5 Tech Companies Committed to Improving Diversity in Tech

31 Aug 5 Tech Companies Committed to Improving Diversity in Tech

For all its glory as the undisputed innovation hub of the 21st century, it’s also very well-known that Silicon Valley (and tech companies in general) has its fair share of problems, most prominently with regards to sexism and diversity.

Women, African Americans, Latinos, people of lower socioeconomic status, and more are notoriously absent at tech companies to an alarming degree. The sources of these problems are also well-documented and frequently debated, but the unfortunate reality remains that very little progress has been made to improve diversity in technology. And it’s not just a question of making the opportunity equal for everyone.

As Y Combinator partner Michael Siebel notes, “Startups are best at solving the personal problems of their founders – the more diverse the founders, the more problems can be solved and the more people who can be positively impacted by technology.” More rigorous analysis backs this up, as numerous studies have shown that more diverse companies consistently outperform their less conscious counterparts over the long term.

However, despite the extensive amount of rhetoric and debate surrounding the issue, excluding non-profits dedicated to the cause, the number of mainstream tech companies actually taking meaningful steps to improving the problem are disappointingly few in comparison. To celebrate those companies committed to meaningful change in the industry and to provide ideas for other companies looking to join in, we’ve put together a list of 5 companies leading the charge towards increased diversity in tech.

Here are 5 companies who are committed to improving diversity in tech.

Intel has been a cornerstone of the tech industry from the very beginning, and the scale of its recent $300 million diversity initiative is indicative of its status as an industry leader on issues of diversity. President Renée James is leading the initiative, which will be focusing on creating a better hiring and recruitment program that will incentivize hiring managers to hire more women and minorities.

By funding STEM education initiatives for people in underrepresented groups in the industry, Intel hopes to create a large pipeline of candidates that will make up a significant part of the future engineering workforce. Intel’s goal is to achieve a workforce that correlates with actual demographics by the year 2020, a target that they are committed to reaching. While it’s critical for tech companies of all sizes to be committed to improving diversity in the industry, it is companies like Intel that are setting the example for the industry leaders to commit the resources to make meaningful change.

Intel has been a cornerstone of the tech industry from the very beginning, and the scale of its recent $300 million diversity initiative is indicative of its status as an industry leader on issues of diversity. President Renée James is leading the initiative, which will be focusing on creating a better hiring and recruitment program that will incentivize hiring managers to hire more women and minorities.

By funding STEM education initiatives for people in underrepresented groups in the industry, Intel hopes to create a large pipeline of candidates that will make up a significant part of the future engineering workforce. Intel’s goal is to achieve a workforce that correlates with actual demographics by the year 2020, a target that they are committed to reaching. While it’s critical for tech companies of all sizes to be committed to improving diversity in the industry, it is companies like Intel that are setting the example for the industry leaders to commit the resources to make meaningful change.

For Toptal, the fast-growing global freelance network of elite software developers, diversity in software development is less an end in itself, but rather is the recognition that well-trained diverse teams simply create better products. The company recently announced the Toptal Global Mentors Program, a highly creative initiative in which volunteer members of its worldwide Toptal Community will mentor software engineering students from minority, low-income, and other disadvantaged groups on a one-on-one basis, 100% remotely.

Partnering with General Assembly, an organization that provides technical education for students from traditionally underrepresented groups, Toptal has committed the equivalent of $1 million worth of time for its developers to mentor students and graduates of General Assembly’s Opportunity Fund. The weekly mentoring sessions cover everything from solutions to specific technical problems to tips and tricks for success from veterans in the industry. Toptal is also contributing $100K to establish Toptal Fellowships for General Assembly’s students. Toptal has also consistently supported events for organizations like Django Girls and Rails Girls to encourage more women to enter the tech industry. Its Global Mentors initiative is a large-scale sequel in a consistent stream of focused diversity initiatives.

Although many tech companies fall into the trap of beginning diversity initiatives that don’t have sufficient commitment from relevant parties at the company, Etsy has successfully been able to take the opposite approach. Led by CTO Kellan Elliott-McCrea, the company’s push to restructure its recruiting processes has led to an incredible 500% growth in the number of female engineers on its team.

With the focus of company executives, Etsy was able to provide grants for female engineers to its Hacker School and saw corresponding improvements in its hiring numbers as well. Etsy knows that for meaningful change to happen, the focused attention of high-level executives and the commitment to effective educational initiatives are two critical elements for seeing actual improvement

Not only has Pinterest made the commitment to hire more minorities and women into its workforce, it has also set itself up as an innovative thought leader in the field by promising to evaluate what worked and what didn’t in its hiring initiatives and sharing that information with the tech community at large.

By mandating that all employees go through training to prevent unconscious biases and by setting very specific diversity goals for all new hires made and developing strategies for , Pinterest is aggressively exploring solutions to the practical problem of hiring more diverse sets of employees. The company is taking a unique approach by announcing its goals and holding itself accountable, and the hope is that its efforts will serve as a model for other companies to follow.

While nearly every tech company in Silicon Valley that has a diversity initiative is scrambling to improve its woeful diversity numbers, Pandora is one of the few companies in the valley that has already achieved balanced gender diversity amongst its workforce, with 49% female employees.

As the company continues to grow, improving its diversity numbers (in particular amongst its engineering workforce) remains a priority. This is a core part of the company’s philosophy, as they encourage its employees to engage with the surrounding racially-diverse Oakland community, host events for organizations like Women Who Code, and have many of their female employees attend events like the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/business-innovation/5-tech-companies-committed-improving-diversity-tech-01301632#SyrDXfcCXOiZESLp.99