Google Pushes for Diversity in Tech Industry

The tech industry, including her own company, "needs to do a lot more when it comes to diversity,” Google Vice President-People Operations Nancy Lee said in a blog post Tuesday. Google embedded engineers at historically black colleges and universities, partnered with Hollywood to inspire girls to work in the computer science industry, built local initiatives to introduce coding to high school students from diverse communities, and expanded its employee unconscious bias training, Lee said. “But these programs represent only a sampling of all the work that is going on behind the scenes,” Lee said. “If we’re really going to make an impact, we need a holistic plan.” Google’s four-part plan includes hiring diverse workers by doubling the number of schools where Google recruits; fostering a fair and inclusive culture by raising awareness around unconscious biases; expanding the pool of technologists by teaching kids the basics of coding and inspiring girls to work in computer science; and bridging the digital divide by ensuring more underrepresented communities have access to the benefits of the Web, Lee said. “Meaningful change will take time,” she said. “We’re gradually making progress across these four areas, and we’re in it for the long term.”