Despite its attempts to create a diverse workforce, even a superstar of the high-tech world admits its shortcomings. The overall makeup of Googles workforce is still 70% male and 61% white, according to facts the company released Wednesday.
Were not where we want to be when it comes to diversity. And it is hard to address these kinds of challenges if youre not prepared to discuss them openly, and with the facts, says Laszlo Bock, Googles senior vice president of people operations.
When contacted by EBN, a Google spokesperson declined to comment further on the companys future plans, but its reaction to the report points toward an effort to improve its diversity, an example many employers may look to in the future.
While only 4% of computer science degrees in the U.S. are awarded to African-American graduates, more than 35% of those degrees come from historically African-American colleges and universities, sources familiar on the topics say. The challenge is there isnt a clear path from those schools to Google. But, through partnerships between Google and these universities, the schools have seen an increase in computer science introductory courses, says the Google spokesperson.
Additionally, DonorsChoose.org has partnered with the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that connects students and colleges, to provide materials for more than 500 new advanced placement science and math courses at public high schools that commit to enrollments reflecting their schools overall diversity. The initiative was created to increase the number of traditionally underrepresented minority and female high school students that participate in advanced placement courses in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines.
Eighty-three percent of Googles tech force is male, and for non-tech jobs, the number drops to 52%. Its leadership team, however, is made of up 79% men.
In 2012, just 12% of computer science undergraduate degrees at major research universities went to women. In 1985 that number was 37%, according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology.
All our diversity efforts, including going public with these numbers, are designed to ensure Google recruits and retains many more women and minorities in the future, Laszlo added.
The numbers dont just point to a lack of gender diversity at the tech giant. In terms of racial diversity, Google overall is 61% white, 30% Asian, 3% Hispanic and 2% Black.
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A number of employee resource groups are available for networking and mentoring opportunities, such as:
- Women@Google an employee resource group comprised of 4,000+ female Googlers.
- Gayglers another group devoted to LGBT Googlers and their allies.
- The Black Googler Network an employee resource group of Googlers dedicated to attracting, recruiting, developing, and retaining top black talent at Google.
