Investors are still asking female founders about their future kids — even at a Gates startup

Phoebe Gates, 22, is not a typical entrepreneur. She’s the daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates and a Stanford University graduate navigating the minefield of Silicon Valley fundraising. 

Yet even with her last name, she has had to field the same tired questions that have plagued women for decades — questions like how having kids will impact their careers.

Gates and Sophia Kianni co-founded Phia, an AI-powered app that compares fashion prices for shoppers. According to Fortune, when investors pressed her and her co-founder Sophia Kianni about their plans for starting families, Gates turned to her mother for advice.

“Get up or get out of the game,” was Melinda Gates’ response.

While you may not have a Melinda Gates in your life to call on, recent studies show that gender stereotypes continue to persist far beyond the rarefied world of fundraising conversations between founders and investors. At a time when even some of the most privileged women in America are still forced to play by rules written in another era, experts say it’s up to the rest of us to rewrite those rules, one uncomfortable conversation at a time.

“Despite the progress we’ve made, outdated assumptions about women’s long-term commitment to work — particularly around motherhood — continue to surface in subtle and not-so-subtle ways,” Eloïse Eonnet, head career coach at The Muse, told Salon. “In my work with women leaders, I still hear stories of being asked in interviews how they’ll ‘manage it all,’ or being passed over for roles based on the possibility they might have children.”

The data backs her up: The Muse’s 2024 Women’s Workplace Experience Report found that 42% of women have encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during the hiring process, with C-suite women facing it at even higher rates. 

“These questions aren't driven by true curiosity, they’re about bias in disguise and they often stem from narrow definitions of leadership and rigid assumptions about what success looks like,” Eonnet said. “If we want to build inclusive organizations, we have to interrogate not just what’s being asked but why it’s still being asked in the first place.”

The so-called “motherhood penalty” is well documented, according to Iris Bohnet, professor and co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. 

“Research by sociologist Shelley Correll and colleagues shows that mothers are perceived as less competent and less committed to their jobs, less likely to be hired or promoted and paid less than women without children or men,” Bohnet said.

The broader trend is not encouraging. According to Fairygodboss’s 2025 Women in the Workplace Survey, 79% of women believe that recent moves by companies and the federal government to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives will negatively impact opportunities for women, according to the data shared by the company with Salon. The same survey found that women with higher education levels are especially concerned that leadership and mentorship opportunities will dwindle.

What’s the way forward? Bohnet’s advice is blunt. 

“First, I would give the employer advice not to ask such personal, and often illegal and discriminatory, questions,” she said. “Our first priority has to be to build workplaces where all can thrive.” 

When it comes to female students, she advises them to prepare well. 

“Be aware of the stereotypes that are still out there, and come well-prepared for pitches, salary negotiations and the like. It is good to know and demonstrate one’s worth through an outside offer, past accomplishments or brilliant ideas — and stay focused on what you bring to the table.”

While documenting your accomplishments is solid advice, Eonnet takes this advice a step further, encouraging women to remain committed to their values in the face of persistent bias and be discerning about where — and with whom — they choose to invest their talents.

“If you’re in an environment that routinely questions your commitment or potential because of your gender or life choices, that’s not a reflection of your capability — it’s a reflection of that person or organization’s limitations,” she noted. “Surround yourself with spaces and people who recognize that leadership is expansive — not defined by outdated norms, but shaped by impact, integrity and vision.”