A Close Look at Diversity in the Tech Industry

Google recently announced that it would release data on its workforce diversity next month, in light of Jesse Jackson's recent efforts to draw attention to the lack of minorities and women in the technology world. See here
 

The announcement was made yesterday by David Drummond, an African-American executive who oversees Google's public policies, during the company's annual shareholders' meeting at its headquarters in Mountain View. “Many companies in (Silicon Valley) have been reluctant to divulge that data, including Google, and, quite frankly, we are wrong about that", he said. See more here 
 

Meantime, it is worth taking a look at the overall diversity composition of the tech industry.
 

In an article published by BizJournal in late 2013, Lauren Hepler reported more than 90 percent of startup founders were men, and 82 percent of founders were white. She also added that an analysis compared the most valuable public companies in Silicon Valley against the S&P 100, and researchers found that 98 percent of companies in the S&P 100 have at least one woman director, while only 56 percent of the 150 public tech and life science companies studied can say the same. Read more at

It's widely recognized that the tech industry lacks diversity: About 1 in 14 tech workers is black or Latino, both in Silicon Valley and nationally. Blacks and Hispanics make up 13.1 and 16.9 percent of the U.S. population, respectively, according to the most recent census data. See here 
  

Most recently, Rebecca O. Bagley, of Forbes, has also pointed out that minority tech-employment and entrepreneurship in the U.S. does not reflect population levels despite study after study showing that diverse start-ups fail less often and have higher rates of return, so poses this question: How can we increase minority entrepreneurship and employment in the Innovation Economy?

She opines that what is needed is a new kind of economic development, an interdisciplinary approach that brings together educational institutions, human services organizations and businesses to provide students with internships at our most exciting tech companies, bring these companies into classrooms to share their stories with students, and create mentoring and leadership opportunities for tech entrepreneurs. Read more at 

To look for IT Software jobs, go to DiversityWorking, the largest diversity job board online, and launch a fulfilling career with any of its prestigious member diversity companies.