I’ve written several articles about the lack of diversity in tech based companies across the country. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook has addressed this issue in recent interviews. One social media outlet takes action.
Twitter makes a commitment to be the most diverse online company there is. Twitter set diversity based goals for 2016. These goals include increasing women in tech roles to 16%, increasing women in leadership roles to 25%, increasing underrepresented minority groups (primarily Latino and African-American) tech roles to 9% and increasing underrepresented minority leadership to 6%. They’ve built alliances and partnerships to make this happen. They partner with organizations like Management Leaders of Tomorrow, dedicated to teaching leadership skills to teens from all walks of life. They recruit, and do so often, at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). They use hiring and recruiting techniques to attract a more diverse work force. They use social media sites to ensure job descriptions, postings, and interviews appeal to candidates from all walks of life. They list postings where underrepresented groups can see them. They sponsor women to attend tech conferences. They team up with schools to teach girls as young as middle school (ages 11-14) how to code. That’s just some of their innovations.
Don’t expect a quick fix to the lack of diversity in the tech world. It took years for lack of diversity to develop. It will take years to improve. Very few want to hear that, but this is a long process. I like what Twitter is doing to reach out to young people, and get them interested in science and technology. ?The youth are the greatest investment the tech world can ever have. This may sound cliche, but they’re our future and as they the youth go, so does our future. Diversity will take years to build, but we must start somewhere. Isn’t this a good start?