By Sarah Han
Last week, Google released its workforce diversity data, and the numbers are kinda sucky – surprise, surprise – for women and most minorities.
On its diversity page, the company explains, "We're not where we want to be when it comes to diversity. And it is hard to address these kinds of challenges if you’re not prepared to discuss them openly, and with the facts. All of our efforts, including going public with these numbers, are designed to help us recruit and develop the world’s most talented and diverse people."
What People Are Saying:
Diversity champion and Code.org co-founder Hadi Partovi said Google was "courageous and showed leadership" in divulging its workforce numbers on a recent NPR interview. Not many tech companies have come out and released these kinds of stats, after all.
Partovi and The New York Times explain that solving diversity in tech isn't as easy as going out and immediately hiring more women and minorities; it goes back deeper to what Partovi calls "the pipeline," or making sure that more people are getting access and encouragement to study tech pursuits in school. And once you do hire more women and minorities, it's also about creating an environment where all workers feel welcome and respected, and where their opinions, experiences, and feedback will be taken into account in moving the company forward.
There have been protests from some that meritocracy, not diversity, should rule hiring practices. The LA Times reported that once Google made its announcement, commenters came out of the woodworks. The commenters' argument is a bit shortsighted, as an international company like Google needs to be representative of many perspectives. There's no way any business can be a market leader if its products and services reflect a narrow demographic.
The Washington Post took a different angle to the argument, with an article about "How the Asians Became White." Google's stats show that its Asian representation is actually above normal, but some public commenters have conflated the Asian population into the white demographic. The piece is less about Google and more about our culture's tendency to treat Asians "like whites for purposes of race preferences."
According to Silicon Valley Business Journal, companies like Google need to be worried about adding diversity to their workforces not simply to be inclusive but because it's a good business practice that leads to more money (surprise, surprise). Disclosing diversity numbers isn't necessarily about holding hands and singing Kumbaya, but about "protecting its shareholders' investments" and "[staying] competitive in recruiting."
Image via: Google
Have a tip for The Bold Italic? Email us at tips@thebolditalic.com.