Dive Brief:
- With the release of its latest diversity data detailing the demographics of its 53,600 full-time employees at the end of 2014, Google is not thrilled with its progress, according to an article at Wired.com.
- The 2014 data shows that women hold about 20% of the company’s leadership and tech jobs. African-Americans are 2% of the worfkforce and Hispanics 3%, the same as in 2013.
- The tech behemoth tried hard, however, with several 2014 initiatives focused on boosting diversity.
Dive Insight:
Tech's diversity issues are well documented. To try and change that scenario from within, Google hired Nancy Lee in 2013 as head of diversity strategy.
After convincing Google to publicly release its diversity data, Wired reports that under Lee's direction the company embedded engineers at historically black colleges to help rethink computer science curriculums and recruit interns. It is creating tools for kids to learn to code and working to help minority-owned and women-owned small business owners build a strong online presence. Internally, Google rolled out a program called Diversity Core, which allows employees to set aside time at work devoted to diversity projects within Google and in local communities.
Some experts believe it will take even more to make change.
“Instead of scattershot training about lots of different forms of bias, or imagining scenarios of things that could be happening, they could be doing things to analytically figure out what the problems are within the company and address those specific patterns,” Joan Williams, a professor at University of California, Hastings College of the Law, who specializes in women’s issues in the workplace, told Wired.
