8 Ways To Measure Diversity That Have Nothing To Do With Hiring

Bärí A. Williams | Fortune.com | 20 April 2017

“It’s almost that time of year when America’s top tech companies release their annual reports offering the public a glimpse into the number of underrepresented employees across their ranks. Uber kick started it when the ride-hailing company released its figures this Spring; during the summer months ahead, other tech companies are expected to release their reports. While they offer a glance into how companies are faring in the diversity department, they don’t tell the full story.

Diversity gets people into the room, but inclusion keeps them there. True diversity is about more than just numbers; it must come with a heavy dose of inclusion. That means a company must be intentional about creating and fostering a culture where everyone has a seat at the table, not just entry to the room to watch as a bystander.

So how do companies achieve that? How can executives measure progress?

Don’t just look at a company’s hiring and recruiting trends. Here are eight others ways to measure how”

Read more here.

 

Apprenticeships Could Solve Tech’s Diversity Problem

Sylvain Kalache | VentureBeat |16 April 2017

“In case you missed it, Howard University and Google recently announced that they were partnering to attract more African American students to study computer science, targeting a segment of the tech population that is notoriously underrepresented (along with women).

The Google/Howard partnership is a small step (albeit an important one) with a specific goal — to bring more people of color into the tech workforce. The industry is truly missing out on a lot of great talent. However, the fact is that only by changing the way we recruit, inspire, and educate (train) students from the outdated “lecture and regurgitate” mode to a more progressive model, where students learn practical skills and improve their problem solving and collaboration skills via hands-on projects, can we hope to begin filling all the jobs now and in the future.”

Read more here.

 

This Entrepreneur Is Ranking Tech Companies on Diversity

Claire Zillman | Fortune.com | 10 April 2017

“For the last several years, companies in Silicon Valley have released diversity reports that provide snapshots of the demographic makeup of the industry. But a new report out Friday weighs companies’ recruitment, retention, leadership, and social impact to create a more comprehensive picture—and scored ranking—of tech’s diversity.

HP tops the list compiled by startup Blendoor with a score of 87. That figure takes into account a leadership team that’s 29% female and 14% people of color. Its workforce overall is 33% women, 7% black, and 14% Latinx.

HP is followed closely by Paypal, Intuit, Yelp, Apple, and Cisco. You can see the full list here.”

Read more here.

 

Tech Diversity: The Problems and Potential Solutions

Carla Rudder | EnterprisersProject.com |7 April 2017

“Transparency isn’t the solution

Citing Uber’s release of its first diversity report, Davey Alba commented in Wired that the company’s “dismal” numbers were not too far off from the tech industry average and challenged the notion that transparency is doing anything to improve the problem. She writes, “After a few years of similarly lousy reports and similarly uninspired rhetoric from across the industry, diversity reports seem to have done little to spur actual improvements in tech industry diversity. Seems like the best way to demonstrate commitment to change is to change.”

 

Diversity and Culture

If transparency isn’t the solution, what about culture? A Harvard Business Review article this week by professor John Traphagan points out the problems with culture – in particular, that it “isn’t just about unity; it’s also about division. Rather than a deterministic ‘thing’ that shapes behavior and unifies people, culture is something people use, often strategically, to achieve goals.” And when it comes to diversity, the article points out that “rather than making everyone feel included, praising diversity can make some people feel singled out or threatened.”

Read more here.

 

Apple CEO Cook Says ‘US Will Lose Its Leadership in Technology’ Unless More Women Are Hired

Anita Balakrishnan | CNBC.com | 6 April 2017

“In a rare interview, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that society, including the tech community, is not moving fast enough on issues like equal rights and diversity.

“I think the U.S. will lose its leadership in technology if this doesn’t change,” Cook said to The Plainsman, the student newspaper at his alma mater. “Women are such an important part of the workforce. If STEM-related fields continue to have this low representation of women, then there just will not be enough innovation in the United States. That’s just the simple fact of it.”

Diversity is “incredibly important,” Cook told the newspaper. He also touched on his platform as the most high-profile gay executive in technology.

“The impatient side says we’re not moving fast enough,” Cook said. “Everyone deserves the same human rights. I don’t hear anybody asking for special rights – just the same rights. I think that’s true not only in the gay community but many other communities as well.”

Read more here.

 

New Survey Shows No One in Tech Actually Cares About Diversity

Sam Petulla |NBCNews.Com | 31 March 2017

“A new survey of computer developers shows men rate the diversity of a potential employer as the least important consideration. Women rated diversity in the middle of their considerations, at the ninth most important issue out of 16.

The survey was conducted on Stack Overflow, a popular website for programmers to ask each other questions about solving programming problems. 11,455 members of the programming community in the U.S. were asked for the survey.

Its findings come on the heels of a report released by Uber into the diversity of its employees after immense pressure to investigate claims of systemic sexual harassment within the organization. It found that just 15 percent of technical roles — which include engineers — are held by women. That’s similar to the percentage of women in similar roles at Facebook (17 percent), Google (19 percent) and Twitter (15 percent).”

Read more here.

 

Hey Tech Giants: How About Action on Diversity, Not Just Reports?

Davey Alba | Wired | 31 March 2017

“UBER JUST RELEASED its first diversity report. For years, the ride-hailing giant shunned the practice adopted by most other major Silicon Valley companies. But Uber’s scandals have snowballed. Multiple claims of misogyny and sexual harassment suggest a company that doesn’t just have isolated problems but a pervasive culture of sexism. Uber’s responses have included a much-hyped conference call led by board member Arianna Huffington and this week the diversity report.

The numbers, to no one’s shock, were dismal. While a little more than one-third of Uber’s employees are women worldwide—close to the industry average—they only hold about one-fifth of the leadership roles, several percentage points lower than industry norms. When it comes to leadership jobs specifically related to Uber’s tech, the fraction of women drops to just over one-tenth, and only 15 percent of Uber’s engineers are female. Only six percent of the company’s engineers are black, Hispanic, or multiracial, a figure similar to other big tech companies.”

Read more here.

 

There Is a Supply of Diverse Workers in Tech, So Why Is Silicon Valley So Lacking in Diversity?

Maya Beasly | Center for American Progress| 29 March 2017

“As the United States continues to undergo a significant demographic shift, companies must diversify their employment base in order to remain successful and profitable. According to the 2010 census, by 2043, there will be no clear racial majority.1 In a purported first step toward increasing racial and gender diversity, technology giants in Silicon Valley began publicly publishing diversity reports in 2014. According to data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, in 2014, blacks and Hispanics represented only 1.9 percent and 4.4 percent, respectively, of the professional-level workforce—both tech and nontech positions—at the headquarters and local branches of the top 75 Silicon Valley tech firms.2 This equates to 101 black and Hispanic professionals at each firm—out of an average of 2,789 employees. Statistics for the entire Silicon Valley area are similar.3 In 2015, 2.2 percent and 4.7 percent of tech professionals were black and Hispanic, respectively.”

Read more here.