The Truth About Mentoring Minorities

In the tech industry, we currently lack the ability to produce mentors who are able to effectively teach and connect with their minority protégés. In this talk, we discuss what changes we can make in the way we mentor to give our minority protégés the best chance to succeed. We will take a look at some of the struggles that I faced throughout my software developer apprenticeship, and pinpoint the sources of my success. In conjunction, we will also look at various case studies of other minority professionals who were both successful and unsuccessful in their attempts to climb the corporate ladder.

Transcript

1. The Truth... About Mentoring Minorities
2. Hello! I AM Byron Woodfork Software Crafter for 8th Light Twitter: @ByronWoodfork
3. How I Became A Software Crafter
8. MySpace
10. 8th Light Software Is Our Craft
11. Apprenticeship
12. How I Became A Software Crafter
13. “Why aren’t more African American people successful like yourself?”
15. “ Where is the gap for minorities in tech.. And how can I help close it?
16. “ The solution to breaking the barrier for minorities in tech, is providing a strong network of mentors to support them
17. “
18. “ Software Developers Cannot Be Duck Typed!
19. “ Mentors must be willing to adjust their teaching styles
20. “ Become aware of the challenges minorities face
21. 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00% Intel Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Diversity Among Tech Employees Male Female White Black Hispanic Other
22. 0.00% 1.00% 2.00% 3.00% 4.00% 5.00% 6.00% Whites African Americans Hispanic Americans Predicted Job Quit Rate Across Race Job Quit Rate
23. 61.29% Greater African American Women Quit Rate Compared to White Men 67.5% Hispanic American Women
24. Why?
31. Challenges & Opportunities When Mentoring Minorities
32. Cross Race or Cross Gender Mentorships
33. Negative Stereotypes
35. Stereotype Threat
38. Stereotype Threat?
40. Coach and Counselor
41. Identification & Role Modeling
42. Cross Race or Cross Gender Mentoring
43. Protective Hesitation
46. “ Othered?
49. 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00% 80.00% 90.00% Intel Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Diversity Among Tech Employees Male Female White Asian Black Hispanic Other
50. ◦ Strong Network of Mentors ◦ Coach & Counselor ◦ Negative Stereotypes ◦ Stereotype Threat ◦ Identifying & Role Modeling ◦ Protective Hesitation
51. “ Where is the gap for minorities in tech.. And how can I help close it?
53. Thanks! ANY QUESTIONS? You can find me at Twitter: @ByronWoodfork Email: Bwoodfork@8thlight.com Where I work: 8thlight.com
54. Resources ◦ The Truth About Mentoring Minorities - By David A. Thomas ◦ Challenging Conventional Wisdom about Who Quits: Revelations from Corporate America - Hom PW ◦ Research on Cross-Race Relationships: An Annotated Bibliography - Elizabeth Page-Gould ◦ Stereotype Threat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat ◦ Tech Company Diversity Numbers: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2 016/02/03/465270938/intel-discloses-diversity- data-challenges-tech-industry-to-follow-suit