I started writing this post and stopped about three times now. This is very challenging to address because I honestly get emotional when addressing the current issues our society is faced with today. From people dying due to coronavirus, to people dying due to excessive force from the police, the common ground these two issues share is that they could have been prevented, if proper precautions were taken long ago. I believe that, having experienced and educated people of various identities with different perspectives and insights, and listening to said people, would have really helped to change our current trajectory. Now I won’t ever declare myself to be an expert, but it seems like the current experts aren’t making decisions at the best interest and safety of all people. It seems like they rather consider the interests of business entities or a select group of people, to the severe detriment of others. It’s very disheartening to see that the safety and human rights of certain people are not a given, but conditional.
All of these changes occurring now are really starting to put the focus on the tech field and how the various startups and corporations will react to these social upheavals. We know that technology has played a huge role in updating others about the coronavirus, helping others purchase products while limiting human contact, and providing first-hand footage of social unrest. We also know the foibles of technology including the facial recognition software that has since shown racial bias when identifying possible suspects for a crime. So what can be done? How can we reconcile the usefulness of tech and the need for fundamental changes in our society? Many people are suspicious and wary of technology, some think it’s downright evil. I think it’s agnostic. It doesn’t prefer one way over another, unless it’s programmed to. Furthermore, whoever has control over technology gets to make decisions about what the technology that directly impacts a person’s livelihood will do. This reinforces the need for diversity in the tech field.
Now when someone mentions diversity, many people get upset. It has become a term that many people have come to believe promotes division instead of unity. At a fundamental level, diversity refers to “the condition of having or being composed of different or various elements.” The type of diversity many people know refers to having people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds occupy or congregate in a space. In the face of recent events, in true modern technology fashion, many tech companies have taken to social media to express their support for the Black community, or other underrepresented groups. In response to this, many people have come to point out the lack of diversity in these tech companies’ workforce. Many may wonder, so what if the company is diverse? It only matters that the work gets done, and whoever can get it done should be chosen. However, working in tech is much more than just getting stuff done, it’s about creating a product or service that is meant to serve various groups of people. If you don’t have immediate insight into the diverse group your product or service is meant to cater to, that could mean a failed product or service, or even a potential lawsuit for any damage it may have caused.
Some critics may also say that Black people just aren’t interested in or skilled in tech. I can’t speak for everyone in this world, but as a high school teacher for the past five years, I have taught quite a few Black students who expressed interest in not just the M in STEM, but also the STE, and even the recently added A (Science Technology Engineering Arts Medicine), planning to study Computer Science or Graphic Arts in college. The role representation plays in encouraging young people of any background to pursue a career in any field–especially tech–also contributes to whether or not that child chooses that path for themselves. Behind every child who pursues a career path is someone who encouraged and mentored them. Many times there’s someone they saw on TV or on Social Media, who accomplished something that seems exciting.
Aside from diversity referring to different ethnic, racial, and cultural identities, diversity in the workforce also means diversity in ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. Not only can people learn from different perspectives, but different perspectives can actually improve how technology operates and even introduce new features that haven’t otherwise been considered. It can also keep others from signing off on features that could negatively impact someone’s quality of life, like biased facial recognition software, wrongfully identifying Native Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans.
I hope that in the near future diversity isn’t met with anger or disdain, but curiosity and hopefulness. No one is just hiring random people of color who have no qualifications for the role, much of the time they are people who haven’t gotten the opportunities afforded to well-connected socioeconomically privileged people who are disproportionately White. This doesn’t mean all White people are rich and well connected, nor does it mean that all non-White people don’t have connections and socio-economic privilege. I’m just saying that the fact that it is disproportionately skewed to one group over another affording them most access to opportunities is evidence of something biased and unjust going on. I see more and more people of different hues entering the tech space, and I believe that it will increase the chance that tech will positively transform the everyday person’s quality of life. I long to see the unity that so many people envision actually come to fruition.