Diversity in Tech

Tech startups have a diversity problem. From the early days of Silicon Valley to the thriving startup culture of today, tech has been plagued by a striking lack of race and gender diversity. Recent surveys have pegged the average gender breakdown of startups around the world to hover around 20% or less, and companies are often targeted for failing to create supportive environments for women and people of color. Throughout the hiring process, female and minority applicants drop off at a number of different points due to a variety of reasons ranging from implicit bias during interviews to recruiting selection bias.

There are a number of things companies can do to improve diversity, both in terms of company culture and hiring practices. By utilizing neutral hiring techniques such as gender and name blind resume review and targeted hiring, startups can eliminate the bias associated with coding certain names as inherently male or white. In addition, diversifying managers and other employees involved in the hiring process can encourage them in turn to hire more diverse candidates, as interviewers are more inclined to favor people who remind them of themselves.

Companies also need to demonstrate a larger commitment to diversity overall by ensuring that their current employees feel valued and safe. For example, giving LGBTQ+ employees the opportunity to organize the company’s Pride events and asking them to help find company health insurance policies that are LGBTQ+ healthcare friendly shows employees that the company genuinely values all its employees, rather than just giving lip service to diversity.

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