A look at D&I in tech - how did we get to where we are and what are the consequences of being there?

1. (got to do with IT)
What’s diversity but a company doing self-promotion?
What diversity got to do with IT?
Who needs diversity when straight white dudes are
the solution?
What’s diversity got to do
with IT?

2. /whoami
>Elizabeth Fiennes
>Lead test engineer for Scott Logic in London
>Twitter @ElizaFx (sweary, feminist and bolshy)
>LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizaf/
(eye-rolling, feminist and bolshy)

3. i <LOVE>tech</LOVE>
However, sometimes it is a one way affair
Tech should enable people
Sometimes this is not the case

4. Seriously 1980s - What the actual...?

5. Facial recognition tech unable to tell dark
skinned men and women apart
Soap dispensers not able to recognise dark skin
tones
Recruitment bot rejecting applications from females
Image search identifying people of colour as primates
Phone which could distinguish Asian features
Video conferencing software not recognising women’s voices
Lack of diversity doth a dire product make

6. What happens in teams with little diversity?
(Insert eyeroll here)

7. No!
We should commit to diversity because it the decent,
right, fair and right thing to do
It makes us better human beings
It makes society better
We should “do D&I” for better
software?
Side effects include but are not limited to:
Happier teams, more creative development and testing,
better software, no negative press for products,
increased chance of staying in business. (yay!)

8. “If liberty means anything at all it means the
right to tell people what they do not want to
hear.”

9. What can you do personally?
● Take an implicit association test
● Don’t tolerate intolerance
● Respect people’s pronouns
● Exercise your empathy muscle
● Do not create emotional burdens for people
advocating for adversity

10. What can you do professionally?
● Ask your HR person / team / panel about their
diversity policies.
● Join your internal diversity panel.
● Go out socially and talk to other people interested in
diversity.
● Ask to be involved in interviewing and apply all you
have learned.

11. Combining the professional and the personal

12. What can you do as a leader?
● Provide a grass roots D&I framework and get
out of the way
● Partner with firms who feel like you do for goods
and services.
● Ask your employees what diversity related
changes they want.
● PUT PICTURES OF PEOPLE WHO LOOK
LIKE THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO HIRE on
your talks, website, marketing and recruitment
materials

13. PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE THE PEOPLE WE WANT TO HIRE

14. Being comfortable with your representation

15. Observations
Questions
Comments