How can I get a diverse team?

María Arias de Reyna

OSGeo President

@delawen

Do we really need to explain?

IT is dominated by (white) male

A big part of the discrimination is subconscious

Just Social Justice

The ROI of diversity is high [1][2]

Warning Signs

Your team is homogeneous

Or they come and go and don't stay long

A person is not "diverse". A team is diverse.

Check evolution of statistics and indicators

Distribution across levels

Compare also per level

Always check demographical status of your team. Are they all similar? Do they have the same backgrounds, same culture, same religion? Do they even have similar hobbies and family status? That's suspicious.

Or maybe you have diversity on your team, but it is not stable: the persons that bring diversity to the team don't stay long, you cannot retain their talent. That's a huge sign that your environment is not comfortable for them, that they don't feel part of the team.

Notice I said persons that bring diversity to your team and not "diverse person". A person is not diverse. I am not diverse. I can bring diversity to a team that is different from me. Don't tokenize, don't take that single person that is different and claim you are diverse because you are friends with them.

Don't be shy showing your data. We know all companies have bad data at the start, what we are interested it is on the evolution of those numbers. Don't be like Oracle and Palantir, which claimed that their diversity statistics were a "threat to competition" and "trade secrets" and that if they published their women employees they would be "stolen". First because that's not true. And second because if you really feat your competitiors may "steal" your employees, maybe you should pay them better :)

And once you decide to publish your figures, don't manipulate them. Google has some pending trials accusing them for paying less to women. So their marketing team just published some statistics with a narrow cherry-picked analysis that has been widely published on media that claim that women are, in fact getting more bonuses than men. But that's not the point and is only one aspect of the global problem. What accusations say is that they always offered women lower positions than what they should be offered according to their experience tables. As those positions have lower salaries, they also offered a bonus to compensate. Which means, women were mistreated: they were positioned on lower levels and compensated with bonuses to get the same salary as their male counterparts with no bonuses. So not only women were losing the benefits associated to the level they belong, but also they were not offered those extra bonuses their males were offered above the salary they were assigned.

Warning Signs (Gender Gap)

You can extrapolate to other underrepresented groups

(Small<20) You have no women in your team

(Small<20) You have only one woman (token)

(20<Med<100) You have less than 30%

(100<Big) You have less than 40%

Only on IT!

You have to invest on diversity

Train your HR

If you don't have HR, hire a consultant

Even if you have HR, external audit is helpful

If not-for-profit, ask your nearest organization (WIT, PoC,...)

Remember this comes at a cost

Improving diversity and inclusivity on your team is not just a matter of of good will. You have to invest time and resources to get it done right. As a start, companies should train their personel departments to know how to handle it. There are strategies on how to write and publish job offers, how to plan the interviews and how to follow up once you hire someone.

For smaller companies that have no HR department, you should ask for advice to experts to know how to improve your processes. The cheapest strategy would be to look for resources yourself, but that will never be as effective as talking to some expert and getting an audit.

If you are an open source project or a not for profit community, you may not have money for training or hiring someone. You can then failback to some fellow organization and ask for advice there, we can help you at least pointing to the biggest issues. But don't forget that this comes with a cost, and free does not mean gratis. There should be some symbiotic relationship there to ensure sustainability.

Some tips on Closing the Gap

Do you have a Code of Conduct?

Do you have a safe workflow in case of problems?

Do you have a Diversity Strategy Plan?

Be agile, don't stuck them with a single team

Make sure the evolution is fair

Some tips on Closing the Gap

Go remote!

Allow flexibility (special for physically-challenged persons, family conciliation,...)

How can I get a diverse team?

María Arias de Reyna

OSGeo President

@delawen

Do we really need to explain?

IT is dominated by (white) male

A big part of the discrimination is subconscious

Just Social Justice

The ROI of diversity is high [1][2]

Warning Signs

Your team is homogeneous

Or they come and go and don't stay long

A person is not "diverse". A team is diverse.

Check evolution of statistics and indicators

Distribution across levels

Compare also per level

Warning Signs (Gender Gap)

You can extrapolate to other underrepresented groups

(Small<20) You have no women in your team

(Small<20) You have only one woman (token)

(20<Med<100) You have less than 30%

(100<Big) You have less than 40%

Only on IT!

You have to invest on diversity

Train your HR

If you don't have HR, hire a consultant

Even if you have HR, external audit is helpful

If not-for-profit, ask your nearest organization (WIT, PoC,...)

Remember this comes at a cost

Some tips on Closing the Gap

Do you have a Code of Conduct?

Do you have a safe workflow in case of problems?

Do you have a Diversity Strategy Plan?

Be agile, don't stuck them with a single team

Make sure the evolution is fair

Some tips on Closing the Gap

Go remote!

Allow flexibility (special for physically-challenged persons, family conciliation,...)

Inclusive language

Specially useful on job offers

Give voice to underrepresented

Normalize their presence

Some tips on Closing the Gap (Gender)

Remember you can extrapolate to other underrespresented groups

On similar candidate, hire the woman[2]

Don't start by hiring a junior woman

Better by pairs: senior and junior

Make sure the team is safe BEFORE introducing them

Some tips on Closing the Gap (Gender)

Don't push women to management track

(unless they ask for it)

Do you have former women employees? Ask for feedback!

Conclusions

To solve diversity and inclusivity, you have to invest

(and it will have a big ROI, so go for it)

Ask for advice, training, don't assume anything!

One last thing!

Women+ in GeoSpatial!

Stay tunned at

https://twitter.com/geospatialwomen