Tech and t-shirts have always gone hand in hand. Long before Zuckerburg made t-shirts his everyday uniform, tech companies were using the laid back piece of apparel to usher in a new wave of corporate culture.
However, thereâs one thing tech companies have always been, and are continuing to get wrong with their custom t-shirts. Luckily, the solution is simple! In this post weâll dive into what the problem is, what it says about tech on a larger scale, and most importantly, what you can do to fix it.
So itâs the middle of the workweek, and weâre doing what everyone else is doing when they need a break from work ââ reading through Quoraâs t-shirt thread to see what questions people are asking and answering in the t-shirt world. Okay, so maybe thatâs not a normal thing, but thatâs beside the point.
Scrolling through all of the t-shirt related questions, though, we came across a good one:
"Why are the free T-shirts that most tech companies give out during career fairs not available in ladies cut?"
Fair question. The issues women face in tech is very well documented, but what does this t-shirt trend say about tech on a larger scale? And more importantly, what can we do to fix it?
The tech industry as a whole is notorious for itâs lack of inclusion for women ââ particularly in technical roles. Hereâs a quick breakdown of female employees in top tech companies, provided by Statista:
Yeah, those numbers may look kind of bleak, and theyâre not surprising given this next statistic provided by Girls Who Code.
Looking at these two graphs, it might be easy to reason that the lack of women in tech is due to a lack of womenâs interest in tech ââ that if only 18% of computer science degrees are awarded to women, then it makes sense that they wouldnât make up much of the workforce, either.
The statistic from 1984 is telling though. It implies that double the women were pursuing degrees in computer science 30+ years ago than are today.
So why the huge drop off? Did women simply decide technical careers arenât interesting, or could it be more of a culture thing?
Per NCWITâs 2016 report on Women in Tech, women are twice as likely as men to quit their tech careers. And the top reasons for leaving arenât because of family, but because of:
The issue is definitely there, but the good news is that tech companies are recognizing this, and beginning to take strides to fixing it. But what does change look like?
Oh yeah, back to the t-shirt question! Why are womenâs t-shirts so underrepresented in the tech world?
A couple of replies to that original Quora post give some obvious answers:
To be fair, these are all true statements. Making sure all your ladies tees are accounted for is harder than just doing a run of unisex t-shirts and calling it a day. T-shirts are just a small part of a larger picture, but real change means thinking about these small things.
Now to get specific. We know that the issue of solving techâs culture problem goes way deeper than t-shirts, but this is the area we know best, so weâre happy to lend some pointers towards helping you order womenâs tees.
This is the perfect solution for the âitâs too expensive to order womenâs t-shirtsâ argument. When youâre printing the same design, the price per shirt doesnât change at all.
Take the two t-shirts below, for example. Same design, and the dimensions work well for both the menâs and womenâs cut, so theyâre all included in the same bulk t-shirt order, and you get the same price break as you would if they were all unisex.
Side note: thereâs a common myth that womenâs t-shirts cost more than menâs, but thatâs not exactly true. It might be in some cases depending on the manufacturer, but as a whole, unisex and womenâs cut tees usually end up costing the same amount.
A simple enough thing to do, but often gets neglected when people are ordering custom t-shirts.
Ordering t-shirts for the office? Pick two or three options and ask the women in the office which theyâd most like. Ordering for an event? Have everyone select unisex or womenâs cut when registering, that way you know exactly how many of each youâll need.
Weâve written about this before but weâll say it again, ordering womenâs t-shirts is notoriously tricky. But hey, progress doesnât happen without a little bit of effort.
When youâre ordering custom t-shirts for women, make sure you get recommendations from someone who knows t-shirts inside and out. The variation of cuts and fits is way wider for womenâs tees, so youâll want to make sure you talk to an expert about how each shirt fits, and which one will best serve your team.
Also, be sure to read through our Definitive Guide to Ordering Womenâs Custom T-Shirts. It full of great ordering advice and womenâs t-shirt recommendations, straight from the ladies here at Real Thread.
While we know we donât have all the answers for fixing techâs inclusivity problem, we do have the answers to fixing the womenâs t-shirt problem ââ and that weâre happy to share.
Want more advice on ordering womenâs t-shirts for your company? Let us help! Weâd love to chat tees, and help you set the tone for an equal, inclusive workplace.