Communications of the ACM
The Problem With Tech Diversity Reports
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Even with the release of diversity reports from Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and many others, there are still lots of things we don't know about the current state of diversity in tech. Diversity is most commonly defined by gender and race, but advocates say that's an incomplete picture and that building efforts around it could hurt the push for diversity going forward.
Diversity reports help establish two important points: transparency and answerability. The problem is, the reports aren't really all that transparent.
Gender and race aren't the only two ways to define diversity. One of the more significant metrics that diversity reports typically don't include is intersectionality, which is the idea that people can have multiple social identities. In other words, you can be a woman and also Hispanic, and that's a unique experience from being one or the other.
It also means companies can't end up with a workforce loaded with white women and call it a day. Nuance is getting lost.
From CNET
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