The idea, as I understand it, for a lot of these diversity programs is: a) get more candidates of underrepresented groups to apply, b) if they lack some prepara

The idea, as I understand it, for a lot of these diversity programs is: a) get more candidates of underrepresented groups to apply, b) if they lack some preparation other candidates are expected to have, help them get it, c) apply the same strict hiring standard to these candidates as to anyone else. Applying a different standard would be a disservice to the company, to the already represented group and to the underrepresented group as well (it is never a good thing to be at a role where you lack the ability to perform or learn to perform in said role). The best companies don't and shouldn't have two standards. But point a) and b) are important. As an example of a), a company can make an effort to reach out to graduates of traditionally black colleges, or expand their international recruiting efforts to countries that don't traditionally have a strong pipeline of sending candidates to US. Underrepresented groups also likely won't know other people working at those companies who can reefer them, since white and asian men already employed there will mostly have white and asian men in their circles. Keep in mind many hires come in through some form of networking, where represented groups already have a huge advantage in terms of getting the foot in the door, unrelated to skill. As an example of b), most people graduating from Stanford and the like know to read Cracking the Coding Interview or similar before doing a software interview and know how software interviews work, graduates from other schools (places like my undergrad college) might need to be told about those resources. People not facing an stereotype threat might also be calmer during interviews, which helps. Now, the fix for the later is not to make the interview easier, but maybe providing or recommending mock interviews for people who haven't interviewed at similar companies before? The idea is not to create two hiring pipelines: a hard one and an easy one. The idea is to get people to show at the start of the normal pipeline who would normally not even know that was an option.