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It seems to me that the only diversity in tech that actually matters is diversity of thought: How does this person approach problem solving differently? What he

by korethr 10y ago

It seems to me that the only diversity in tech that actually matters is diversity of thought: How does this person approach problem solving differently? What heretofore unknown problems do they spot before it's too late? Etc. Skin reflectivity, ancestry/parentage, anything related to genitalia (be it shape, usage, TypeMismatchExceptions from the brain, etc), net-worth, or history of any of those strike as poor proxies for the diversity that does mater. Can you solve the technical problem to hand? Great! Am I missing something that it needs to be any more complicated than that?

bobbytherobot 10y ago
It is very very easy to create bias interview questions for programming. I've seen too often people ask a college homework assignment they worked on. Is using your path to the job a good proxy for finding diversity of thinkers? Then the question is, how do you set it up to find people that solve problems differently? The interview is just the start of the phase. How do you keep people who are talented but approach the problem differently? What keeps them from feeling like an outsider?
eveningcoffee 10y ago
Edit: Well, I have to probably extend this to make it more understandable. ...that actually matters is diversity of thought. How does this person approach problem solving differently? I think that this is what the industry is after, kind of. It would at least make economical sense, I think. While the problem is interesting and important, it also looks to be hard to solve. But there seems to exists a heuristic, instead of trying to create an actual diversity of thought directly, create a diversity of thinkers in hope that diversity of thought will arise from it. There is also a political aspect, as the field is felt as attractive and high paying then there exists political groups that try to take advantage of the situation, also this forum is oriented to the CS field, so we also hear more about this field here. This comment does not try to address the real issue but a meta-issue - that is, why it is perceived that there is so much talk about the issue.

by korethr 10y ago

bobbytherobot 10y ago

It is very very easy to create bias interview questions for programming. I've seen too often people ask a college homework assignment they worked on. Is using your path to the job a good proxy for finding diversity of thinkers? Then the question is, how do you set it up to find people that solve problems differently? The interview is just the start of the phase. How do you keep people who are talented but approach the problem differently? What keeps them from feeling like an outsider?

eveningcoffee 10y ago

Edit: Well, I have to probably extend this to make it more understandable. ...that actually matters is diversity of thought. How does this person approach problem solving differently? I think that this is what the industry is after, kind of. It would at least make economical sense, I think. While the problem is interesting and important, it also looks to be hard to solve. But there seems to exists a heuristic, instead of trying to create an actual diversity of thought directly, create a diversity of thinkers in hope that diversity of thought will arise from it. There is also a political aspect, as the field is felt as attractive and high paying then there exists political groups that try to take advantage of the situation, also this forum is oriented to the CS field, so we also hear more about this field here. This comment does not try to address the real issue but a meta-issue - that is, why it is perceived that there is so much talk about the issue.