Game-Changing Diversity Lessons from Women in Tech

Molly Reynolds | Inc.com | 24 Oct 2017

“It’s fair to say that in terms of equality we, the people, have come a long way but I think what most people fail to realize is the actual length of the road. While efforts have been made to close the gap as it relates to gender and diversity, the tech industry is still behind. Even with successes there’s a mighty long way to go, and that’s why rally cries for equality and diversity are still being heard globally.

The call to action is loud and clear, and as recent as this past week, a rally was held in New York City for Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that aims to close the gender gap in technology. History has painted technology a man’s world, an idea ferociously being challenged. Over the past few decades, the assumed roles women should/would/could play in tech have been defined and defined, but as is evident by Google’s recent “memo” scandal from a former engineer, the struggle, sadly, is still real.”

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Diversity in Tech Is About More Than Just Stats

Carolina Milanesi | PCMag.com | 14 August 2017

“It should come as no surprise that tech is a big part of my life, not just my job. As such, many of the books around the house, podcasts I listen to, and documentaries I watch are tech-related. If you read my earlier column, you also know I have a 9-year-old daughter who is mixed race. So as a mom, I always try and make sure my girl has role models for her gender and ethnic background. When it comes to tech, however, finding names of black leaders is still not easy.

Let’s Look at the Numbers

The most recent Apple Inclusion and Diversity Report shows black employees make up 9 percent of the current workforce and 13 percent of new hires. When looking at leadership, however, that 9 percent drops to 3 percent, a number that has not changed since 2014.”

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The Key to Increasing Diversity in the Tech Industry

Cat Zakrzewski | The Wall Street Journal | 12 August 2017

“As eBay Inc.’s EBAY 1.12% first chief diversity officer, Damien Hooper-Campbell is helping break new ground daily for both his company and the tech industry as a whole. And a lot of people are watching.

Reports of sexual harassment at Uber Technologies Inc. and of bias in hiring and compensation at Silicon Valley venture-capital firms helped train a spotlight on the sector’s white-male-dominated business culture. In response, companies such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook Inc. have said they are making efforts to hire and promote more women and minorities and have released reports that measure the diversity of their workforces. Google’s diversity push sparked controversy recently when an employee wrote a memo critical of the campaign, and was subsequently fired.

Mr. Hooper-Campbell, who declined to comment on the Google controversy, says there is still plenty of work to do regarding diversity at eBay, a company with 12,600 employees and offices around the globe. In its first diversity report since it sold its PayPal unit, the company said its leadership is 2% black, 3% Hispanic, 29% Asian and 65% white.”

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Surprise: Google doesn’t make the top 10 best companies for gender diversity in tech

Emma Hinchliffe | Mashable | 12 August 2017

“It’s been a tough week for diversity in tech.

Former Google engineer James Damore’s memo has ignited a pointless debate about whether or not women are inherently less capable of careers as software engineers. With the memo treated among many as a legitimate piece of scientific analysis, it can be discouraging for those who see it as manipulating scientific studies to support a flawed and problematic premise.

The whole situation was reflective of larger problems with gender and racial diversity throughout Silicon Valley. Even at companies where engineers aren’t circulating arguments for why their employers should dismantle diversity programs, these ideas are pervasive.

So it’s convenient that the jobs site Comparably has a new report out this week ranking Silicon Valley employers by how they’re doing at diversity. When it comes to gender, Google does not make the top 10 (although the company is one of the top ranked for racial diversity).”

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It’s not just Google — many major tech companies are struggling with diversity

Rani Molla | Recode | 7 August 2017

“An internal memo written by a male Google engineer has reignited a heated debate about representation in Silicon Valley. Google’s new diversity VP has since come out against the memo’s central claims — which include statements about women being biologically unsuited to engineering jobs — but the debate still rages on.

Here’s a look at major tech companies’ comparative diversity, according to their most recent reports. Women make up at most 30 percent of leadership roles and less than 27 percent of technical roles at these companies.

Twitter, the smallest company by number of employees, has the highest rate of female leadership at 30 percent. It also has the lowest rate of women in technical positions, such as engineers at 15 percent.”

Read more here.