Resources for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech
Photo credit: Derrick Liu, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
I'm an Assistant Professor of Psychology at San Jose State University, one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the nation and a leading supplier of employees for Silicon Valley tech companies. In an effort to help meet the nation's need for a diverse, technology-capable workforce, I helped develop a new minor in Applied Computing for Behavioral and Social Sciences along with colleagues from the social sciences, engineering, and education. The aims of this minor are to (1) broaden career opportunities for social science students, who have among the highest rates of unemployment of college graduates, and (2) increase diversity in the tech sector, which lacks both ethnic and gender diversity.
​
In keeping with this mission and in honor of Juneteenth, I'd like to share several resources that aim to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech. These resources relate to interdisciplinary fields appropriate for my students as well as to tech more broadly. If you have additional resources to suggest, please reach out using the Contact Us link above -- your input is greatly valued.
​
Statistics on diversity in tech
-
Data brief: Women and girls of color in computing
-
Five years of tech diversity reports - and little progress (Wired)
-
From Pew Research Center: Blacks in STEM jobs are especially concerned about diversity and discrimination in the workplace
-
From NPR's Planet Money: Economics still has a diversity problem
-
Design Census, statistics on diversity in the design field (data viz + raw data)
​
Becoming an anti-racist ally in tech
-
5 steps to take as an anti-racist data scientist
-
Understanding and reducing sources of data bias
-
How to begin designing for diversity
-
Guidelines for diversity and inclusion in crisis via Dr. Juan Gilbert; also see this AAAS spotlight on Dr. Gilbert​
-
Book chapter on diversity and inclusion in UX research
-
Recorded webinar with tech leaders: A candid conversation: Building an anti-racist society
​
Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in tech
-
code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented youth
-
Black Girls Code, which aims to increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 through exposure to computer science and technology
-
ASA Committee on Minorities in Statistics, which fosters participation in statistics and data science by members of historically underrepresented minority groups
-
Code2040, whose mission is to activate, connect, and mobilize the largest racial equity community in tech to dismantle the structural barriers that prevent the full participation and leadership of Black and Latinx people in the innovation economy
-
Dream Corps Tech and #yeswecode, cultivating future leaders and entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds, creating a pipeline of diverse talent that will shift the culture of the tech sector
​
Empowering and connecting POC in tech​
-
Black Tech Unplugged, a podcast for inspiring and empowering Blacks in Tech
-
Vanguard STEM, a monthly web-series featuring a rotating panel of women of color in STEM
-
Afrotech, a conference and web platform for building a strong Black tech community
-
Tech Inclusion, a conference founded in direct response to the tech industry’s lack of diversity
-
Black Women Talk Tech, a collective of Black women tech founders who aim to identify, support and encourage Black women to build the next billion dollar business
​
Other helpful lists of resources
-
Resource handout from the Kapor Center with many fantastic links to books, networks, conferences, courses, and more: Engaging underrepresented students in computer science
​
Bonus: Historical use of data viz to challenge racism
-
In 1900, activist W. E. B. Du Bois used infographics to challenge white supremacy
​