Uploaded December 2017 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
When was the last time you felt like an outsider? Now imagine if you felt that way every time you entered your workplace. This is what many women and people of color feel every day at work, especially in the tech industry -- they have to overcome the anxiety of being treated like an outsider before they can do the work they were actually hired to do. This isn’t good for company morale or productivity. So what can employers do about it? Erica Joy Baker shares her first hand experience with overcoming the “anxiety gap” and advice on how to close it.
About the TED Institute: We know that innovative ideas and fresh approaches to challenging problems can be discovered inside visionary companies around the world. The TED Institute helps surface and share these insights. Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas.
Learn more at ted.com/ted-institute
Follow TED Institute on Twitter @TEDPartners
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/user/TEDInstitute
When was the last time you felt like an outsider? Now imagine if you felt that way every time you entered your workplace. This is what many women and people of color feel every day at work, especially in the tech industry -- they have to overcome the anxiety of being treated like an outsider before they can do the work they were actually hired to do. This isn’t good for company morale or productivity. So what can employers do about it? Erica Joy Baker shares her first hand experience with overcoming the “anxiety gap” and advice on how to close it.
About the TED Institute: We know that innovative ideas and fresh approaches to challenging problems can be discovered inside visionary companies around the world. The TED Institute helps surface and share these insights. Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas.
Learn more at ted.com/ted-institute
Follow TED Institute on Twitter @TEDPartners
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/user/TEDInstitute










