I’m a Latino in Tech, and I Think the ‘Diversity’ Discussion Is Utterly Broken

Eric M. Ruiz | Observer | 31 October 2016

“It’s easy to see a lack of diversity in tech when we say it’s predominately “middle aged white men.” But if we look deeper into this designation of “white” we have the potential to see diversity. As Marc Andreessen points out, most startups look like the United Nations internally.”

Read more here.

 

The silver lining to all the bad news around diversity in U.S. tech

Hadi Partovi | Tech Crunch | 28 October 2016

“It’s true, the tech workforce in the U.S. is predominantly white and Asian males, and this imbalance is mirrored in university computer science classrooms. The numbers have historically been the same in grades K-12.  Research by the College Board has shown that females who take computer science in high school are 6 times more likely to study it in university.

In the face of this bad news “unless we take action now,” I’d like to call attention to the hundreds of thousands of K-12 teachers who are taking action now. The world should celebrate these educators and extol the awesome results of their action. Since 2013, in a short span of three years, over 400,000 teachers in grades K-12 have begun teaching computer science in their classrooms, starting as early as Kindergarten.”

Read more here.

How Female-Focused Job Boards Like Hire Tech Ladies Promote Diversity In Tech

Laurence Bradford | Forbes | 26 October 2016

“It’s not much of a secret that women are underrepresented in the tech industry — its lack of diversity has become notorious over the years. According to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), women represented a mere 15% of computer science bachelor’s degree recipients in 2014, despite the fact that significantly more women earn degrees than men. And in 2015, women held only 25% of all professional computing occupations.

Plenty of theories attempt to explain this gender gap — from the perception of tech culture as a “boys’ club” to the assumption that girls don’t perform as well in math and science.”

Read more here.

 

How tech diversity can find a home in data science

Ben Rossi | Information Age | 26 October 2016

“In space, no one can hear your gender. These days, it is common to acknowledge that women are underrepresented in science and technology. I have to say, however, astronomy is worlds apart.When I was an astronomer on the Hubble Telescope, looking back in time at the evolution of galaxies, gender issues took a back seat to the skies. As a female stargazer, I rarely experienced discrimination – science and her peers do not recognise bodies, only the brains inside. So, if some disciplines can counter the perception that the science, engineering and technology industries are female-phobic, why do others, like the digital technology world, suffer such chronic inequality?”

Read more here.

 

To improve diversity, go outside Silicon Valley

Selena Larson | CNN Money | 26 October 2016

“Improving diversity in tech must happen outside of the Silicon Valley bubble in order for the industry to progress.

That’s according to Leslie Miley, Slack’s head of engineering, who addressed a crowd at the Tech Inclusion conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. He called Facebook’s efforts to improve diversity “insulting.”

Hundreds of people assembled to listen and provide solutions for changing a technology culture that’s overwhelmingly white and male.

“I think [companies’] hearts are in the right place, but I don’t think their money is in the right place,” Miley said.

Miley, who is African American, said the issue isn’t that companies don’t care about diversity. Rather, they’re not investing in people and communities that can build more diverse and inclusive cultures.”

Read more here.

 

Kara Swisher on Tech CEOs’ Persistent Diversity Problem: ‘They’re F**king Lazy’

Karis Hustad | DCInno | 21 October 2016

“Kara Swisher is one of the most influential women in tech, without actually working for a tech company. She’s the executive editor and founder of Recode, a tech news outlet and events company, and has covered tech in Silicon Valley since 1997.

Over the years, Swisher has developed a reputation for high-profile scoops, a no-bullshit approach to questioning tech leaders, and cutting through the startup world’s jargon and euphemisms. (This past weekend at Tech Conference 22 at Harvard Business School, Oculus founder and CEO Brendan Iribe mentioned one of his previous companies “pivoted” and Swisher shot back, “That’s not a real word. It’s called failure.”)”

Read the absolutely amazing interview here!

 

Local tech companies need to look harder to find untapped talent

Tyrone Beason | The Seattle Times | 20 October 2016

“THE FIRST THING that tends to happen when someone new attends an event hosted by HERE Seattle, a networking group for tech workers and creatives who are interested in diversity, is they just stand there and take in the room full of black and brown faces and women.

Many of the group’s founding members are African-American transplants from the South, and they brought their Southern hospitality with them.

You’re greeted family-style; that is to say, eye-to-eye, with a smile and a look so knowing, you might think you’re at a backyard reunion.

HERE Seattle events are so special because gatherings like these in Seattle are so rare, particularly in a local tech industry that’s infamously lacking in diversity.”

Read more here.

 

Grace Hopper organizers struggle to practice the diversity they advocate

Megan Rose Dickey | Tech Crunch | 20 October 2016

“The Anita Borg Institute, the organization responsible for the annual Grace Hopper Women in Computing Celebration taking place right now in Houston, has a problem with racial diversity and not practicing what it preaches, according to several current and former employees. These critics see this as problematic because ABI positions itself as a leader in efforts around diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.

Aside from throwing this huge women in computing conference, ABI evaluates companies based on their gender diversity and parental leave policies, and works with partners like Google, HP and Intel to make the workplace more welcoming to women. But current and former employees say that ABI has lacked focus on people of color and leadership has been resistant or dismissive when asked to make inclusion of POC a priority. They have also said that the maternity leave policy at ABI is “abysmal.” That has left current and former employees questioning whether the organization is committed to including people of color and wondering when ABI will follow the same best practices it recommends to other companies.”

Read more here.