Thoughts on Diversity Part 2. Why Diversity is Difficult. — Tech Diversity Files

I should not still be shocked at the stories of offensive ignorance and outright discrimination that come out of the land of tech, not after my MA work and the interviews I conducted for my dissertation, or all the hours of reading and research. And yet I am. When Leslie Miley, as a guest on the Reply All podcast, described some of the things he has encountered as an African American man in Silicon Valley my jaw dropped. No, he was not not describing violence or outright threats, just shocking behaviour from superiors and coworkers.

Of course, I immediately paused the podcast and looked him up online. He’s left Google, Twitter, Apple, and other tech giants behind and is now Director of Engineering at Entelo. The company provides software solutions for recruitment. Although I’ve just discovered the man and the company, I am hoping that, based on his past experiences, their product and company philospohy include a focus on connecting with and retaining diverse candidates.

Since finding solutions that *work* for addressing the difficulties of increasing diversity is what my research is all about, having someone as accomplished as Mr. Miley working on the problem has gotten me very excited. I’m doing a quick re-blog of one of his posts on Medium to share his work with you and to make a big, fat bookmark for myself to have available for quick reference. Click the link at the end to read the complete article.

More links for Leslie Miley:

Twitter: @shaft (can’t say he’s without humour)

“Q&A With The Black Twitter Engineer Who Left Over Diversity Problems”

Thoughts on Diversity Part 2. Why Diversity is Difficult.
I am passionate about Twitter the service, and I love Twitter, the company. The opportunity to work on a product that is positively changing how African Americans are perceived in this country is humbling. Every day for almost three years, I have looked forward to making contributions to the platform that enables #BlackLivesMatter, and that amplifies the voices of #BlackTwitter.

That is why is the public commitment by Twitter to a measurable diversity goal is so important. In 2014 27% of African American, 25% of Hispanic Americans and 21% of Women use Twitter according to Pew. Only 3% of Engineering and Product at Twitter are African American/Hispanic and less than 15% are Women. This is why the work many people have done, and continue to do in diversity at Twitter is so important. They are indomitable, have the will, strength and courage to change the story of diversity at Twitter…

via Thoughts on Diversity Part 2. Why Diversity is Difficult. — Tech Diversity Files — Medium.