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Yeah, it's a huge culture issue, but not a technical problem companies can engineer solutions towards. Tech companies don't exist as government regulators of n

by seiji 11y ago

Yeah, it's a huge culture issue, but not a technical problem companies can engineer solutions towards. Tech companies don't exist as government regulators of natural philosophy. On the other hand, tech companies do suffer from monoculture and it hurts them when they only play to their own ivory towers instead of understanding the world as it exists. When it's expedient to engage different groups it does happen though. Apple didn't buy Beats because their headphones are the best designed things in the world. Apple saw a company that managed to manipulate an entire (racially motivated) youth subculture and wanted to steal some of that power for themselves. Apple also wanted that elderly executive guy who dresses as if he's a teenager from the south and rambles incessantly, unprepared and unrehearsed, at keynotes. The future of America is clearly not-white (over 50% of children born in the US are now "non-majority") so the problem will self correct within the next 15 years. Be prepared for 15 years of news reports about how everything isn't diverse enough until, one day, things just end up being diverse by the force of history.

adventured 11y ago
Shifting demographics won't inherently change diversity issues in places like Silicon Valley. The problem is far wider than numerical distribution; it's education, home stability, environment, poverty, etc etc, and 15 years isn't going to correct all of that just because national demographics are gradually shifting. The proof for that is all around: black people are 15% of the population, but a fraction of that in major tech companies. The same holds true for latinos. There's a reverse example that makes the point as well: asians as a percentage of the national population, versus representation in tech companies in Silicon Valley. That more than makes it clear it's about skills and education, not demographic percentages. Baltimore is ~65% black. Do you think 65% of the programmers in Baltimore are black? If your theory were correct, we'd have seen a lot more black people working for Twitter, Apple, Google, etc. a long time ago. It doesn't matter if the future is 80% non-white, if people that are non-white don't develop the education and skills required for the jobs in Silicon Valley. That's the issue, and it won't change just because the percentages on demographics do - ie it is not self-correcting. If it were self-correcting, you'd see proof of that in US cities that have had very large black populations for a long time.
- hockeybias 11y ago
  Agreed.
- seiji 11y ago
  All good points, but my delusions rely on one piece of magic: determined people from disadvantaged backgrounds can become successful anyway. This won't all be fixed in 15 years, but it will start to be fixed just by numbers. Yes, the current numbers are awful, but they must get better in the future. If they don't get better, the US will end up as 90% poor and 10% CEOs. Many racial-cultural ghettos throughout the country do exist and drive down the future potential of millions of children, but everybody won't stay there forever. Maybe it only takes a few breakthrough tech successes to set the stage—people to look up to, not "smart is bad" culture. (Also, with current numbers, there are isolated pockets. Sure baltimore is 65% black, but that doesn't put pressure on employee availability (employers can relocate people from elsewhere). But when the entire country is 80% mixed hispanic-white-black-chinese in 100 years, employees must come from society as a whole somewhere.) It is a generational problem and it will take another one to three generations to fully be considered a non-issue anymore. (Assuming, at some point, the US decides to invest in education and children and growth again instead of choking off all avenues of social mobility as have been routine for the past dozen years.)
- brianbreslin 11y ago
  In Miami, the population is 60% hispanic, and i would guess at least 40% of the programmers here are hispanic.

by seiji 11y ago

adventured 11y ago

Shifting demographics won't inherently change diversity issues in places like Silicon Valley. The problem is far wider than numerical distribution; it's education, home stability, environment, poverty, etc etc, and 15 years isn't going to correct all of that just because national demographics are gradually shifting. The proof for that is all around: black people are 15% of the population, but a fraction of that in major tech companies. The same holds true for latinos. There's a reverse example that makes the point as well: asians as a percentage of the national population, versus representation in tech companies in Silicon Valley. That more than makes it clear it's about skills and education, not demographic percentages. Baltimore is ~65% black. Do you think 65% of the programmers in Baltimore are black? If your theory were correct, we'd have seen a lot more black people working for Twitter, Apple, Google, etc. a long time ago. It doesn't matter if the future is 80% non-white, if people that are non-white don't develop the education and skills required for the jobs in Silicon Valley. That's the issue, and it won't change just because the percentages on demographics do - ie it is not self-correcting. If it were self-correcting, you'd see proof of that in US cities that have had very large black populations for a long time.

hockeybias 11y ago
Agreed.
seiji 11y ago
All good points, but my delusions rely on one piece of magic: determined people from disadvantaged backgrounds can become successful anyway. This won't all be fixed in 15 years, but it will start to be fixed just by numbers. Yes, the current numbers are awful, but they must get better in the future. If they don't get better, the US will end up as 90% poor and 10% CEOs. Many racial-cultural ghettos throughout the country do exist and drive down the future potential of millions of children, but everybody won't stay there forever. Maybe it only takes a few breakthrough tech successes to set the stage—people to look up to, not "smart is bad" culture. (Also, with current numbers, there are isolated pockets. Sure baltimore is 65% black, but that doesn't put pressure on employee availability (employers can relocate people from elsewhere). But when the entire country is 80% mixed hispanic-white-black-chinese in 100 years, employees must come from society as a whole somewhere.) It is a generational problem and it will take another one to three generations to fully be considered a non-issue anymore. (Assuming, at some point, the US decides to invest in education and children and growth again instead of choking off all avenues of social mobility as have been routine for the past dozen years.)
brianbreslin 11y ago
In Miami, the population is 60% hispanic, and i would guess at least 40% of the programmers here are hispanic.