Despite years of implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the tech industry continues to struggle with low numbers of women and underrepresented minorities in leadership roles.
The significant gender gap and underrepresentation of minorities highlight that existing DEI efforts are falling short. According to recent statistics, only 14 percent of tech leaders are women, even though they constitute 47 percent of the U.S. workforce and hold 35 percent of tech jobs. Within IT, Black women make up just 3 percent of workers, and Hispanic women only 2 percent. Additionally, 50 percent of women who enter the tech field leave by the age of 35. This persistent disparity calls for a critical examination of both systemic barriers and the flawed approaches we’ve taken to fix them.
Ways to Improve DEI Efforts in Tech
- Broaden recruitment efforts to attract underrepresented talent, including sourcing from diverse educational institutions and creating alternate career pathways.
- Communicate your DEI goals openly and be honest about your progress.
- Offer flexible working arrangements and remote options.
- Create safe spaces like employee resource groups for employees to share their experiences.
- Establish sponsorship programs to support career progression for underrepresented groups.
- Set measurable metrics for retention and promotion rates and track them closely.
- Be transparent about where you’re succeeding and struggling with your goals.
Where Are We Failing in DEI?
One of the largest issues when implementing DEI is impatience. Companies often set goals for hiring individuals from underrepresented backgrounds but fail to allow the necessary time for recruitment. DEI initiatives require years of consistent effort to show meaningful progress. Rushing the process can lead to missteps, such as focusing too narrowly on finding the “best person for the job” based on immediate qualifications, rather than looking for candidates who are a strong fit for both the role and the company culture.
For instance, many companies pull back job postings and requisitions if they don’t hire a candidate quickly, leading managers to hire candidates typical of their existing workforce. Worse, they may hire the wrong candidates to meet diversity hiring goals without a strategic assessment of their fit and potential.
The root problem often stems from a misalignment between immediate hiring pressures and the broader DEI goals. Existing hiring practices often ignore the systemic issues that hinder diversity. Metrics like time-to-hire can conflict with DEI commitments, pressuring managers to make quick hires and miss opportunities to engage with a more diverse candidate pool. That’s why a long-term DEI strategy should involve reevaluating hiring criteria, timelines, and performance indicators to ensure that diversity goals are not only met but also sustained through strategic support and cultural inclusion.
Meanwhile, the rise of AI in recruitment occurred just as companies were doubling down on DEI efforts. And in many cases, rather than supporting these initiatives, AI has undermined them by amplifying existing biases.
AI models, trained on historical data that may already be biased, can inadvertently reinforce the very inequalities that DEI programs aim to dismantle. This has resulted in the exclusion of qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds, particularly when these biases go unchecked.
The problem often lies in how the models are trained and the data they rely on. To prevent this, companies must take deliberate steps to ensure their AI systems are using unbiased, representative data and conduct continuous audits to detect and mitigate any emerging biases. Without these safeguards, AI can undermine the very progress companies are striving to make in building more inclusive workforces.
The Importance of Diverse Role Models in Leadership
Leaders and HR should also keep in mind that candidates from diverse backgrounds often look for representation in leadership roles. The absence of diverse role models contributes to imposter syndrome and discourages aspiring leaders from pursuing higher positions.
More importantly, it’s crucial to identify leaders with actual influence rather than roles created to give lip service to DEI principles. Leadership positions must be genuinely impactful to inspire and support career growth for underrepresented groups.
Companies must never create roles solely for the purpose of virtue signaling. Instead, they should focus on placing individuals in positions who genuinely drive innovation and deliver measurable business impact. This means not just appointing diverse leaders to high-profile roles, but also ensuring they have the authority and resources to effect real change within the organization.
How to Fix Our DEI Problems
Organizations must commit to sustained efforts to build truly diverse and inclusive workplaces. This means moving beyond surface-level gestures and ensuring that DEI initiatives are fully integrated into every aspect of the company’s operations.
Simply relying on diverse individuals within a company to contribute to recruitment is not enough. It places an unfair burden on them without addressing the systemic changes needed.
Broadening recruitment efforts to tap into underrepresented talent pools is a critical first step in building a truly diverse workforce. By moving beyond traditional sources, companies gain access to a wider range of skills, perspectives, and experiences that foster innovation and resilience. Expanding outreach to include diverse educational institutions, alternative career pathways, and underrepresented communities enables organizations to build a workforce that more accurately reflects the varied demographics of society.
Equally important is open communication about DEI goals, which signals a genuine commitment to inclusion and sets clear expectations for both current and prospective employees.
Flexibility in work arrangements is another essential aspect for supporting diversity. Options such as remote work can accommodate employees’ varied needs, whether related to caregiving responsibilities or unique cultural practices, fostering an environment that respects and supports individual differences.
To promote authenticity, companies can establish safe spaces where employees feel encouraged to share their personal experiences. Initiatives like Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or lunch-and-learn sessions allow staff from different backgrounds to connect and share insights, strengthening a culture of inclusivity and understanding.
Additionally, companies should establish sponsorship programs to support career progression for underrepresented groups. This can involve senior leaders actively advocating for high-potential employees, providing them with greater visibility and access to critical projects and opportunities. By directly endorsing and guiding employees, sponsors can help remove barriers to advancement and create pathways for meaningful career growth.
To enhance DEI efforts, businesses should focus on transparent communication and measurable progress. This involves using anonymous employee surveys to gather candid feedback on company culture and DEI initiatives, helping leaders identify challenges and track improvements over time. Regular DEI reports, published quarterly, can increase transparency by openly sharing key metrics, particularly retention and promotion rates, alongside hiring data among diverse groups.
Tracking these metrics consistently allows businesses to measure real progress in DEI, holding leadership accountable to goals that go beyond hiring quotas. Setting specific performance targets linked to retention and promotion rates ensures that DEI initiatives foster an inclusive environment that supports long-term career growth for underrepresented groups. By focusing on transparent reporting and meaningful metrics, organizations can build trust and demonstrate a sustained commitment to creating a truly inclusive workplace.
A Case Study on Improving Diversity
During the start of my leadership career, I felt like I had very little influence on diverse representation. My first role at a large tech company involved leading a team of three individuals, which seemed too small for representation to matter. Moreover, short-term efficiency felt more important.
Over time, one team merged into my group, followed by another, followed by yet another. Three years later, I found myself managing fifteen individuals without any diverse representation.
The issue really hit me when I was interviewing new college graduates for our team. One candidate, easily was the best one the team interviewed, asked me in our final interview if she would be the first female on the team given that all the interviewers were men. I answered the question truthfully. Ultimately, the candidate joined our competitor. I don’t know if my answer was what led to that decision, but I ensured that I would hold myself accountable for improving my team’s representation.
I knew that various parts of the pipeline were putting in the effort. High schools were encouraging more participation in programming classes, universities were having better representation in admissions, and ultimately, we would be missing out on talent if we didn’t participate.
I knew that the problem wasn’t going to be solved overnight. I also knew that additional headcount is the only way to really solve the issue. Our budgets were limited, though, we likely couldn’t double headcount overnight. When chatting about the problem with my team, I was surprised by everyone’s support and ideas. The first was “Let’s not give up thinking about the long-term goal, but instead focus on committing to hiring 50 percent underrepresented individuals for all our new hires.” That didn’t mean lowering the bar. Instead, it meant not rushing by just hiring the first qualified candidate.
This plan involved gaining support from my leadership for a search to take longer than we had planned if we needed to. Ultimately, there was a scaling effect. Within five years, we improved diverse representation from zero percent to 30 percent and maintained our goal of 50 percent of our new hires coming from underrepresented backgrounds. Eventually, two of these individuals became managers.
The Value of Sustained DEI Efforts
Reducing DEI initiatives not only risks losing diverse talent but also damages company culture and invites backlash. Diverse teams are 87 percent more likely to make better decisions than non-diverse teams, and inclusive companies experience a 130 percent increase in cash flow per employee. It’s crucial for organizations to prioritize DEI efforts to drive innovation and success.
By committing to sustained efforts, building diverse talent pipelines, enhancing AI training, promoting diverse leadership, and adopting effective communication strategies, tech organizations can enhance the effectiveness of their DEI efforts and create a more inclusive industry.
