How do you solve a problem like Diversity in Tech - Redressing the balance

A Technically Compatible Whitepaper. 20 August 2014

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It is officially no longer a secret that the tech industry is dominated by White males. Thanks to the admissions of the biggest Silicon Valley players, the figures are out for the world to analyse and to be frank, they are a stark truth stressing how much needs to be done. Not just in the roles that are specifically in the tech teams themselves, but also from Junior to CIO level across the organisations as a whole. The resulting fallout to redress the balance has highlighted a lot of positive initiatives that are in their infancy. In this Whitepaper we will take a deep dive into the figures, the figureheads and the frank discussions now occurring across the business world.

The White + Male Equation

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Much has been broadcast since Google’s original omission back on May 28th of this year. The blog, published in the name of Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations, released the split of male and females in their global workforce, together with the ethnicity data for their US workforce.

As a form of comparison, and to demonstrate that there is ‘safety in numbers’, here is a tally of the percentages of the tech companies who have come forward to date: Note: 2+ Races and Other equated to between 2-5% of US employees in all cases noted below

CompanyMale and Female % Ratio Globally

Ethnicity Split % Ratio (US only) White / Asian / Hispanic / Black

70 / 30

70 / 30

62 / 37

61 / 39

69 / 31

60 / 40

58 / 42

61 / 30 / 3 / 2

50 / 39 / 4 / 2

59 / 29 / 3 / 1

53 / 38 / 4 / 2

57 / 34 / 2 / 1

50 / 42 / 2 / 1

61 / 24 / 5 / 7

70 / 30 55 / 15 / 11 / 7

INTRODUCTION

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the data split across all workers in America is 47% female, 53% male, of which 80% are White, 12% are Black and 5% are Asian. Therefore perhaps these statistics are not as alarming as they initially appear. As the world becomes more connected, ironically due to an increase in connectivity from technological advances, organisations are no longer looking inwards for their talent and are instead extending their reach globally. Hiring the best is no longer localised.

BEYOND THE FACTS

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Diversity:

The art of thinking independently together. “

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Current initiatives

As demonstrated by the second column, all of the companies US workforces have majority White representation. If the Global gender ratios are broadly similar, this means that over a third of the workforce are White males. To date, half of the organisations also provided the % of women working in the Tech teams specifically. This ranged between 15-17% for Google, Facebook and Yahoo. In terms of leadership roles, these were again highly dominated by males, over 70% in all cases. The purchase of technology is not dictated by gender, colour or creed, yet decisions about the consumer requirements of certain demographics are much underrepresented, especially at the highest level.

• Governance - Organisations have recognised there is a problem, there now needs to be a strategy with clearly defined goals and deliverables put in place. Input on these needs to come from companies, education providers and governments, not just those based in Silicon Valley.

• Leadership - Progressing where other brands like IBM and HP have set precedents, promoting women and minorities into leadership roles based on skills and merit.

• Taking a Long-Term View - Recognising that change is an aspirational goal at this stage, the fruits of which will not be seen for years to come.

Shellye Archambeau, CEO of MetricStream calls for three main areas to be resolved:

53%

47%

There is no doubt that the statistics themselves are telling a story of their own, but redressing the balance and understanding the root cause of them is the other, more important, part of the tale. In an era of profound talent shortages, especially in tech, it is now time to consider the figures as a benchmark as at a point in time and look to the future.

Last month it was reported by Mark Feffer in an article for Dice that the number of women starting Computer Science degrees at Carnegie Mellon University is up 22%, comprising of 40% of the intake. Of course this is an isolated ‘good news story’ but if this soon becomes the new normal, the % of female software engineers in 3-5 years’ time should be starting to increase so one can hope for a more equal representation.

One of the reasons cited for the difficulty in recruiting and retaining minorities was given as the % of women, Blacks and Hispanics studying STEM subjects and subsequently earning Computer Science degrees. These groups combined currently equate to 28% (18 and 10) of all degrees awarded in the US.

- Malcolm Forbes, Forbes Magazine Heir and Publisher (1919-1990)

(Fe)male

WOMEN IN TECH

3Average Salary

3 months to May 2014Average Salary change from same period 2013

The most exciting prospect of all of this is the untapped capacity of young women who are going to be heavily influenced by the decisions that hinge around these changes. Research by the Norwegian School of Economics has shown that there is a positive correlation between the percentage of female board members and sales growth and returns. A more diverse skillset can ensure that more informed decisions are taken at all levels, now and in the future.

Young girls are cast in caring roles and boys as go-getting protagonists. I don’t think that is healthy. “

- Dr Heather Williams, Physicist and Co-ordinator of Campaign Group Science Grrl

Sales

Empowering women into taking a conscious life choice to pursue a career in a STEM subject is much harder in reality than in theory. Of course I hear you cry, otherwise we wouldn’t be writing this section. Last November, The Guardian tackled the issue head-on, interviewing some of the women holding the cards. Here are the main outputs:

Encourage girls from an early age Supportive schools and parental networks foster the seismic shift in perception of tech as being something to aspire to, and conversely something that young women feel that they are eminently capable of applying themselves to do. UK Education Minister Elizabeth Truss recently stated that gender-specific toys risked turning girls off science and maths underlining that the formative years are so important in establishing perception. Recognising that it is everyone’s fault Instead of blaming the past, the industry needs to move forward with a level playing field in terms of pay, workplace flexibility and embracing change rather than exacerbating it.

Moving away from positive discrimination and quotas Instead there should be a sense that all genders are represented equally across the organisational structure, even empowering women to be the next tech start-up pioneer. The presence of the majority, i.e. White males, is often as important as the minority, however being deliberate is recognised as important at this early stage as diversity is being demanded by clients, suppliers and employees.

Adopting it into day to day practice Actively producing diversity policies, training and development programmes and urging gender neutral language in job descriptions. Companies who show a real commitment to change are likely to grow in recognition of them being seen as thought-leaders.

Communication, communication, communication If the outward perception is one of white, male geeks instead of hybrid, creative environments then women may be put off from applying in the first place. Creating resources on careers websites which actively promote the diverse nature of the workplace and the types of day to day activities to negate these can allay these fears before they even appear.

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Business Leaders need to dream big for their employees, especially for

minorities, women and those from low-income backgrounds who may have been the first in their family to go to College.

One article that particularly caught our attention when researching this piece is one by Kaylynn Cusic, a 16 year old African-American women about to start an engineering course. Her first person narrative in the Huffington Post investigates why minorities are more often than not opting out of careers in STEM subjects.

A crucial enabler for Kaylynn was the encouragement of her sister to research engineering as an option after enjoying maths and sciences at school. This led her to finding out there were lots of programmes that educate young people into a greater understanding of what is required to pursue this career and provides resources to help open up doors that may have appeared closed. Establishing scholarships, either subject-specific or broader initiatives such as Yes We Code and Launch Academy, promote a sense of capability in promising young people, who are then far more likely to transition into further exploring it as a career.

“Diverse and unexpected pools of talent are emerging around the world. To succeed in today’s global economy, we must acknowledge them, understand them and make them part of our talent strategies.” - Bob Moritz

Key Note Speech at the 2011 DiversityInc Conference

MIND THE GAP

Generational Diversity

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Breaking down perceived barriers to entry and having the wherewithal to recommend the career to others is a key challenge and it was incredibly humbling to see this type of article being picked up by the mainstream press and the interest it generated. Although, one could argue that this example demonstrates there is still a lack of confidence for minorities to believe in themselves. If governments were to step in and include vocational and IT-based learning mechanisms in schools, as early as kindergarten this will become less and less instilled.

- Maria Castanon Moats, Chief Diversity Officer PWC

Minority Report

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There is not just a case to recognise women and minorities, but also a case for recognising generational diversity. A teenager currently choosing what to study at University may have preconceived notions nurtured by their parents and grandparents about what is a ‘good’ career for an aspiring young women to have. Similarly, existing Baby Boomer workers who have been used to a workplace culture for decades and are suddenly seeing sweeping changes in policy and engagement approaches to accommodate for the demands of the millennials. There needs to be a myriad of solutions to tackling diversity policy to ensure effective management. Although one could argue not having a policy for diversity at all is more of an issue at present.

Embracing cultural differences, diverse opinions and new ideas will help to tackle this new era of connected living. It is not only better for businesses and individuals, but it sets a moral standard too. The time is now in terms of tackling the issue, otherwise we will all look back to 2014 as the year that could have changed the future tech talent pipeline. In the corporations recent disclosures there was safety in numbers, now there needs to be a cohesive approach to tackling what happens next. Looking beyond and challenging the status quo will help to build a corporate world which is stronger together rather than when considered as a sum of its parts.

Baby Boomers vs. Millennials

ConnectTechnically Compatible

The Evolve BuildingRainton Bridge Business Park

Houghton-le-SpringCo Durham

DH45QY

Tel: 0800 488 0175Int Tel: +44 191 305 1042

@TechCompatible

www.technicallycompatible.com

Sources

Statistics SourcesApple - ‘Inclusion inspires innovation’

Google Blogspot - ‘Getting to work on diversity at Google’eBay News - ‘Building a stronger, better, more diverse eBay’

Twitter Blog - Building a Twitter we can be proud of’LinkedIn Blog - ‘LinkedIn’s workforce diversity’

Pinterest Blog - ‘Diversity and inclusion at Pinterest’Information Week - ‘Yahoo, LinkedIn and Google not a diverse club’

Facebook News - ‘Building a more diverse Facebook’Bureau of Labor Statistics - Current Employment Statistics - CES (National)

Commentary SourcesDice - ‘CMU sees dramatic rise in Women Computer Science Majors’

Dice - ‘This is why Tech’s diversity won’t change any time soon’Guardian Careers - ‘How can we encourage more women into tech?’ (Live chat)

Fast Company - ‘How far corporations still need to go to actually reflect America’s Diversity’PwC - ‘Leveraging the power of differences’ - Diversity and Inclusion whitepaper

Ivey Business Journal - ‘The Millenials: A new generation of employees, a new set of engagement policies’

National Science Foundation - ‘Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2013’

Huffington Post - ‘We need more students like me in STEM fields’BBC News - ‘How did Lego become a gender battleground’

The Next Web - ‘Why we still need to promote gender diversity in tech’Financial Times - ‘Research shows more profitable companies have more women on the board’