1/ NEW: We’ve put together the most detailed picture yet of Silicon Valley diversity.
And we found that while racial and gender disparities are grave, many companies haven't been held back by conventional excuses. revealnews.org/article/heres-…
And we found that while racial and gender disparities are grave, many companies haven't been held back by conventional excuses. revealnews.org/article/heres-…
2/ First, here’s how bad it is: Ten large tech companies did not employ a single black woman in 2016. Three had no black employees at all. Six did not have a single female executive.
3/ @Facebook, for example, has blamed a lack of qualified minority candidates for its lack of diversity ...
4/ … But our analysis shows that a majority of the Valley’s large tech companies (91 of them) had a higher percentage of black, Latino and multiracial employees among their ranks of executives, managers and professionals than Facebook.
5/ Adobe had 93 execs. But none were black. 
6/ To do this analysis, we partnered with @UMassAmherst's Center for Employment Equity.
7/ The center’s Donald Tomaskovic-Devey said when it comes to diversity, companies often want to shift responsibility to others.
“This is not something they do for any other part of the production process,” he said.
“This is not something they do for any other part of the production process,” he said.
8/ There were bright spots in the data: Women outnumbered men in the executive ranks of two Silicon Valley companies. And at another firm, nearly a third of executives were women of color.
9/ Most of the companies are anonymous. A handful have voluntarily released their figures, so we know how they’re doing specifically.
Anonymous or not, this data provides the best baseline yet for tech companies to understand how they stack up to their peers.
Anonymous or not, this data provides the best baseline yet for tech companies to understand how they stack up to their peers.
11/ Weirdly, some of the most inclusive companies choose to remain anonymous.
*One reported 1/3 of its execs are from underrepresented minority groups.
*Another – which could even be the same one; we have no way of telling! – said 82% of its execs and managers were women.
*One reported 1/3 of its execs are from underrepresented minority groups.
*Another – which could even be the same one; we have no way of telling! – said 82% of its execs and managers were women.
12/ Other companies, such as @PalantirTech, @Oracle and @pandoramusic, have fought the release of their raw diversity stats, claiming they constitute trade secrets.
We don’t agree. So we’re suing: documentcloud.org/documents/4448…
We don’t agree. So we’re suing: documentcloud.org/documents/4448…
13/ Diversity in tech isn’t just some feel-good PC thing. These companies are designing what the future looks like, controlling how we communicate or even influencing how we vote.
A lack of diversity means a lack of crucial voices in those decisions. And critical blind spots.
A lack of diversity means a lack of crucial voices in those decisions. And critical blind spots.
14/ @nvidia ranked in the bottom four of the 177 large tech companies for gender representation. The venerable chipmaker's stock price has increased more than tenfold in the last three years.
15/ Now, back to the analysis: We found that if career paths were staircases, the stairway leading women of color to the top narrows as it rises. For white men, it widens:
16/ Even when women and minorities get through the door, companies struggle to retain women of color. Take the case of Shanea King-Roberson.
18/ See how difficult it becomes for black and Latino employees to move into management in Silicon Valley:
19/ Some tech companies have pointed to a “pipeline problem” that prevents them from finding qualified candidates of color.
Several studies have challenged that theory: leakytechpipeline.com
Several studies have challenged that theory: leakytechpipeline.com
20/ Here’s how our partner in the study put it.
