White Paper

Diversity in Technology:A workshop for leaders promoting corporate diversity

STEMconnector®

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Contents 2 Forward

4 Executive Summary

6 Education and outreach: Building a better pipeline

12 Recruitment: Building a more diverse workforce

16 Retention: Moving beyond diversity to inclusion (belonging)

20 Conclusion

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“ We need to shift from diversity as an initiative to diversity as a culture within the organization. When it is stand-alone initiative, we use terms like ‘buy-in’ and ‘understand the need.’ We need to shift it to a discussion where it’s a mainstream activity that every manager, every team leader, and every team is responsible for.”

— Balaji Ganapathy, Head of Workforce Effectiveness, Tata Consultancy Services

“ These are trying times for companies as they work to make sure they are not just operating in safe spaces, but that they are improving productivity by embracing diversity in technology.”

— Edie Fraser, Chairperson and Founder, STEMconnector® and Million Women Mentors“Creating a culture of inclusion must start with a goal. You have

to know what the objectives are and what you are trying to solve, and then put a framework to that. The commitment to this can’t

be responding to a policy. It needs to be an end-to-end process.”

— Barbara Williams-Hardy, Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, NetApp

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by Surya KantPresident, North America, UK & Europe

Balaji GanapathyHead of Workforce Effectiveness, TCS

We now know that 35% of core skills will change between 2015 and 2020 and 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in jobs that currently don’t exist. We are experiencing a workplace revolution, predominantly created by the introduction of new technologies. While the world of work evolves, digital and technology related skills remain at the core of the reskilling and upskilling pathways that will help individuals adapt to the future.

Globalization, demographics and geopolitical transformations are already making a significant impact at work. As technology develops at an accelerated pace, there is growing concern about the impact on jobs and the subsequent risks for businesses, governments and people. Preparing future ready talent and redeploying human potential could empower the individual and emphasize human skills and capabilities.

As we work to ensure our talent is ready for the future, specific attention must be paid to having the right talent for the right job. Demographic trends indicate that women and minorities are the

Foreword

Diversity drives innovation and inclusion increases competitiveness.

“It is a noble thing for our society to make sure we have all sections of our population represented in our workforce. Organizations that focus

on diversity and are committed towards building an inclusive workspace will be able to attract and retain top talent.”

— Surya Kant

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fastest-growing segments of the U.S. workforce. Despite rising levels of education, women and minorities continue to be underrepresented in the workforce—especially in high potential sectors and high paid, highly rewarding jobs. According to the latest data, on average globally, women have less than two-thirds of the economic opportunity that men have.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that between 2010 and 2020, there will be about 1.4 million computing-related job openings in the United States. While highly qualified women and underrepresented minorities are appropriately positioned to move into these open jobs, the industry is failing to attract, retain and promote this talent. Therefore, organizations that focus on diversity and are committed towards building an inclusive workspace will be able to attract and retain top talent.

As an equal opportunity employer, TCS has embraced diversity within its processes and operations. TCS’ talent acquisition strategy has resulted in greater diversity of people, geographic locations, skills, and cultures. We have employees from 130 nationalities, and we are

also one of the largest employers of women in the world. We employ more than 130,000 women and have adopted several progressive policies to promote gender equity at the workplace, at all levels of the organization. Whether it is through initiatives that provide mentorship, professional development or sponsorship, we are striving towards achieving gender balance at the middle management and leadership levels.

In the last five years, TCS has hired more than 12,500 people in the US, making us one of the top two local job creators within the IT sector. This includes nearly 1,000 campus hires from U.S. colleges and universities in the past five years. In 2017, TCS was also named the Top Employer in the U.S. for the third consecutive year. While we are proud of these accomplishments, we are also resolute in our determination to move in needle for diversity in technology roles and careers, across all sectors.

Innovation enhances our ability to bring novel solutions to the table and serve the needs of our clients. And such innovation and creative thinking comes from having teams that contain people from different backgrounds and offer different perspectives. We recognize that industry must play a key role in public-private-education partnerships to inspire and prepare diverse talent of the future, who can become great innovators, entrepreneurs and succeed in jobs that do not even exist today. We cannot rest until we create pathways to significantly improve equity and access, so that we can have a workplace that reflects the real world around us.

“Innovation enhances our ability to develop novel solutions. The fact that we have people who bring different perspectives to the organization enhances the

solutions we develop, how we develop them, and the way we deliver.”

— Balaji Ganapathy

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Executive SummaryTechnological advancement is a major driver for growth and development. It has become a key differentiator between organizations, regions, and countries. It is transforming industries at an unprecedented clip—creating, changing, and reinventing jobs and sources of wealth at a breakneck pace.

Despite these radical shifts in industry needs, the sector’s workforce demographics have not kept pace with that of the general workforce. Racial and ethnic minority representation in the tech sector has improved by only 1–2 percent over the past 15 years. Female representation has fallen by one percent in that same period.1

In terms of the current tech workforce:

n Women represent just 28 percent of the tech workforce compared to 47 percent of the overall workforce.

n Women with a STEM degree are more than twice as likely as their male counterparts to work in non-STEM areas rather than in a STEM occupation (14 percent for women versus 6 percent for men).2

n Black, Latino, and Native American employees make up only 12–15 percent of the overall tech workforce compared to 31 percent of the general labor force.3

Lost opportunityFrom a financial standpoint, companies in the tech sector that lag in building a diverse workforce are potentially missing out on billions in profits. Research indicates that the tech industry could generate an additional $300–$370 billion by improving racial and ethnic diversity. By improving gender diversity, it stands to generate an additional $320–$390 billion.4

Moreover, companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to outperform their national industry medians. Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to outperform their respective national industry medians.5

And there’s a more urgent need to ramp up qualified hires as well. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 1.1 million computing-related jobs will need to be filled by 2024, but more than two-thirds could go unfilled due to a lack of college graduates with computing-related degrees.6

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In light of these findings, more organizations are declaring their support to improve diversity in the workforce. Several tech giants—such as Google, Pinterest, and Amazon—are even making their goals and progress public or investing heavily in strengthening diversity in the talent pipeline.

Progress is being realized, but there is much work to be done.

A call for changeOn August 23, 2017, change leaders from a wide range of industries came together to discuss the issue at the Diversity in Technology roundtable, held at Convene in New York City and hosted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and STEMconnector®. The roundtable was the fifth in a series on the future of tech jobs across all sectors. The intent of this roundtable was to advance the conversation on diversity and inclusion in tech jobs through thought leadership, networking, and exposure. Power talks, panel discussions, and small-group breakouts provided stakeholders with the opportunity to engage in in-depth consultation on:

n Strategies for reaching diverse populations early, in the K-12 system

n Techniques for eliminating barriers to recruitment and finding diverse recruiting sources

n Practices for fostering an inclusive culture that supports retention

This white paper draws upon participants’ insights shared at the roundtable. As the conversations revealed, organizations need to think about diversity and inclusion not as a performative act, but as a prescriptive endeavor. It is a journey that encompasses outreach, recruitment, and retention—all three areas where shortcomings in the process are either preventing or discouraging diverse candidates from joining and staying in tech careers.

It is not a quick and easy path. To succeed in building a diverse and inclusive workforce, companies cannot focus on only one stop along the pathway. They must structure their efforts to improve equity, access, and inclusion within the context of their culture. Organizations across the private and public sectors are actively collaborating to identify and solve the challenges to building a diverse workforce.

On August 23, 2017, change leaders from a wide range of industries came together to discuss the issue at the Diversity in Technology roundtable, held at Convene in New York City and hosted by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and STEMconnector®. The roundtable was the fifth in a series on the future of tech jobs across all sectors.

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Education and outreach: Building a better pipelineCompanies that are under fire for a lack of diversity in their workforce point to a dearth of diverse talent in the pipeline. There is some truth to this—more underrepresented populations need to be encouraged to pursue their interests in tech—but it is not the whole story.

Building a more diverse pipeline of talent needs to start with early outreach to underrepresented youth, particularly during the middle school years when interest in STEM peaks. By high school, many girls and students of color lose interest. Their confidence wanes, they do not have role models to look to, or they find the curriculum to be irrelevant.

Students from underrepresented populations also need greater familiarity with careers and access to hands-on computer science activities. For example, in the United States, a recent study found that only 55 percent of seventh- to 12th-grade students were aware of opportunities to learn computer science in their communities. More concerning, only 58 percent of teachers were aware of such opportunities.7 Without a universal infrastructure or policies to ensure relevant computer science courses are taught, access to computer science coursework in the middle and high school years is a factor of chance.

These challenges are exacerbated by the growing gap between equity and economic disadvantage. Students who come from economically disadvantaged households and communities often do not have the same access to technology as their more affluent peers. For these students, the digital divide may be only one of many obstacles they face, including finding safe spaces, stable housing, transportation.

Businesses that want to invest in strengthening the pipeline have their own challenges and hurdles, starting with finding the right segue into the education ecosystem. Some believe that they have trouble attracting students to outreach programs because they lack a “buzz-worthy” name. And it is not always clear how and where they should invest knowledge, people, and financial resources to have the most impact.

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Inspire students with meaningful, hands-on opportunitiesPerhaps the best way to encourage interest in tech-related jobs is to show students what those opportunities look like with hands-on, meaningful activities.

Internships are a natural option to connect with college students and, to some degree, high school students. But organizations that do not have the capacity to offer internships or that want to target younger students can lend experts to classrooms, after-school programs, and community centers. Other options include hosting or supporting robotics, programming, and other tech-related competitions. Research-based curriculum and programs that emphasize the skills needed for future careers while showcasing cool tech are widely available. There are programs such as Aspirations in Computing and groups like the Boys and Girls Club that provide an established infrastructure on which to build.

TCS works with numerous organizations to bring industry experts into classrooms to inspire students and, by extension, provide greater awareness of careers in the tech field. In one instance, TCS volunteers worked with students to design their own apps to solve social issues. While the students did not actually build the apps, they worked through the

design and storyboarding process, learning how to collaborate and advocate for their ideas in the process. The entire exercise was interdisciplinary, pulling in digital fluency and computational thinking skills that will be essential for future careers.

Develop and support mentorship programsMentorship programs are a valuable tool for encouraging students who have an aptitude for and interest in the computer science field. Only 27 percent of African American and 24 percent of Hispanic students report they know a computer science professional, as compared to 30 percent of whites and 37 percent of Asians.8 Pairing these

“Intellectual capital, tech capital, human capital and financial capital: It’s all about bringing what you can to your partners. We do our best to bring the tech, to bring the industry experts into the classroom, but at the same time you have to be able to pivot and bring crucial concepts into the classroom.”— Lina Klebanov, Senior Manager,

Corporate Social Responsibility, Education Programs, North America, TCS

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students with someone who looks like them or who has a similar background provides a means to picture themselves in the field.

This requires recruiting diverse mentors, looking at such characteristics as gender, race, ethnicity, even socio-economic and education background. For the program to make a significant impact, the mentors must be empowered to foster a degree of engagement that extends beyond a weekly email check-in. Supporting this level of involvement will require flex-time policies that allow mentors to meet with their mentees after school or during the day.

Focus on computational thinking and digital fluencyEmployment across many sectors, not just technology, requires digital fluency, a trend that is only going to accelerate in the coming

decade. In fact, a third of the skillsets required to perform today’s jobs will be new by 2020, and 65 percent of children entering grade school today will be employed by jobs that do not currently exist by the time they graduate.9

In response, educational and business leaders need to focus on skills that will be fundamental to the workforce of the future, such as

Companies across different sectors are concluding that the common denominator for anyone entering 21st century jobs is digital fluency, innovation excellence, and employability skills. If we have talent with these capabilities, we are moving in the right direction.” — Balaji Ganapathy, Head of Workforce

Effectiveness, Tata Consultancy Services

In September of 2017, Tata Consultancy Services, in partnership with Discovery Education, launched Ignite My Future in School, a multi-million dollar and first-of-its-kind initiative to use computational thinking as a catalyst to transform education in America. This program will enable educators, administrators, and school districts to become ambassadors of a transdisciplinary approach and introduce computer science within the context of core subjects such as English, mathematics, social studies, science, and the arts.

The goal is to engage 20,000 teachers and more than one million students over the next five years. Educators will be provided with high quality professional development content that aligns with existing curricular requirements, enabling them to reach students in a compelling, hands-on manner to learn computational thinking concepts and apply such digital skills to solve real world problems.

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computational thinking and digital fluency, and teach them to all students. The education and business sectors can partner in unique and innovative ways to develop scalable curriculum and learning tools. The programs need to be multidisciplinary to reflect the realities of 21st century workforce demands. They should also focus on employability skills, such as leadership, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and adaptation, that are fundamental to a life-long learning mindset.

Support teacher externships

Teacher development also needs to be re-evaluated for the 21st century workforce. In a recent report by Google10, schools named a lack of qualified teachers and funds as key barriers to offering computer science. Many teachers may have knowledge of the skills that are in demand in the tech sector or understand how to fold

those skills into the disciplines they teach. And given the pace at which technology moves, they may not have current training on how to best prepare students for a rapidly changing economy.

This challenge has given rise to externships, or programs that embed teachers in the private sector for a limited time to better understand how the topics they teach translate into jobs. Through externships, teachers can get a better sense of how technology is used in the broader workforce. And just as important, they can see first-hand the interdisciplinary nature of the tech industry in the 21st century workforce.

“If we can get teachers out into the business world and learn some of these technologies, it will spark them to rework their curriculum and make it more contemporary, even as the technology is evolving. We can get students excited, but if the curriculum is out of date, we are not going to get very far.” — Barbara Chang, Executive Director

of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, New York City

The New York Department of Education is building a pilot program for externships that will provide teachers with an “on the ground” understanding of economic and career trends that are impacting students, as well as work-based practices that can inform instruction. The pilot is targeting fields and industries where technology and the rate of innovation is such that teachers need additional exposure to ensure their knowledge and skills keep pace with industry practices. The program will run student internships and teacher externships in tandem to have a direct and meaningful impact on learning.

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Partner with organizations that have established programs and relationshipsOne of the top challenges for private sector stakeholders that want to get involved is figuring out how:

n How to structure a programn How to foster partnerships with the educational

sectorn How to identify the right places to get the most

from their investmentn How to best use their own resources based on

time and financial constraints

Rather than build this infrastructure from scratch or support one-off programs in individual schools, partnerships can be formed with education, workforce development, and nonprofit agencies at the local, state, and national levels. Often these agencies and nonprofits serve as “brokers of opportunity,” lining up businesses with vetted partners, such as schools, after-school programs, and community programs.

Through these partnerships, funding, industry experts, equipment, and space can be better allocated to areas where they are needed most.

Google partnered with design firm Kurani and community groups to create the Code Next Lab in Oakland, California. The space, stocked with cutting-edge tech, is designed to inspire the next generation of transformational Black and Latino computer scientists, starting with students in grades 8-10. Google has also partnered with Howard University to open Howard West on its Mountain View, California, campus. Howard West aims to bridge the geographical, academic and cultural divide between declaring a CS major and landing a

“We learned that we have to get proximate to the underrepresented communities we want to work with. We are working with organizations that are doing this work to build the curriculum and to make sure the curriculum is being evaluated properly.” —Peta-Gay Clarke, Community Manager, Google

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job in Silicon Valley. Howard West brings Howard students to Google in the summer to take classes from Howard faculty and Google employees, and earn credit towards their degrees.

Contribute to the national conversationCountries around the globe are confronting barriers to diversity in the tech sector. Member-driven organizations such as NCWIT, STEMconnector, and UN Women are working to change the dynamic by elevating the

“By building the evidence and the research and resources that are free to everybody, we want people to do things in a more consistent fashion that has proven to be effective. That is how we will get to where we need to be faster.” — Avis Yates Rivers, President and CEO,

TCGi and Board Member, NCWIT

conversation and providing consistent and scalable programming at the national (and even international) level. Stakeholders can help shape the conversation by supporting and contributing to research- and evidence-based initiatives to improve diversity in the tech workforce. Programs such as Sit with Me and Aspire IT provide the infrastructure to engage diverse students in computer science—reinforcing that multiple, novel paths do not necessarily need to be forged to connect with diverse student populations.

Advocate for educationAdvocacy may be required to help families and local education and community leaders understand the relevance of technology in their communities. Rural leaders may feel far removed from the tech jobs that are exploding in urban centers, thinking there are few opportunities for students close to home, when in reality technology skills are in high demand across sectors and geographies. Families may also not recognize the inherent value in tech-related degrees and credentials, steering their children toward other career paths—or away from higher education altogether.

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Recruitment: Building a more diverse workforceOrganizations around the globe have made tremendous progress is raising awareness about the need to diversify the talent pipeline. But the investment in outreach is wasted if companies are not following through by recruiting diverse candidates. The numbers lay bare the discrepancies between interest in and available career opportunities for people of color. For example, black and Latino students earn nearly 18 percent of computer science degrees, yet they make up only a fraction of the tech sector workforce. 11

The next step on the journey is for companies to systematically identify and clear their internal hurdles to recruiting diverse talent. This requires a holistic evaluation of the entire recruitment framework, from where companies seek candidates to how hiring managers are trained and how the company structures its job descriptions and interview processes. The key is to eliminate implicit bias at every step of the recruitment process to provide greater equity and access to opportunities.

These efforts need to be codified with policies that support diverse recruitment practices and that hold recruiters and hiring managers accountable for improving diversity in the talent pool. The policies need to be structured around specific goals for what the company wants to accomplish.

Train recruiters and hiring managers on implicit biasRecruiters and hiring managers are the gatekeepers to diversity for a company’s workforce. To improve diversity in recruitment, a mix of implicit bias training and accountability measures needs to be employed. The training needs to focus on not just what implicit bias is, but what forms it can take during the talent acquisition process. It needs to convey the “why” behind the push to diversify the workforce—that it will help the company improve its competitiveness. Interview guides can reinforce the training principles and concepts.

Indeed, the online job search company, approaches unconscious bias training as a conversation. In the give-and-take of this

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format, employees can develop greater insight into how implicit bias impacts innovation in the workplace. In this way, it helps recruiters and hiring managers understand that casting a wider net for diverse talent or building more diverse interview slates is not about just checking a box.

Review the job descriptionImplicit bias can also creep into the process through the job description. To combat this, words and action items that might discourage diverse candidates from applying need to be eliminated. Describing a workplace as “millennially driven” with “lots of happy hours” may prompt older candidates to look elsewhere, just as criteria requiring extensive experience will discourage millennial candidates from applying. Language that is associated with one gender over another, such as looking for a “hard-driving” individual, which may be perceived as favoring a male candidate, and gender-specific language also needs to be scrubbed.

“When you want to hire someone who thinks like you and have more similarities than differences, this thinking process could be attributed to unconscious bias and when left unchecked, you end up with a homogeneous team.”— Donna DeBerry, Director of

Global Inclusion and Diversity, Indeed

Expand the talent poolTo attract a more diverse pool of talent, businesses need to evaluate where they are seeking candidates. Where are they investing their college recruitment efforts? Do those schools have a diverse student body? What are they doing to engage diverse talent?

Recruitment activities should be broadened from a narrow selection of schools to those that serve underrepresented populations, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HIS), state colleges, and even community colleges. Rather than focus on where the applicant attended school, first determine what qualifications are needed and then identify a range of schools that can deliver. Degree requirements should also be evaluated to determine if a certification or an industry-approved credential will do in place of a four-year degree.

Tapping into professional organizations that represent diverse populations, such as such as the Black Data Processing Associates and WomEng, is yet another source for mining qualified talent. Often these associations have a student chapter as well as a professional chapter, providing pathways to both new and experienced talent.

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Consider nontraditional talentNot all talent follows a traditional college-to-career path. Military veterans may leave the service with technical training, diverse skills, and a strong work ethic, but without a four-year degree. Other individuals may have potential and aptitude, but they lack a college degree or the right network for gainful employment. One “shortcut” for businesses to both staff up quickly and tap into a diverse pool of talent is to connect with agencies and nonprofits that reskill these underemployed, diverse candidates with in-demand credentials.

Create diverse interview panels and talent slatesThe interview process is another hotspot for implicit bias. Just as recruiters and hiring managers are susceptible to recruiting within a comfort zone, homogenous interview panels trend toward status quo bias. Moreover, women and people of color who do not see diversity reflected in the interviewers may feel they are not a good fit and self-select out. What is needed are policies that require recruiters to assemble diverse candidate slates and interview panels when feasible. The policy can be backed by accountability measures to ensure follow-through.

In its efforts to diversify its salaried and management levels of staff, Smithfield Foods has set goals to recruit underrepresented populations for the companywide internship program. The company also conducts pipeline audits to ensure that, when possible, a diverse pool of talent is presented to the hiring manager in line with the company’s diversity and inclusion objectives.

“There are perceptual barriers that someone without a degree cannot do the work, but there is a whole range of jobs where having an industry-recognized credential is the answer.”— Bertina Ciccarelli, CEO, NPower

NPower is a nonprofit which operates in seven cities in the United States and Canada. NPower works with military veterans and underserved youth to create pathways to economic prosperity with digital careers. The organization offers free training, including accelerated training for high-demand credentials, paid internships, mentoring, and career workshops. NPower students receive high-tech training and can build their resumes, while NPower’s partner businesses have access to a more diverse talent pool. More than 80 percent of NPower alumni are employed or pursuing higher education within one year of graduation.

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“At Smithfield Foods, we put a spin on ROI; we call it the principles of responsibility, operational excellence, and innovation. We, as leaders, have a responsibility to make sure we are creating an organization that is as rich as our customer base.”— Mark Garrett, Chief People Officer,

Smithfield Foods

Engage diverse talentCompanies that are serious about recruiting diverse talent should invest in creative ways to engage those candidates. This is particularly true when recruiting college students or younger employees from other parts of the country or world.

Such engagement could take the form of an in-depth recruitment program that helps candidates better understand not just available positions, but expectations as well. Another option is to create a “buddy system” during the interview process that pairs candidates with employees. A program like this can educate the candidate about expectations and opportunities. It can also help underrepresented talent who do not have a store of social capital to articulate the value of their skills and experiences in a way that does not come through on a resume.

“In today’s polarized environment, current and prospective employees consider a company’s approach to diversity and inclusion as an important criterion in their job search. Candidates look for actions that reflect their authentic commitment to nurturing a culture that values diversity and nurtures inclusion. Communicating transparently not only builds trust but is critical to keeping the diverse talent a company works hard to attract.”— Wes Combs, Principal, Combs

Advisory Services

Recruiters or hiring managers could also provide these recruits and new talent alike with a welcome packet with a list of resources that includes everything from ideas on what to do on the weekends to where to grocery shop. Thinking about recruitment in these terms can not only attract a broader range of candidates; it can also help cement relationships and enhance retention of new hires.

Above all, diverse employees need to be made part of this engagement process to serve as role models and to help diverse recruits feel welcome.

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Retention: Moving beyond diversity to inclusion (belonging)Recruitment is an expensive process. Businesses that successfully recruit diverse candidates are at risk of not seeing a return on their investment if their culture does not welcome and support a diverse workforce.

“Behavior change takes time. It’s not going to happen by attending a 90-minute webinar. It takes time and it’s layered. It requires tough conversations, a structured framework, and ensuring that people are heard and that they belong.”— Barbara Williams-Hardy,

Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, NetApp

There is reason for the tech sector to be concerned. People of color leave the field at more than 3.5 times the rate of white men.12 Moreover, 56 percent of technical women leave the field at the “mid-level” point—twice the attrition rate for men.13 The quit rate for women in the tech field exceeds that of other science and engineering fields. Of 100 female students working toward a bachelor’s degree, only three will be working in a STEM job 10 years after graduation.14

That’s because diversity is only half of the equation. Organizations need to build a culture of inclusion to retain diverse talent. That means not just bringing diverse talent into the company, but ensuring they have a place at the table and an opportunity to be heard. Inclusion drives competitiveness, because it creates the space that encourages diverse perspectives to be shared. If companies are not maximizing the diversity of insights that their talent brings, they will be challenged to channel that diversity into innovation. And as talent increasingly seeks out purpose-driven work, companies that are truly collaborative and open will come out ahead in the competition for bright, creative, and innovative thinkers.

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Building a culture of inclusion cannot be a one-person or one-off initiative. It must start with a goal for what the company wants to achieve, and it needs to be rooted in policies and procedures, nurtured by management, and cultivated by teams.

Build the capacity for leadership to embrace inclusionEmployees look to leadership for cues on how to behave. For this reason, building a culture of inclusion must have the buy-in and support of the executive level. It cannot be the sole responsibility of the chief diversity officer or of human resources.

Leaders must know how to engage with diverse individuals, which requires self-awareness and, likely, training and coaching in diversity and inclusion. Leaders at all levels of the organization may value diversity and inclusion but may

not know how to implement it. They may not understand how their own unconscious biases affect their approach to inclusion, and they may not be fully aware of the barriers that diverse talent must overcome, from the isolation of being a pioneer in the company—the first woman to become an executive, for example, or the first person of color on an established team—to the intersectionality of facing multiple biases at once.

Embed diversity in teamsCulture change will not be sustainable if it remains an executive-driven initiative. To cultivate a culture of inclusion, diversity needs to be embedded and measured at the team level. It is at this level that diverse perspectives fuel innovation, and it is at this level that companies can more accurately measure their progress with building out a more diverse workforce. Gauging representation at a companywide level can mask areas where diversity is not taking hold.

“Our efforts to not just tell, but to show, what non-inclusive behavior looks like has helped broaden our leadership teams’ perspectives and understanding of unconscious bias in the workplace – the different forms it can take and how it affects people. These are eye-opening experiences and, as a result, our leadership is asking for more interactive sessions.”— Kathleen Hart, Vice President,

Senior Talent Strategies Professional in Human Resources, BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon has instituted several workshops with actors to showcase what non-inclusive behaviors look like to develop and strengthen a culture of conscious inclusion. The program is tailored to the senior leadership team as part of the company’s efforts to promote inclusive leadership.

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Fostering diversity and inclusion within teams needs to start with an honest evaluation of inequities at every level in the organization. From there, goals for diversity and inclusion can be set, with compensation tied to meeting those targets. Training may again be required on cultural competency and inclusive best practices. To truly maximize the potential of inclusion, efforts must be cross-functional. Inclusion needs to stretch across teams as well as functions so that it becomes a lens for how the company approaches business rather than a stand-alone initiative.

Build avenues for growth and developmentFostering diversity doesn’t end with the hiring process. Bottlenecks to promotion and advancement must be cleared by creating a system of accountability that ensures diverse talent has an avenue for advancement. New employees will not feel they belong if they do not see a career path ahead of them or cannot advance through the organization’s ranks. One

way to correct this is to ensure the talent is part of the conversation. This will help guarantee that implicit bias is not coloring perceptions. Dashboards can also be used to identify specific junctures where women or people of color consistently fail to advance.

Another powerful tool for providing diverse talent with a path forward is mentoring. Boston Consulting Group developed a mentorship program that intentionally paired high-potential, diverse employees with leaders in the company. The leaders were responsible for fostering the talent’s growth and development to provide a constellation for advancement within the company’s ranks.

“We need to shift from diversity as an initiative to diversity as a culture within the organization. When it is stand-alone initiative, we use terms like ‘buy-in’ and ‘understand the need.’ We need to shift it to a discussion where it’s a mainstream activity that every manager, every team leader, and every team is responsible for.”— Balaji Ganapathy, Head of Workforce

Effectiveness, Tata Consultancy Services

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Foster employee resource groupsEmployee resource groups, or ERGs, are support and networking groups that form around shared characteristics, interests, or goals, such as for people of color, women, veterans, people with disabilities, and the LGBT community. The groups can serve as an invaluable networking tool for underrepresented groups. They can also help educate the work community at large about issues related to diversity and inclusion.

Create and support inclusive policies and spacesTo be sustainable and authentic, an inclusive culture must be backed by policies and accountability measures that are built around the company’s goal for diversity and inclusion. They create the structure to guide and protect inclusive efforts and principles. These policies need to stretch across the entire ecosystem, from infusing inclusive principles in the talent review process to compensation and benefits measures.

The tech sector’s reputation for demanding hours, for example, can discourage talent who desire a healthier work/life balance to devote to family. This can be mitigated through family-friendly policies, such as generous maternal and paternal leave policies and funds to offset daycare expenses. Allowing flexible schedules and work-from-home arrangements can be fundamental to supporting a robust mentoring program.

Investments also need to be made in physical spaces that make staff more comfortable for the nine or ten hours they spend at the office. For example, providing nursing mothers with clean, private spaces to pump milk will demonstrate to working mothers that their time and contributions are valued. Companies with active ERGs can tap these groups for help with identifying barriers to and meaningful solutions for creating more inclusive policies and spaces.

“At a certain age or a time in their career, you see women drop out of workforce. Over 50 percent of women leave the tech sector between middle and senior management. Companies should acknowledge the gaps and develop more inclusive policies that can help retain women within the workforce.”— Aditi Trehan, Manager, Corporate

Social Responsibility, TCS

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ConclusionThe rise of diversity and inclusion programs in tech jobs across sectors is an encouraging step toward equity and access for underrepresented populations. However, much work remains to infuse greater diversity into the tech workforce, especially on the upper rungs of corporate ladders. The numbers tell the story: only 11 percent of Fortune 500 tech company executives are women, and only 5 percent of technology startups are owned by women.15

As the Diversity in Technology roundtable reinforced, the issue cannot be evaluated and addressed in silos. The components required to build and sustain a diverse workforce—early outreach, recruitment, and inclusion—are interrelated. Focusing on only one component will only address part of the problem. Ecosystem reform involves many stakeholders, from business leaders and employees to schools and teachers, students and their parents, and government agencies, nonprofits, and community leaders.

The next step is for companies to determine what they want to achieve in terms of a diverse workforce and to build the framework to reach their goal within the context of their organization. As more leaders coalesce around

diversity and inclusion, the sector will be able to make quantum leaps toward developing a workforce that more closely matches the general population.

The good news is, solutions are within reach. They can be found by reaching across disciplines, across teams, across companies and across industries. They can be realized by leveraging authentic and passionate champions. And they can be sustained by shifting the conversation from one of meeting compliance initiatives to fostering an inclusive culture. By sharing ideas, expectations, innovations, and successes, companies can provide greater equity and access to tech jobs across sectors and move the needle on building a more diverse tech workforce.

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Footnotes1 Intel, Decoding Diversity, https://newsroom.intel.com/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2016/07/Diversity_report_7.7.16_web-1.pdf

2 Women in STEM: A Gender Gap to Innovation (2011). U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration

3 Intel, Decoding Diversity, https://newsroom.intel.com/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2016/07/Diversity_report_7.7.16_web-1.pdf

4 Intel, Decoding Diversity, https://newsroom.intel.com/newsroom/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2016/07/Diversity_report_7.7.16_web-1.pdf

5 McKinsey & Company, Diversity Matters, http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters

6 National Center for Women and Information Technology, Fact Sheet, https://www.ncwit.org/ncwit-fact-sheet

7 Google, Trends in the State of Computer Science in U.S. K-12 Schools, http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/trends-in-the-state-of-computer-science-report.pdf

8 Colby, Susan, Helen Ma, Kelsey Robinson, and Lareina Yee. “What It Will Take to Make the Tech Industry More Diverse,” Harvard Business Review, 15 March 2016 https://hbr.org/2016/03/315-global-digital-ic-diversifying-the-tech-industrys-talent-pipeline

9 World Economic Forum, The Future of Jobs Report, http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/skills-stability/

10 Google, Trends in the State of Computer Science in U.S. K-12 Schools, http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/trends-in-the-state-of-computer-science-report.pdf

11 Connor, Michael, “Tech Still Doesn’t Get Diversity. Here’s How to Fix It,” Wired, 8 February 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/02/tech-still-doesnt-get-diversity-heres-fix/

12 Connor, Michael, “Tech Still Doesn’t Get Diversity. Here’s How to Fix It,” Wired, 8 February 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/02/tech-still-doesnt-get-diversity-heres-fix/

13 NCWIT, Women in Tech: The Facts, https://www.ncwit.org/sites/default/files/resources/ncwit_women-in-it_2016-full-report_final-web06012016.pdf

14 TCS, Corporate Best Practices for Mentoring Women in STEM, https://www.ignitemyfuture.org/node/88

15 “Why Women & STEM.” The Womensphere Nuclei Media Project. As retrieved from http://www.thenuclei.com/why-women-stem

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AcknowledgmentsMalou AugustVice President, Membership, Events & Education, Acord

Tanya KrochtaSenior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, Acord

Allen ShapardSenior Director and Chair of Public Engagement Strategies, APCO

Samantha SantosHead of Diversity & Inclusion, Americas, Bloomberg

Gabriella CrimiRelationship Manager, Philanthropy, BNY Mellon

Katie HartVice President, Senior Talent Strategies Professional, BNY Mellon

Priscilla ChristopherExecutive Chief of Staff to Business & Supply Chain Systems, Boeing

Priya ChoudharyGlobal Program Lead—Diversity, Capgemini

Christine LapriseHuman Resources Director, Cigna

Wes CombsPrincipal, Combs Advisory Services, Combs Advisory Services

Meagan DiopHead of HR for PB Americas and Global Products & Solutions, Credit Suisse

Amy NakamotoSenior Director, Corporate Sponsorships, Discovery Education

John KellerManaging Director, Technology & Innovation Practice Leader, Diversified Search

Sheila RobinsonOwner & Publisher, Diversity Woman

Tamika BennettRecruitment Specialist, FedEx

Lina GravesSr. Human Resources Director, Genesis Rehab Services

Lori LeibnitzDirector, Human Resources, Genesis Rehab Services

Peta-Gay ClarkeCommunity Manager, Google

Lucy SorrentiniFounder & CEO of Impact Consulting, Impact Consulting

Donna DeBerryDirector of Global Inclusion & Diversity, Indeed

Ali MaranoExecutive Director: Technology for Social Good, Diversity & Inclusion, JP Morgan

Christine SheehanArea Director, KPMG

Susan MeyerHead of Corporate Talent & Inclusion Strategy, Marsh & McLennan

Barbara ChangExecutive Director for Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development

Janice LittleVice President of Diversity and Inclusion, McKesson

James DorseyExecutive Director for Washington State MESA at the UW College of Engineering, MESA—USA

Avis YatesRivers President and CEO of Technology Concepts Group International, LLC, NCWIT

Barbara WilliamsGlobal Head of Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging at NetApp, NetApp

Mary Comerford-HewittVP, Human Capital Business & Program Development, Talent Acquisition, Northwell Health

Patrick McGovernCorporate Director, HRIT, Northwell Health

Bertina CeccarelliChief Executive Officer, NPower

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STEMconnector®

Patrick CohenVice President, Strategic Partnerships, NPower

Brian CarterProgram Officer, Inspired Minds, Overdeck Family Foundation

Bianca BowenSenior Associate, Pillsbury Law

Jessica NarvaezChief Diversity Officer, Pinnacle Group

Vanessa Abrahams-JohnDirector, Global Diversity, Inclusion, Talent Acquisition, Praxair

Monique RhodesCorporate Diversity & Inclusion Professional, Prudential

Nariza ReyesCoordinator Culture, Branding & Inclusion, Regeneron

Michelle Weitzman-GarciaExecutive Director Workforce Development, Regeneron

Jason OrtizCorporate Diversity & Inclusion Professional, S&P Global

Mark GarrettChief People Officer, Smithfield

Leslie CruzChief Executive Officer, STEMconnector

Edie FraserChairman and Founder, STEMconnector

Brian JacksonSenior Director of Strategic Initiatives, STEMconnector

Ted WellsVP & Chief Strategy Officer, STEMconnector

Balaji GanapathyHead of HR Workforce Effectiveness, North America, Tata Consultancy Services

Surya KantPresident, North America, UK & Europe, Tata Consultancy Services

Lina KlebanovCSR, Senior Manager, North America, Tata Consultancy Services

Hillary McDonaldCSR Specialist—Education Programs, Tata Consultancy Services

Narasimhan SrinivasanVice-President and Head of Human Resources, Tata Consultancy Services

Bill ThomasCommunications Manager, Tata Consultancy Services

Aditi TrehanCorporate Social Responsibility Manager Thought Leadership & Impact Measurement, Tata Consultancy Services

Stefanie MccallCorporate Social Responsibility Coordinator, Tata Consultancy Services

Abigail SantnerCorporate Social Responsibility Employee Engagement & Volunteering, Tata Consultancy Services

Lonald WishomCorporate Social Responsibility, Government Relations, Tata Consultancy Services

Ben TrounsonHead of Corporate Communications, Tata Consultancy Services

Christine FosterCorporate Social Responsibility Specialist, Tata Consultancy Services

Mary Francis WintersFounder, President, and Chief Executive Officer, The Winters Group

Nikki CuellerDiversity and Inclusion Recruiting Engagement Liaison at Uber, Uber

Kimberly DempseyHR Manager, North America HR Operations, UL

Iris RiveraProject Coordinator, UL

Ravi KarkaraSenior Advisor to UN Assistant Sec-General / Dep Ex Director & Acting Head of Private Sector, UN Women

Doug PisaniVice President, Talent Acquisition—Enterprise Information Technology, Wells Fargo

24

About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS,infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 378,000 of the world’s best-trained consultants in 45 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $16.5 billion for the year ended March 31, 2016 and is listed on the BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

About STEMconnector®STEMconnector® is committed to increasing the number of STEM-ready workers in the global talent pool. Owned by Diversified Search, LLC, we provide a platform to engage leaders in both public and private sectors who collectively are re-envisioning the workforce and identifying strategies to increase the number of STEM-ready workers. Our goal is to inform, stimulate, counsel and connect leaders with a passion for and commitment to closing the STEM-ready gaps.

About TCS goITgoIT is TCS’ signature community engagement program in North America that increases interest in STEM and computer science through design thinking, mobile app development, and mentorship from TCS employee volunteers. Primarily focused toward middle school students underrepresented in

computing fields, goIT offers a free and flexible program for schools, non-profits, and other youth-serving institutions to help students engage actively in computational thinking by using a student-driven exploration of community-centered issues. Students work in teams to identify a problem, generate possible solutions, wireframe their prototypes, develop and test their mobile apps, and present their work to peers and judges. In turn, goIT participants are introduced to design thinking as a problem-solving framework, acquire critical thinking experience while troubleshooting designs, improve their ability to work in teams, and refine their communication skills through public presentations. Each TCS volunteer completes extensive training, covering youth psychology, design thinking, educational systems, and tools for mobile app development to aid their preparation as a mentor. Since its launch in 2009, goIT has engaged over 13,000 North American students across 50 cities and over 170 events, with promising results. In 2016, goIT inspired more than 4,400 students, engaged over 1,000 TCS employee volunteers, resulting in 40,000+ hours of high-impact skill building for students.

To stay up-to-date on TCS news in North America, follow @TCS_NA. For TCS global news, follow @TCS_News.

To learn more about TCS Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in North America, visit on.tcs.com/NACSR

For more information, contact northamerica.csr@tcs.com

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