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Just looking at the CEO roles doesn't exactly give an overall picture of diversity in SV or tech in general. However, many of the arguments I see on the other

Just looking at the CEO roles doesn't exactly give an overall picture of diversity in SV or tech in general. However, many of the arguments I see on the other side - namely that all of the groups mentioned here are in fact underrepresented - neglect one fact: the overall percentages pretty closely mirror the demographics of degree holders in the fields necessary to perform many of the tech jobs in SV. Women, for example, hold a disproportionately low share of STEM undergraduate degrees, particularly in engineering. Therefore it is only common sense that they wouldn't be getting jobs that require these degrees at the same rate that men do. It's not because of evil white males not wanting to hire women (or any of the other groups that have claimed discrimination in SV) - it's because fewer of them choose the profession. The degree issue is also the reason that the CEO role is diverse - because it doesn't necessarily take an engineering degree to be the CEO of a tech company. Diverse qualifications will yield a diverse pool of talent.

kitsunesoba 11y ago
The fact that there's underrepresentation of various groups in SV is but a symptom of a much bigger problem, which is that for whatever reason, these fields and the programs they map to are unappealing to many people. I think the most productive route to take would be to figure out exactly what has gone wrong in our education system and society that makes STEM fields attractive to only a very limited set of individuals and fix it. If this root problem is neglected, making hiring more diverse for diversity's sake will end up being a bandaid on a broken limb. I am not saying to put a stop to diversity hiring — it's necessary in the interim, because society and the education system can't change overnight — but it does not solve the actual problem and the longer the problem is left unaddressed, the harder it becomes to fix. We need to be putting serious resources into improvements in education and pushing cultural changes to how STEM careers are seen by the general public, and it needs to happen soon.

kitsunesoba 11y ago

The fact that there's underrepresentation of various groups in SV is but a symptom of a much bigger problem, which is that for whatever reason, these fields and the programs they map to are unappealing to many people. I think the most productive route to take would be to figure out exactly what has gone wrong in our education system and society that makes STEM fields attractive to only a very limited set of individuals and fix it. If this root problem is neglected, making hiring more diverse for diversity's sake will end up being a bandaid on a broken limb. I am not saying to put a stop to diversity hiring — it's necessary in the interim, because society and the education system can't change overnight — but it does not solve the actual problem and the longer the problem is left unaddressed, the harder it becomes to fix. We need to be putting serious resources into improvements in education and pushing cultural changes to how STEM careers are seen by the general public, and it needs to happen soon.