Susan McIntosh on Diversity in Tech

Show Notes

• 0:40 Introductions
• 2:04 There is a significant diversity challenge in the information technology industry
• 2:22 Visible evidence of the lack of diversity in organisations
• 2:51 “Oh, you’re not Steve” response when people met Susan in a programmer role
• 3:08 People from diverse backgrounds bring different ideas to the table, which customers might find valuable
• 3:25 Women are the primary decision makers in shopping but the IT industry as a whole doesn’t consider the women’s perspective when designing and building products
• 3:35 The example of AI gloves which are not designed for women’s hands
• 3:45 How do we ensure we’re appealing to a customer if we don’t have somebody on the team who represents that customer?
• 4:12 Even if we don’t think we’re biased there are unconscious biases which we don’t see in ourselves
• 4:28 White privilege is a real thing – people of colour are automatically behind their white counterparts even when it feels like they are starting from the same point
• 5:00 Examples of the unconscious biases that are inherent in the system, from Susan’s own experience as a woman of shorter stature
• 6:10 The need to adjust general working structures to accommodate, for example, for working parents or all genders
• 6:35 The importance of creating work environments where people can bring their whole selves to work and also be able to step away when needed
• 7:25 The common misconception that confidence equates to competence and how that impacts people who may be very competent but may be uncomfortable putting themselves forward
• 7:52 We often attribute knowledge to people who make the most noise rather than exploring their actual competence in a topic
• 8:08 Women are often doubly disadvantaged in this situation because of politeness and social conditioning
• 8:25 Adopting a power stance helps, but doesn’t overcome differences such as height
• 9:02 If you’re shy about saying how successful you are then other people won’t know that you are and you might be overlooked
• 9:19 Just because somebody if confident doesn’t mean they are the smartest person
• 9:32 Overcoming this particular bias is very hard and requires careful consideration
• 11:18 The AnitaB.org awards for women in technology are one example of a concrete positive step to recognising the contribution of women to technology
• 11:42 Things that can be done that help include recognising the companies who are doing well at reducing the imbalances, tracking and reporting diversity data
• 11:59 Statistics that show that the proportion of women taking Computer Science has dropped, whereas in other technical fields such as Chemistry and Materials Science it has increased
• 12:24 Expanding the funnel – ensuring that girls get as much opportunity and encouragement to explore computer technology as girls
• 12:32 Examples of organisations and initiatives that are focused on bringing young women and people from minority groups into IT
• 13:17 The importance of ensuring our workplaces are more open to a broader diversity of people
• 13:35 The culture of loading up on highly caffeinated drinks and working excessive hours is not one that is worth persisting or emulating
• 14:02 Moving to an environment that focuses on outcomes from work not the number of hours you spend at a desk
• 14:16 These changes are beneficial to everyone in the workplace
• 14:33 Expanding on the idea of “bring your whole self” to work
• 15:25 An example of how looking at the products we’re building from your perspective as a shopper rather than as a builder can result in a better user experience
• 15:49 Being valued as a complete person in the workplace improves engagement and commitment to the organisation
• 16:25 This results in benefits for the employee, the employer and the customer – win-win-win for all
• 16:43 This reinforces and expands the ideas around psychological safety at work – creating an environment where people care for and about each other
• 17:30 Expanding on Dan Pink’s ideas about autonomy, mastery & purpose and adding psychological safety and social connectedness
• 18:12 In the technology industry we think that technology can solve any problem, but the reality it is the people who are doing the technology who bring the answers
• 18:42 A diverse group will have a wide variety of experiences and can use these diverse ideas to produce products which provide better value for the customers they are building products for

Mentioned

• Qcon San Francisco
• Rebecca Parsons – ThoughtWorks  
• Amy Cuddy research on Power Stances
• InfoQ coverage of Diversity
• AnitaB.org
• Grace Hopper Conference
• Girl Scouts
• AI-4-All
• Dan Pink – Drive