Diversity & Inclusion Conference Talk - Refactr

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
CREATING A BETTER CULTURE FOR THE TECH
COMMUNITY AND YOUR COMPANY

TRACY LEE
@LADYLEET
Lead, This Dot Labs, JS consulting (Angular, React, Vue, Node, Polymer)
Google Developer Expert, Angular
Microsoft MVP
Community Rel, Node.js @ Node Foundation
RxJS Core Team
Women Techmakers, GDG Silicon Valley & Triangle
Modern Web Podcast

Deﬁning D & I
Why it matters in product & app development
The bottom line impact
Hiring, retention, and team culture
Case studies - doing D & I right
Building culture
Solving the pipeline problem

DIVERSITY
https://www.beyondiversity.com/how-diversity-as-an-idea-is-evolving/

“Diversity represents the full spectrum of human
demographic differences -
race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age,
socio-economic status or disability.”
- Gallup
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/242138/r
equirements-diverse-inclusive-culture.aspx
DIVERSITY

“A lot of companies consider lifestyles, personality
characteristics, perspectives, opinions, family
composition, education level or tenure elements of
diversity, too.”
- Gallup
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/242138/r
equirements-diverse-inclusive-culture.aspx
DIVERSITY

Inclusion refers to a cultural and environmental
feeling of belonging.
It can be assessed as the extent to which
employees are valued, respected, accepted and
encouraged to fully participate in the
organization.
- Gallup
https://www.gallup.com/workplace
/242138/requirements-diverse-incl
usive-culture.aspxINCLUSION

Employees in inclusive environments feel appreciated
for their unique characteristics and are therefore
comfortable sharing their ideas and other aspects of
their true and authentic selves.
- Gallup
https://www.gallup.com/workplac
e/242138/requirements-diverse-i
nclusive-culture.aspxINCLUSION

Companies that have a more inclusive
environment...
are companies that ﬁnancially perform
better.
- Paul Polman, Former CEO, Unilever.
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/03/20/unilevers-paul-polman-says-inclusive-companies-financially-perform-better

WHY A DIVERSE
TEAM MATTERS FOR
PRODUCT DESIGN

“85% of product designers and engineers
are men
while women buy or inﬂuence 85% of all
consumer purchases.
- Fast Company
https://www.fastcompany.com/3063442/the-innovation-economy-is-terrible-at-designing-for-women

https://www.inc.com/salvador-rodriguez/uber-diversity-fowler.html
https://medium.com/@shellyphu/why-bic-for-her-pens-failed-6d80cde6511

https://twitter.com/nke_ise/status/897756900753891328

APPLE WATCH EARLY RELEASE
COULD NOT IDENTIFY DARK SKIN
https://www.wareable.com/health-and-wellbeing/skin-science-complex-wearables-4441

https://splinternews.com/will-the-apple-watchs-coolest-feature-work-for-people-o-1793846147
WAS
APPLE FAIL
A TEAM
DIVERSITY
PROBLEM?

Early airbags were designed for the average man and
accidentally killed women and children.
Hanselminutes - Better Allies and Better Hiring with Karen Catlin Episode
https://www.hanselminutes.com/664/better-allies-and-better-hiring-with-karen-catlin

“Would Uber with more
women in technical roles
have built better tools to
protect female users from
instances of sexual attacks
by their drivers?”
- Inc. Magazine

USE STOCK PHOTOS OF TRANS
AND NON-BINARY PEOPLE

DOES DIVERSITY
REALLY AFFECT
THE BOTTOM LINE?

https://twitter.com/karla_reffold/status/1083070944674021377

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/5-eye-opening-statistics-about-minorities-in-tech/
“Diversity efforts could net IT industry
an extra $400 billion in revenue
each year.”
- Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA CEO.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/5-eye-opening-statistics-about-minorities-in-tech/
“A one percentage point move toward
representative diversity leads to a
three-point increase in revenue.”
- Todd Thibodeaux, CompTIA CEO.

- Examined data sets for 366 public companies across a range
of industries in Canada, Latin America, UK, and US.
- Companies in top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are
35% more likely to have ﬁnancial returns above industry
medians.
- Companies in top quartile for gender diversity are 15%
more likely to have ﬁnancial returns above industry
medians.
DIVERSITY MATTERS REPORT BY MCKINSEY & COMPANY
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber-market-share-customer-image-hit-string-scandals/102795024/
“Over the past two
years, Uber's share of
rides has dropped to
75% from 90%.”
- TXN Solutions

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber-market-share-customer-image-hit-string-scandals/102795024/https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber-market-share-customer-image-hit-string-scandals/102795024/
Uber had a 3.5% decrease in market
share between Feb and June
(when Susan Fowler’s post on a
hostile work culture was released)
Lyft’s market share during that same
time had a correlating 3.5%
increase.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3004595/secrets-americas-happiest-companies
ACTIVELY ENGAGED
EMPLOYEES
Disengaged employees cost
up to $350 billion per year
in lost productivity.
- Gallup

https://www.fastcompany.com/3046358/millennials-have-a-different-deﬁnition-of-diversity-and-inclusion
83% of millennials are actively engaged
when they believe their organization
fosters an inclusive culture.
60% of millennials are actively engaged
when they believe their organization
does not foster an inclusive culture.
ACTIVELY ENGAGED
EMPLOYEES

https://twitter.com/beccaliz/status/1083023704735531013

https://twitter.com/jeffwhelpley/status/1113861622936813570

BETTER HIRING TACTICS
Candidates should be sourced through a variety of methods
Job descriptions should have gender-neutral tone
Diversity should be mentioned on the career website
Diverse candidates who interview should have the opportunity to
meet with a diverse group of employees
https://blog.hrps.org/blogpost/5-Ways-HR-Leaders-Can-Create-a-More-Inclusive-Environment

Spent ~$6 million since 2015 to ﬁx the
gender wage gap.
EQUAL PAY INITIATIVES
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2017/04/04/salesforce-spends-6m-help-close-wage-gap/99991848/

In 2016, 6% (approx 1000 employees) had
pay discrepancies and received pay
adjustments.

In 2017, ~11% of Salesforce's employees
required a pay adjustment
totaling ~$3 million.

2015 - Released its hiring rates for
underrepresented groups and
made hiring goals public.
INTENTIONAL HIRING
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/20/silicon-valleys-diversity-problem-is-its-achilles-heel.html

2017 - employees from
underrepresented ethnic groups
tripled 3% to 9%.
Women in tech roles
(engineers, product management and design)
increased from 21 % to 29%.
INTENTIONAL HIRING

Required at least one woman
and one ethnically underrepresented
candidate was in the interview slate onsite.
INTENTIONAL HIRING

Attracted female talent by
including sponsorships of women-in-tech
events and a new intern program to attract
candidates early in the application process.
INTENTIONAL HIRING
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/atlassian-breaks-diversity-ceiling/news-story/9dfd0ed948c
2673d6decbd1447643775

INTENTIONAL HIRING
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/atlassian-breaks-diversity-ceiling/news-story/9dfd0ed948c
2673d6decbd1447643775
Australian tech giant Atlassian says
~ 60% of its incoming graduates are women.
Number increases each year:
57% of incoming grads 2017 were women,
from 17% (2016) & 15% (2015).

At LinkedIn, out@in is a global employee
resource group oﬀering executive sponsors
and a strong ally community for LGBT
employees.
https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10055-create-inclusive-workplace-culture.html
INCLUSIVE WORKPLACES

"A sense of belonging … and inclusion ensures that all
employees, regardless of their background and
experiences, can be connected with equal opportunity
and create a healthier, more successful future
together with their employers."
- Alexandre Ullmann, Head of HR, LinkedIn

"When people are comfortable and can
express themselves in an authentic way, they are more
likely to perform better, which increases engagement
and contributes to the organization as a whole."
- Miguel Castro, senior director, lead for the Culture
& Identity, Global Diversity & Inclusion Oﬃce

SAP offers a virtual training program called
Focus on Insight, which educates employees
about diversity and inclusion.

PURPOSE BEFORE PROFIT
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/03/20/unilevers-paul-polman-says-inclusive-companies-ﬁnancially-perform-better

Purpose and doing purpose very
well...which gives you the proﬁt.
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace can
lead to greater business potential.
Paul Polman retired CEO saw this in Unilever’s
subsidiaries in 190 countries.

"You can read it in engagement scores,
you can read it in innovation and ultimately in
proﬁtability and return on investment."
- Paul Polman retired CEO, Unilever

53% of the population is affected by disability –
directly and indirectly. Together, this group has
a spending power of $8 trillion.

HOW TO BUILD AN
INCLUSIVE CULTURE

LEADERSHIP
“Creating and encouraging a sense of belonging in your workplace
begins at the leadership level.
The company's founders and executive team need to have a desire
to build a diverse culture and hire people who are open to working
with people of all different nationalities, skin colors, genders and
sexual orientations.”
- Eloise Bune, CEO of ScribbleChat

https://twitter.com/careecodes/status/1113853211964780544

C- level leaders should repeat that inclusion
is a priority and the managers should
reiterate the message regularly.
LEADERSHIP

https://twitter.com/CindyGross/status/1113645164764041216

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE
THROUGH MEETINGS

When women are in the minority in their
workplace, they are up to 33% more likely to
get interrupted than are their male
colleagues.
MEETINGS

Advise against interrupting colleagues while
they speak.
Encourage managers to help women or
minorities amplify messages and give credit
to the ideas’ originator.
MEETINGS

Send out agendas ahead of time.
Employees who are timid about speaking in
meetings, such as English language learners,
junior employees or introverts, can collect
and write down their thoughts ahead of time.
MEETINGS

https://twitter.com/Judith_IP/status/1113475033400324096

1. Bounce an idea off of someone unexpected.
2. Change up your environment.
3. Rotate who runs your meetings.
4. Leave your assumptions at the door.
5. Talk about something other than work.
QUICK TIPS

https://twitter.com/betterallies/status/948931752197685248

BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE
THROUGH TRANSPARENCY
DIVERSITY REPORTING

The company's willingness to publish shows
an openness to address diversity issues,
which incentivizes people to stay at the
company.
- Carol A. Adams,
Professor of accounting at Durham University Business School in England.
DIVERSITY REPORTING
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/14/success/company-diversity-numbers/index.html

"It affects people's perception of the workplace and
their job satisfaction. You start seeing more women and
ethnic minorities applying for promotion whereas
before they may not have bothered because they
thought there was no point."
- Carol A. Adams,
Professor of accounting at Durham University Business School in England.
DIVERSITY REPORTING

Salesforce president and chief people ofﬁcer Cindy
Robbins says she was nervous when she led a
company-wide audit of pay.
The deep-dive ultimately revealed a compensation
gap between male and female employees.
DIVERSITY REPORTING

DIVERSITY REPORTING
“Publicly sharing numbers involves acknowledging
company failures, but it's also an opportunity to be
held accountable for future progress.”
“It's a healthy fear. It lights a ﬁre under you."
- Courtney Seiter, director of people at Buffer

What gets measured gets improved.
1. Benchmark your company by surveying.
2. Identify areas for improvement.
3. Are certain demographics are having suboptimal
experiences?
4. Team-level data - who needs more support?
METRICS

FEWER WOMEN IN TECH
- In the UK -
Only 20% of total students who choose computer
science for secondary education is female.
And only 16% at the degree level +.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/08/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-tech-the-truth-behind-the-google-memo

FEWER WOMEN IN TECH
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/08/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-tech-the-truth-behind-the-google-memo
- In the West -
Female participation in computer science has plunged
since the mid-80s.
While female participation in medicine and other
scientiﬁc ﬁelds has increased steadily.

Major companies like Facebook, Apple, Google,
Intel and Microsoft are making huge efforts and
being open about the process.
None of them have cracked the 30% percent
mark for women in technical positions.
PROGRESS IS SLOW

THE NEW PIPELINE
“Faster and cheaper education models like
coding boot camps have tremendous
potential to diversify competitive
workforces.”
- Ryan Craig, author and investor
https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/bootcamp-grads-diversity/

THE NEW PIPELINE - BOOTCAMPS
Coding Bootcamps
43% women
25% black/latino
https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/bootcamp-grads-diversity/
Course Report 2016 demographic study of U.S. bootcamps
University CS Majors
15% women
10% black/latino

WHAT’S STOPPING THE RATIO
FROM CHANGING?
https://www.nextgeneration.ie/blog/2018/08/why-arent-there-more-women-in-tech

HIRING BIAS IS RAMPANT
We tend to recruit those who are culturally
similar to themselves.
This means white male engineers tend
to recruit white male engineers.

INDUSTRY STATS
70% of tech companies have no female board
members and 54% have no female executives .
SHRM, 2018

WHY ARE
WOMEN IN TECH
LEAVING?

THE RETENTION PROBLEM
Women are 45% more
likely to leave within
the year than men.
45%

Family reasons are not the primary reason for
their departure, but rather:
Feeling of
Isolation
Hostile macho
culture
Lack of
sponsors
THE RETENTION PROBLEM

DIVERSITY NOW
Diverse hiring pipelines need to be adopted
Hiring bias needs to be addressed
Teams need to grow their next diverse leaders
Inclusive cultures need to be created

WE CREATED A HIRE THE
FEMPIRE PROGRAM FOR
COMPANIES TO SUCCEED AT
CHANGING THE RATIO

Diverse hiring pipelines need to be adopted
We provide a
steady pipeline of diverse candidates
through partnerships with
bootcamps and diverse organizations.

Hiring bias needs to be addressed
We take the bias out of hiring.
Our program allows equal opportunity and an
unbiased interview process with a diverse hiring
committee.

Teams need to grow their next diverse leaders
Our engineers come paired with senior architect
mentors to provide them with support in their new
positions and teach them how to be leaders.

Inclusive cultures need to be created
Learn by watching.
We lead by example within your teams to facilitate
inclusive cultures within your organization.

You can’t just hope for happy
endings. You have to believe in
them. Then do the work, take the
risks.
- Nora Roberts

www.thisdot.co/labs
tracy@thisdot.co
@ladyleet

OUTLINE
Everyone is talking about diversity and inclusion these days. But why does it really matter? Why are people talking about it?
DEFINE DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
STATISTICS OF WOMEN VS MEN ENGINEERS
PRODUCT EXAMPLES
We’ll explore some practical reasons why you should be aware of how D&I impacts your business and easy tips to begin
changing how you and your team think today.
REVENUE
EMPLOYEE HIRING AND RETENTION
TEAM REASONS
What are some ways companies have done D&I right, and how can you learn from them?
3 CASE STUDIES
We’ll also cover do’s and don’ts of how to build an inclusive team culture and creating a sustainable environment that
includes everyone.
And if you’ve had a hard time ﬁnding women to hire, how do you solve that problem?

- Work with us to create an inclusive environment
on your team.
- Create a working pipeline of qualiﬁed diverse
hires.
- Work with some of the JavaScript industry’s
experts.
FIX DIVERSITY NOW

ONE SOLUTION IN
SOLVING THIS
PROBLEMSo, it’s settled: We know that diversity is good for companies on many levels.
But we also know it’s not that simple.
In order for more women to become senior developers and executives, more
women have to get those foot-in-the-door, entry-level jobs ﬁrst. But hiring
junior developers often requires some extra workload on the company’s part.
Many companies need to hire senior developers, therefore have a severe
problem with the diversity in the pool of candidates with 5-15 years
experience.

OUR HIRE THE FEMPIRE
PROGRAM
Pre-vetted through diverse group
On the job training
Quality assurance
We pair companies with:
Junior developer
+
Senior architect

MENTORING AS A DIVERSITY
SOLUTION
According to the Association for
Talent Development, 75% of
executives say mentoring has
been critical to their career
development.
https://www.td.org/

SOLUTION
But informal mentorship isn’t
enough.
https://www.td.org/

SOLUTION
Formal mentoring program provides
fewer feelings of isolation.
This creates a better environment for
those who want to pursue a career in
the tech world.
https://www.td.org/

OUR HIRE THE FEMPIRE
PROGRAM
Provided w/ formal mentors
Support in their entry tech jobs
Creating better environments
Companies need:
Examples of how to
support women in tech.
We lead by example.

INTENTIONAL HIRING
Pinterest created the
ofﬁce of the Head of Diversity.

DIVERSITY NOW
Real world experience
Pull Requests and Code reviews.
Testing
When to ask for help and when to try to ﬁnd the answer
yourself.
How to help organize and prioritize the team’s workﬂow by
backlog grooming, sprint planning and story pointing.
How to creatively solve complex problems.
Accurately evaluating your skills in a certain area.
How to work well within a team structure.
Key things apprentices learn during the
apprentice program:
Each of our junior developers will be paired with a senior
developer who will mentor them, help them on an ongoing
basis with the problems they encounter, and ease their
transition into the programming world.
When you a companies hire our compran, they get the
power of 40 hours a week from a junior developer and 20
hours a week from a senior developer.
Apprentices are trained on the job, on the company’s tech
stack, with the guidance of This Dot architects. When
they acquire the necessary skills, companies can convert
them to full-time hires.

THE EXPERIENCE
PROBLEM
So, it’s settled: We know that diversity is good for companies on many levels.
But we also know it’s not that simple.
In order for more women to become senior developers and executives, more
women have to get those foot-in-the-door, entry-level jobs ﬁrst. But hiring
junior developers often requires some extra workload on the company’s part.
Many companies need to hire senior developers, therefore have a severe
problem with the diversity in the pool of candidates with 5-15 years
experience.

INDUSTRY STATS
Not achieving diversity affects your
company’s profits and productivity:
“Executive teams in the top-quartile for
gender diversity were 21% more likely to
outperform on profitability and 27% more
likely to have superior value creation.”
Delivering through Diversity, a 2018
In tech, inequality gets a
running start.
Only 20-25% of entry-level
technical jobs are filled by
women.
Women in the workplace, 2018
The disparity widens as
you climb the ladder.
70% of tech companies
have no female board
members and 54% have
no female executives .
SHRM, 2018

“90% of companies claim to prioritize
diversity
but only 4% are focused on making
offerings inclusive of disability.”
- Paul Polman, Former CEO, Unilever
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2019/03/20/unilevers-paul-polman-says-inclusive-companies-financially-perform-better

THE RETAINING
PROBLEM
Women and men ask for promotions at similar rates, but
women fall behind earlier and continue to lose ground,
usually at the initial stage of promotion into management.
This is often because they have few champions, advisors, or
managers they can turn to for advice on how to advance.
You can’t be what you can’t see.
https://womenintheworkplace.com/#pipeline-data

FEWER WOMEN IN TECH
Less women are studying STEM subjects. This
means that employers have a gender biased
talent poll to recruit from.

NOT ONLY IN TECH
ROLES
At tech companies, general staff across all
roles are predominately male.
https://www.nextgeneration.ie/blog/2018/08/
why-arent-there-more-women-in-tech

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BIC-For-Amber-Medium-Ballpoint/dp/B004FTGJUW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
BIC FOR HER

ONGOING
CONSEQUENCES
80% of Uber customers are aware of Uber's recent
scandals and those with negative views of the company
have jumped to 27% from 9% since the news began to
tarnish the company's reputation.
Impact is worse in the company's ability to attract new
customers. Prior to the scandal, 13% of prospective Uber
users were very or extremely unlikely to consider doing
business with the ride-hailing service. Post-news, 32% say
they would not do business with Uber.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber-market-share-customer-image-hit-string-scandals/102795024/

Having a PopSocket on your phone gives
you a much better grip so holding your
phone is much easier.
Sales:
2014 - Only U.S, 30,000 units, $240,000
revenue.
2017 - 40 countries, 35 Million units,
$ 168.8 M revenue.
3-Year Growth: 71,424% total, 800%
every year.
https://www.inc.com/salvador-rodriguez/
uber-diversity-fowler.html

Sociologist Zeynep Tufekci was not able
to document tear gas use in Turkey
because her phone was too big for her to
take pictures one-handed.
"All my photos from that event are
obviously unusable for one simple reason:
good smartphones are designed for male
hands,"
"I cursed that what was taken for granted by the male designers and male
users of modern phones was simply not available to me," Tufekci recalled.
Women's hands are on average a whole 17mm shorter than men's.

There is a huge influx of
women entering the tech
world that can’t find jobs. At
the same time, women that
have a tech job tend to leave.
BOTH SIDES OF THE PROBLEM
Many companies can’t find
the diversity they strive for.
They need people with a
certain experience and can’t
find that in diverse pools.

https://insights.dice.com/2018/03/14/bootcamp-grads-trouble-finding-work/
Have trouble finding work after bootcamp

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