[moron4hire]

I'm not as vociferous as the person you're replying to, but I'm starting to think of the all-consuming social scene of modern startups as one of the reasons why diversity is still a major problem in the tech industry. I don't think socializing with coworkers all the time--either in the office or outside of it--is healthy. It reinforces monoculture. I think it's healthier to have everyone socializing outside of the circle of people they see every day already. If the only friends you have are the people at work, then to whom do you turn for personal recommendations when you need to add people to the company?

If employees want to hang out with each other, that's fine. I just don't think it's a good idea, in the long run, for companies to be pushing like this.

[omonra]

Slightly off-topic - but how is diversity (or lack of thereof) a major problem in the tech industry? Is there any proof that it's a problem? Are there companies that have truly diverse workforce that are more successful than ones without?

[moron4hire]

I'm trying to consider how your comment is not an indication that you have actively hidden from the last several years of press and are stubbornly trying to deny there is a problem. This has been known for a long time and it is endemic across companies. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/diversity-stats-10-tech-...

[omonra]

Again - why is that a problem? There is certainly a statement of fact (there are relatively few blacks or hispanics in SV). How is this a problem? Is the goal of these businesses to make good products or provide employment to all society strata?

Should I be equally bothered by lack of whites in the NBA or the NFL?

[moron4hire]

You're absolutely right, it's not the goal of business to enact social reform. That's why it's the pervue of government to enact legislation to require it. Just as it's not the goal of business to avoid polluting our air or our water "as long as it doesn't affect the bottom line!" Just as it's not the goal of business to have its employees wash their hands after using the restroom before returning to cooking food. Negative externalities require regulation to correct when the market demonstrates a willingness to ignore the problem.

RE: the NBA and the NFL: Should the bad behavior of anyone be an excuse for others to behave poorly? Also, why has the MLB gotten more white, less diverse in recent years?

[omonra]

Right, but you are still avoiding the issue of proving (or explaining) how diversity is something that should be sought after. You think it matters and I do not.

I can see how we ought to have government mandated equal access. Ie someone should not have worse chance of being hired in SV because they are black or Mexican. But if the numbers of qualified candidates vary by a factor of 100 (how many black vs white or asian CS PhDs are coming out of the pipeline) - why is the lack of diversity a problem of the industry?

[dragonwriter]

> But if the numbers of qualified candidates vary by a factor of 100 (how many black vs white or asian CS PhDs are coming out of the pipeline) - why is the lack of diversity a problem of the industry?

Where one of the driving factors beyond product development in the industry is "scratch your own itch and scale it out", lack of diversity of background (of which sex and race/ethnicity are components, but not the only important components) means lost potential markets, so its in the interests of those who want to invest in the new markets for the industry (e.g., most of the big players in the industry, and most of the investors in big and small players in the industry) to invest in broadening the funnel. It is, if not a problem of the industry, a problem for the industry.

(It also could be a symptom of a problem of the industry in which the industry itself takes action, without realizing the effect, which narrows its funnel, reduces the supply of talent attracted to the industry, and drives up costs.)