We are at a crossroads in the United States with initiatives for diversity, equity and inclusion. The opponents have neutralized the concept by reducing it to a series of letters that can be easily vilified and disagree with a new generation of government censors.
But those who do that are losing the point. Diversity, equity and inclusion is not about having a “dei manager” that ensures that the target numbers are affected. It is about expanding the circle to ensure that a company is considering all candidates that could be appropriate for a certain position. It is important for the company, because it is difficult to find and hire good people. And it is important for employment applicants, because if they have worked at work, they deserve to be evaluated fairly.
In O’Reilly, we seek talent for groups that could not be in our direct circles of influence, but we hire them based on the skill. That said, we believe that there are biases, so we use reviews of anonymous applications that highlight the relevant experience of a applicant by deciding who to evaluate.
As a woman who runs a Saas organization in a technological industry still very dominated by men, I think I got here because I put the work and built the necessary skills. That said, Tim O’Rilly had the means to ignore the prejudices of the industry and open the circle to ensure that I would be considered to direct his company. Women represent only 35% of the technological workforce versus approximately 56% in the workforce as a whole. We know that it is not because women cannot shine in technological works. You just have to look at the technological superstars such as former CTO Operai Mira Murati or Gwynne Shotwell of Spacex. And women are not the only sources of talent overlooked.
In O’Reilly, we want to help accelerate the solution. That is why I am pleased to announce the continuation of our highly successful Scholarship of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to Increase learning opportunities for members of communities underrepresented in technology. Through this scholarship program, 500 winners receive annual access to all access to the O’Reilly learning platform so that they can do the work and learn the skills they need to break the barriers of the industry. Hopefully they learn quickly, because about 85 million qualified technological workers will be needed in the next five years.
#International #Womens #Day #Oreilly
