What should men do (and not do) to support the growth of women in tech? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

Answer by Doree Shafrir, author of Startup, podcast host, tech reporter, on Quora: What should men do (and not do) to support the growth of women in tech?

It starts with examining all of the unconscious biases men have that prevent women from succeeding in male-dominated workplaces. While gender discrimination can be overt, all too often it takes the form of more subtle actions. Do the men on your team all eat lunch together, for example? Do you ever invite the woman/women along? Do you socialize together after work without the women on your team? Do you have email chains or group texts that exclude the women on your team? When you have a big project come your way, are you including the women on the team or do they get the less important projects?

Those are some things men can do on a personal level. But there are also institutional things that companies can do to better support women. The first, of course, is to pay them equally. The importance of this can't be understated. PAY. WOMEN. EQUALLY. When you're hiring women, do you base their salary on their most recent salary? That's been shown to perpetuate income inequality, and has been made illegal in Massachusetts and New York City. If you have women on your team already who you know are making less than men doing the same job, give them a raise. Also, make sure that women are being given opportunities for advancement. Are you consistently promoting men over women? Do you look at your managers and see all or mostly men? Change that. It's also important to have family-friendly policies -- and to make sure that the onus to take them doesn't just fall on women. Encourage the men in your company to take family leave, for example. Don't think of family leave as a benefit just for women -- it should be for everyone.

And of course, when a woman brings an issue of gender discrimination or sexual harassment to you, TAKE IT SERIOUSLY!