The HBR Diversity and Inclusion Collection (5 Books)

Hacking Tech’s Diversity Problem

by Joan C. Williams

WHEN GOOGLE, YAHOO, LINKEDIN, AND Facebook disclosed their woefully low levels of female employment in the summer of 2014, admitting that they had a lot of work to do to improve them, they signaled a shift for the technology industry. It’s remarkable that the sector is finally stepping up to the plate on diversity—and refreshing that its focus is on metrics rather than rhetoric.

Make no mistake: Improving those metrics will be challenging. A key feature of the tech culture—the shared belief that it’s a meritocracy—may work against change. An important study by Emilio J. Castilla and Stephen Benard has shown that when an organization’s core values state that raises and promotions are “based ...