token minority problems

[spacefem]

big week... a woman in engineering was on the cover of am i the asshole this week for calling out her company at an event. she had told them she was tired of being pulled out of her technical work for recruiting and photo ops, but she continued to be voluntold for it. Finally when a student asked her about diversity at the company she was honest. As one of only two women she was tired of being the representative woman at events like this, on top of her technical responsibilities.

her company's unfortunate response to the public callout was basically to yell at her for not being their ideal token woman... exactly what she'd complained about.

it was interesting for me to read because I DO tend to enjoy representing women in stem. I wouldn't want to go to stuff every MONTH, but a nice trip here or there is nice, they can use my photo. I don't think diversity numbers can improve if we don't step out front and look like role models, so when I first read it I thought... what's the issue?

But then I saw the issues. Representing isn't for everybody, and she was taking on way more than any one person should have to take on. Seeing it that way the post is a great illustration of how to screw up diversity. This woman is already scouting out her next job. When she brought up concerns, management got defensive and yelled at her instead of listening to her and trying to learn how they can do better.

If you scare all your women away, you're in a bad situation for a few reasons...

1) Your company will now ONLY be able to draw talent from the population that doesn't care about diversity, limiting the pool of who you can hire. Hiring is harder.

2) You've built up a culture where outsider ideas just aren't listened to. This will prevent good ideas from *anybody* from gaining ground, not just women and minorities.

3) Your customers, suppliers, and consultants who are part of the world now have to navigate your nitch weirdness. Spoiler alert: they can walk away just like your employees.

The only way to bounce back from it is to lose money. Sorry to say it. Bring in good outside training to get your leadership on board with listening 101, and then increase your hiring budgets so your salaries make up for your lack of diversity and those few token minorities you're able to hire feel compensated for their dual role of doing good technical work and representing your initiatives.

Or you could just choose to ignore the problem and go downhill. The poster in this week's subreddit is walking away to let them do that. That's her only choice, really.

Comments

[oracne]

This is enlightening; new-to-me ways to screw up diversity!

[senmut]

You can't just have a representative who does all the emotional and public relations work while neglecting their professional development. That way is tokenism.

I hope she finds something good.

[kaishin108]

That is just sad that they would pressure her so much. Kind of reminds me of a cheerleader... And yes, right you are, maybe it isn't in her personality to be one. Sigh.

[pineapple_sour]

For the amount of representation that person was being asked to do, if they weren't be compensated for it then they should have been. That's a lot of extra duties to be "voluntold" for.

[ironphoenix]

I completely agree.

It's hard to hire non-cis-het-White-35ish-males if that's all you've got.

[finch]

I hadn't seen that AITA but it's exhausting just to read about. No wonder she's leaving!

[yesthatjill]

The comment about losing technical output focused work time for travel and recruiting hit me where I live. I lost a half day this week for recruitment video, and one of my group’s projects was delayed because of it. The manager who needs it wanted a reason, and then sneered when I told him why. He said (paraphrasing here) that we didn’t need to be diverse in recruitment and, looking at his recent hires (100% male, 75% white, all friends of his current engineers) and it felt good to tell him that the general manager didn’t agree with him.

Unfortunately, it still means my technical output stats took a hit.

[adafrog]

I saw some of that. I felt bad for her having to be the token woman all the time.

[dandylover1]

I've never understood why companies have to make such a big deal about hiring women, minorities, etc. or why people encourage others to buy from companies owned by the above. The focus should be on the products or services offered, not who works there or who owns the business. I say this as a blind woman, by the way. I just find it all foolish. Likewise, I have always disagreed with quotas of certain people or hiring people just because they're disabled, women, etc. Hiring should be about talent, not sex, race, or anything else.

[singedsun]

As a woman in a corporate STEM job, this type of stuff if so disheartening. I know I've been lucky to work in pretty diverse environments, but companies and experiences like that just push everyone back. Really sad.

[low_delta]

She was wrong in using the word "token." I admire her honesty, but from a recruiting standpoint, she also should have softened (at least) the part where she said "if you don't like that, this isn't the place for you."

She also sounds like she has the poor social skills of the stereotypical engineer: "I'm frankly confused by what my role in this company is. Do you want an engineer or do you want a token?" Or was she being deliberately provocative? This sounds like the kind of thing I would say - trying to be a little pointed, not realizing how cutting it really is.

She didn't give much of the company's side of the story, but the fact that the one manager snapped at her is telling.

But yeah, you're right. It's a difficult situation, when all involved aren't totally on their game.

[low_delta]

How do you know you're getting the best people to choose from, if women and minorities don't apply in great numbers?

When you say you're choosing the best person for the job, how much better is that person than the other? People tend to think in absolutes when they say things like "the best person for the job," but sometimes it's not that clear who is the best. When you narrow the field down to three candidates, how much difference is there between them? If you're thinking about giving the edge to the woman just because she's a woman, there probably isn't a significant difference in talent.

But sheer technical talent isn't the whole story. The unique things that women bring may make them good for the job, even though it isn't technical ability.

Studies indicate that companies that have greater diversity perform better, financially.