Diversity in Tech Roundtable

On Tuesday, September 27, 2016, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03) will host a roundtable to address recent findings related to diversity in the technology industry. Roundtable participants will expand on the need for the federal government to increase its commitment to the enforcement of laws regarding equity and inclusion in the workplace. The roundtable will also highlight the economic issues and impact of the lack of diversity in the tech sector; discuss concrete steps the industry can take to address the problem, along with partnerships and best practices to achieve inclusion; and explore how to encourage academic and industry engagement to address the pipeline and diversity challenges.

WHO:             

Ranking Member Bobby Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and the Workforce

Moderator:  Joe Miller, WashingTECH

Jenny Yang, Chair, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Patricia Shiu, Director of Federal Contract Compliance, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

William E. “Bill” Spriggs, Chief Economist, AFL-CIO

Ron Hira, Professor, Howard University

Justin Velez Hagan, Economic Policy Researcher, University of Maryland – Baltimore County

Michael Denton, Executive Director, Code/Interactive

Leslie Miley, Director of Engineering, Slack

Wayne Sutton, Co-Founder, Change Catalyst

Debra J. Speed, Director of Strategic Alliance, Verizon

Laura Murphy, Senior Advisor, Airbnb

WHAT:           

Diversity in Tech roundtable discussion to encourage the development of stronger pipelines to, and increasing diversity in, the technology industry.

WHEN:                       

Tuesday, September 27, 2016    

2 - 4 p.m.

WHERE:          

2261 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515  

BACKGROUND:

A recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) report, entitled Diversity in Tech, examined the demographic data from high-tech companies and confirmed that the sector is overwhelmingly white and male. The report revealed that almost 50 percent of STEM graduates in the United States are not hired in STEM-related fields and that the U.S. produces more STEM graduates than there are jobs available. EEOC’s report also cites a body of research and personal experience of women and people of color in STEM fields signaling that bias obstructs full and equal participation in employment and leads to high attrition rates. The report noted that when a high-tech company instituted a selection process based on anonymity and skills, the call-back rate for interviews for non-white candidates increased from 20 percent to 60 percent. The EEOC conducted this study at the request of Ranking Member Scott.