23 Mar Diversity in America’s Tech Industry Is Not Yet Uhuru
Nearly 40 percent of Black, Hispanic, and Native American engineers in the tech industry have experienced workplace bias, according to a survey conducted by Jopwell, a recruitment and hiring platform for building a more diverse workforce.
The 2016 study, which polled 300 Black, Hispanic, and Native American engineers in US companies from February 17-26, examined workforce challenges in the technology industry.
More than one third (36 percent) of survey respondents said they have witnessed some form of identity-based bias or have been the victim of such bias at their company.
The survey also found that 39 percent of female respondents have witnessed or experienced identity-based bias, versus 34 percent males. When asked what the bias seemed to have been based on, 69 percent indicated race or ethnicity, 16 percent said gender, and 11 percent said sexuality.
Among men and women, the numbers for race and ethnicity-based bias were essentially equal at 70 percent men versus 69 percent women.
However, more women (18%) experienced gender-based bias versus men (15%). Sexuality-based bias was three times as high among men (15%) than women (5%).
‘A Fair Workplace is Diverse’
70 percent say tech companies should be doing more to promote multicultural understanding.
Among all minority engineers surveyed, 85 percent agree, “a fair workplace includes people from every race.”
Eleven percent was neutral and 4 percent disagreed.
According to the study, Black, Latino/Hispanic, or Native Americans hold only 2-3 percent of all engineering roles at technology-based companies.
When asked whether or not they thought their company could be doing more to promote multicultural understanding, which can work towards reducing workplace bias, 70 percent of survey respondents agreed that this represents an area of need within their organizations.
77% of female engineers surveyed said that their company could be doing more to promote multicultural understanding versus 67% of male engineers.
“Within leading tech companies, Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American engineers typically make up 2% or less of the overall engineering teams,” said Ryan Williams, president and cofounder of Jopwell.
“We’ve seen some progress in the workplace in recent years, but there is still unconscious bias that can manifest within organizations,” Williams added.
“This is an important point for companies challenged with recruiting and hiring underrepresented minority professionals,” said Porter Braswell, CEO and cofounder of Jopwell. “Inclusivity in the workplace – an authentic sense of diversity and inclusion – helps attract, recruit, and hire the best and brightest talent.”
Broken down by gender, more female respondents (93%) agreed that a fair workplace includes people from every race versus male respondents (81%).
70 percent say tech companies should be doing more to promote multicultural understanding.
Fast Company reported in January that 45 companies, including the founders’ former employer Goldman Sachs, as well as Facebook, Buzzfeed, Morgan Stanley, and others, have signed up to use Jopwell’s recruiting platform, paying an annual subscription to access “thousands” of student and professional applicants almost evenly split between men and women (1 percent identify their gender in another category) who are black, Hispanic, or Native American.
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