Microsoft's Nadella does about-face on women and raises

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sought Thursday to walk back comments he made at a women's computer science conference, when he suggested women don't need to ask for a raise — they should just trust the system.

"Was inarticulate re how women should ask for a raise," said Nadella on his Twitter account, using the hashtag #GHC14, for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Phoenix. "Our industry must close gender pay gap so a raise is not needed because of bias."

In a statement to Microsoft employees Thursday night, Nadella went further, saying he was "completely wrong."

Earlier at that conference, Nadella was asked to give his advice for women wanting to ask for a raise. He said it's not about asking for raises, and that women should trust in the system to reward them as they go along. Not asking for a raise is "good karma," because someone will know that that's the kind of person he or she will want to trust, he said.

The quote in this embedded video comes around 1:34.

This answer struck many in the audience, and on Twitter, as less-than-helpful advice, given recent studies on how women's salaries lag men's. The tech industry has also come under fire for hiring patterns that result in a workforce that's largely made up of white and Asian men.

At Microsoft, 17% of its global tech employees are female, according to a recent diversity report. Women also make up about 17% of Microsoft's leadership.

Maria Klawe, a Microsoft director who was interviewing Nadella, told him she disagreed with him on the raise issue, a response met with cheers and claps in the crowd. Then she gave some very practical advice to women: do your homework and role-play negotiating compensation.

In his statement to employees, Nadella said: "When it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it's deserved, Maria's advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask."

MORE FROM USA TODAY