Agreed—though many of the more successful diversity efforts are really just efforts to make companies nicer and more collaborative places to work (e.g. cross-functional teams, mentoring).
Agreed. This makes those sorts of policies all the more attractive in my opinion, since improving diversity is just one of the benefits.
I’m also a little sceptical of the huge gains the HBR article suggests—do diversity task forces really increase the number of Asian men in management by a third? It suggests looking at Google as an example of “a company that’s made big bets on [diversity] accountability… We should know in a few years if that moves the needle for them”—it didn’t.
I’m also skeptical that particular programs will lead to huge gains. But I don’t think it’s fair to say that Google’s efforts to improve diversity haven’t worked. The article you cited on that was from 2017. Looking at updated numbers from Google’s site, the mix of new hires (which are less sticky than total employees) does seem to have shifted since 2014 (when Google began its initiatives) and 2018 (most recent data available). These aren’t enormous gains, but new hires do seem to have become notably more diverse. I certainly wouldn’t look at this data and say that Google’s efforts didn’t move the needle.
Women: 30.7% in 2014 vs 33.2% in 2018 (2.5% diff, 8% Pct Change)
Asian+: 37.9% in 2014 vs 43.9% in 2018 (6% diff, 16% Pct Change)
Black+: 3.5% in 2014 vs 4.8% in 2018 (1.3% diff, 37% Pct Change)
Latinx+: 5.9% in 2014 vs 6.8% in 2018 (.9% diff, 15% Pct Change)
Native American+: .9% in 2014 vs 1.1% in 2018 (.2% diff, 22% Pct Change)
White+: 59.3% in 2014 vs 48.5% in 2018 (-10.8% diff, −18% Pct Change)
Agreed. This makes those sorts of policies all the more attractive in my opinion, since improving diversity is just one of the benefits.
I’m also skeptical that particular programs will lead to huge gains. But I don’t think it’s fair to say that Google’s efforts to improve diversity haven’t worked. The article you cited on that was from 2017. Looking at updated numbers from Google’s site, the mix of new hires (which are less sticky than total employees) does seem to have shifted since 2014 (when Google began its initiatives) and 2018 (most recent data available). These aren’t enormous gains, but new hires do seem to have become notably more diverse. I certainly wouldn’t look at this data and say that Google’s efforts didn’t move the needle.
Women: 30.7% in 2014 vs 33.2% in 2018 (2.5% diff, 8% Pct Change)
Asian+: 37.9% in 2014 vs 43.9% in 2018 (6% diff, 16% Pct Change)
Black+: 3.5% in 2014 vs 4.8% in 2018 (1.3% diff, 37% Pct Change)
Latinx+: 5.9% in 2014 vs 6.8% in 2018 (.9% diff, 15% Pct Change)
Native American+: .9% in 2014 vs 1.1% in 2018 (.2% diff, 22% Pct Change)
White+: 59.3% in 2014 vs 48.5% in 2018 (-10.8% diff, −18% Pct Change)