How tech companies are addressing diversity issues

Research from Diversity issues in Tech shows that only 15% of tech professionals are black, Asian, or another ethnic minority, while just 19% are women. But although diversity in tech is a huge and growing issue, many businesses are taking innovative steps to solve it.

How tech companies are addressing diversity issues

By Nicholas Fearn

Technology is one of the most lucrative and fast-growing industries today, but it’s also one of the least diverse and inclusive. Research from Diversity issues in Tech shows that only 15% of tech professionals are black, Asian, or another ethnic minority, while just 19% are women. But although diversity in tech is a huge and growing issue, many businesses are taking innovative steps to solve it.

Shared responsibility is crucial

When diversity and inclusion are concerned, the technology industry is known to be lacking. Dawn Jones, director of policy and external partnerships at Intel, explains that the sector has made slow progress in this area. She tells IDG Connect: “Around 11% of senior leadership roles are held by women, and women of colour make up a staggering 4% of the computing workforce.”

As the technology industry continues to face both new and existing challenges, shared responsibility is crucial to making it more diverse and inclusive. She continues: “Today’s world is facing a whole host of new challenges which has ushered in a new era of shared responsibility.

“Collective action is needed to combat issues including the deep digital divide, climate change, and global pandemics. We recently launched our 2030 goals raising the bar for ourselves, looking to increase the scale of our work to create a more inclusive and sustainable world, enabled through technology.”

Jones explains that defeating the demographic deficit is a major objective at the tech giant. “Intel pledged to increase the number of women in technical roles to 40% and double the numbers of women and underrepresented minorities in senior roles by 2030. Ultimately, D&I needs to be the cornerstone of every business,” she says.

Originally published at Idg connect