden my ecosystem? What can I personally be doing to continue to diversify my networks, and give access to talent who would otherwise not have been considered?  

When our individual biases go unchecked - of who we have confidence in and who we believe has what it takes to be a founder - it can have devastating consequences on the entire ecosystem. At Carta, we are on our journey to be more inclusive leaders. We are committed to our annual sharing and convening of Table Stakes, so we can learn consistently from the data and work collectively on the actions we will take and progress we can make together. 

As leaders, what are you committing to learning in 2021 about yourselves? How will you show up and act differently in 2021 before our next gathering of Table Stakes?