Why Tech Degrees Are Not Putting More Blacks and Hispanics Into Tech Jobs

New York Times | Quoctrung Bui and Claire Cain Miller | Feb 25

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/upshot/dont-blame-recruiting-pipeline-for-lack-of-diversity-in-tech.html

“Technology companies employ strikingly few black and Hispanic workers. They blame the recruitment pipeline, saying there aren’t enough of them graduating with relevant degrees and applying for tech jobs.

“Yet the data show that there are many more black and Hispanic students majoring in computer science and engineering than work in tech jobs. So why aren’t they being hired?”

What It’s Really Like to Risk It All in Silicon Valley

New York Times | Claire Cane Miller | Feb. 27

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/upshot/what-its-really-like-to-risk-it-all-in-silicon-valley.html

“Before Nathalie Miller decided to walk away from Instacart, the grocery delivery start-up now worth more than $2 billion, she made a spreadsheet to analyze how much money she was leaving on the table.

“She had been Instacart’s 20th employee, managing operations during a period of extremely rapid growth, and the sum could have been huge.”

Being Black In The Tech Industry

NPR | Aaron Saunders | Feb. 28

http://www.npr.org/2016/02/28/468483901/being-black-in-the-tech-industry

“For African-Americans, rising through the ranks of the tech world is challenging on its own. Aaron Saunders is taking what he’s learned and using it to prepare young black programmers-in-training for the tough realities of a career where almost everyone is white.”

Trish Dziko is fighting inequality in tech, one student at a time

Crosscut | Cambria Roth | Feb 29

http://crosscut.com/2016/02/trish-dziko-is-fighting-inequality-in-tech-one-student-at-a-time/

“Twenty years ago, Dziko came up with the idea for TAF while promoting diversity for Microsoft in the HR department. There, she had turned a high school internship program into a program specifically for students of color.”

Black Woman Engineer Launches ‘Blind’ Job Match App To Take Bias Out Of Tech Hiring

Forbes | Clare O’Connor | March 3

http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2016/03/03/black-woman-engineer-launches-blind-job-match-app-to-take-bias-out-of-tech-hiring/#428b251c601c

Can Computer Programs Be Racist And Sexist?

NPR | Laura Sydell | March 15

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/03/15/470422089/can-computer-programs-be-racist-and-sexist

“Alciné’s conclusion is that there probably weren’t any black people on the team that designed Google Photos. Google says it did test the product on employees of different races and ethnicities and it has apologized for what happened. The company says it’s still early days for image labeling technology, and it’s working to improve it.”

What It Will Take to Make the Tech Industry More Diverse

Harvard Business Review | Susan Colby, Helen Ma, Kelsey Robinson, and Lareina Yee | March 15

https://hbr.org/2016/03/315-global-digital-ic-diversifying-the-tech-industrys-talent-pipeline

“It’s no secret that the hallways and cubicles of the tech industry aren’t exactly overflowing with female faces. Nor is there a surplus of black or Hispanic workers.

“In fact, for women, the technology gender gap seems to be getting bigger, not smaller.”

Why Minority Applicants Scrape Race From Their Résumés

Bloomberg Business | Sarah Grant | March 17

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-17/why-minority-applicants-scrape-race-from-their-r-sum-s

“A study shows that minority job applicants may be more likely to get an interview if they don’t disclose their race.

“Diversity has become a measure of success in business. Companies with ethnically and racially diverse boards are 35 percent more likely to outperform their industry peers, according to a report by McKinsey & Company, and investors increasingly look at a company’s diversity metrics.”

We must civilize the tech bros, for the good of humanity

Crosscut | Drew Atkins | March 2016

http://features.crosscut.com/the-tech-bros-must-be-civilized

“Here’s a fact: in a study that gathered data from over a million programmers online, the work of female coders was consistently ranked better than males… [however] According to the study, respondents only ranked women’s work as superior when they didn’t know the coders’ sex.”

Microsoft’s ‘Chief People Person’ speaks on tech’s diversity problems

Crosscut | Samantha Larson | March 2016

http://features.crosscut.com/microsofts-chief-people-person-speaks-on-techs-diversity-problems

“When she first joined Microsoft in 1989, she actually found the company to be a much more open-minded environment than she had anticipated. Microsoft’s readiness to see the merits of a broad range of skills in employees helped her get ahead, she believes. Taking her first job at the company as a product manager, she had a B.A. in sociology from Yale and an MBA from UCLA — and no background whatsoever in tech.”