Creating an inclusive engineering culture

Having a tech career as a minority is challenging. It could mean being the only one to speak against the popular opinion, or becoming more visible to get the same level of recognition. What can we do as technical leaders to make sure everyone feels welcome and retain these talents? Creating an inclusive engineering culture helps us achieve just that. This talk shares concrete steps that employees and employers can take to improve minorities in tech’s sense of belonging and engagement.

Transcript

1. Creating an inclusive engineering culture @yennycheung
2. Why are you presenting, Yenny? @yennycheung
3. IMAGE Yenny Cheung Engineering Manager at Yelp in Hamburg Leads the Women in Tech employee resource group at Yelp in Germany ABOUT ME @yennycheung
4. What you might be thinking: “Isn’t this just about being decent people?” “Aren’t other people already working on this?” “Don’t we have bigger fish to fry?” “I have questions but I’m not sure if it’s ok to ask!” WHAT YOU MIGHT BE THINKING @yennycheung
5. To set the tone: The talk is about approaches to create a more inclusive environment, not to shame our behaviors. We are all here to learn. I will cite some research or studies, the sources are the end of the slides. Given my experience, we will use women in tech as a case study and it will be the focus of the talk. DISCLAIMER @yennycheung
6. Agenda for today Why do we want diversity? How to create an inclusive engineering culture What are inclusion and belonging? @yennycheung
7. Why do we want diversity? @yennycheung
8. IMAGE Why do we want people from different cultures, backgrounds, and genders to join our teams? WHY DO WE WANT DIVERSITY @yennycheung
9. WHY DO WE WANT DIVERSITY @yennycheung People from different backgrounds approach problems in different ways.
10. WHY DO WE WANT DIVERSITY "Gender diversity can improve team decision-making and improve innovation capabilities for development of new products or services." - Jessica Alsford, Head of Morgan Stanley’s Research Team @yennycheung
11. WHY DO WE WANT DIVERSITY "Organizations benefit most from gender diversity initiatives when they create a supportive infrastructure. " - National Center for Women in Information Technology 2014 @yennycheung
12. What are inclusion and belonging? @yennycheung
13. IMAGE "Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance." - Vernā Myers, author and speaker on diversity WHY DO WE WANT DIVERSITY @yennycheung
14. DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, BELONGING Diversity: Recruiting people from different cultures, backgrounds, and genders to tackle the diverse business challenges we face as a company. Inclusion: Ensuring everyone has the same chance to succeed. Belonging: We all deserve to have a sense of home at our company. @yennycheung
15. So now the question becomes: How do we create a culture where people from all backgrounds can belong and succeed in our teams? @yennycheung DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, BELONGING
16. Why we as technical leads should care: Our actions build our organization’s culture Non-inclusive culture harms people and business As technical leads we can do a lot to address this WHY SHOULD WE CARE @yennycheung
17. How to create an inclusive engineering culture? @yennycheung
18. 1. Top-down: make inclusion a company-wide goal. 2. Bottom-up: start an employee resource group. 3. How we can help in our day to day. CREATING AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE Overview @yennycheung
19. Top-down approach: Make inclusion a company-wide goal @yennycheung
20. IMAGE COMPANY-WIDE INCLUSION “Play well with others” - One of Yelp’s core values @yennycheung
21. Builds inclusion through engineering career levels COMPANY-WIDE INCLUSION @yennycheung Well-being: Helps create an engaging, supportive environment on team Championing: Grows an external network that actively contributes to Yelp’s diverse candidate pipeline Community: Implements programs to improve inclusivity and support across Engineering
22. Promoting people who lack the skill to make employees feel welcome prevents your company’s culture from being inclusive. COMPANY-WIDE INCLUSION @yennycheung
23. How do we know if this is effective? COMPANY-WIDE INCLUSION COMPANY-WIDE INCLUSION @yennycheung
24. Measuring success COMPANY-WIDE INCLUSION @yennycheung
25. Bottom-up approach: Start an employee resource group @yennycheung
26. Increasing women in tech’s sense of belonging and leveling the playing field: 1. Provide a safe space. 2. Offer networking and professional opportunities. WOMEN IN TECH GROUP @yennycheung
27. IMAGE Provides women in tech a safe space, because it is hard to fight against the system when you’re only 1 person. WOMEN IN TECH GROUP @yennycheung
28. IMAGE Create networking and professional opportunities that can increase visibility to women in tech’s careers. WOMEN IN TECH GROUP @yennycheung
29. If you are not an underrepresented group in tech, you can still help with kick-starting such a group. WOMEN IN TECH GROUP @yennycheung
30. How we can help as technical leads in our day to day... @yennycheung
31. Mentorship Provide members of underrepresented groups with role models, helps them with their career with your own experiences. @yennycheung
32. My experience with mentorship Virginia Tam Engineering Manager at Yelp MENTORSHIP @yennycheung
33. My experience with mentorship Gülsüm Can Software engineer at Yelp MENTORSHIP @yennycheung
34. Sponsorship Opens up opportunities for members of underrepresented groups and increases their visibility. @yennycheung
35. *Illustration from Catt Small SPONSORSHIP @yennycheung
36. With a sponsor, women are 1. 70% more likely to have their ideas endorsed 2. 119% more likely to see them developed 3. 200% more likely to see them implemented @yennycheung *From WhereWithAll SPONSORSHIP
37. Think about the people you last: 1. Nominated to lead a project 2. Recommended a book to 3. Referred to work at your company @yennycheung SPONSORSHIP
38. Ensure Fair Recognition Recognition is an important part of creating a fair workplace culture. Studies show that women’s ideas are taken less seriously compared to men. @yennycheung
39. "The amplification strategy at the White House: when a woman made a key point, other women would repeat it, giving credit to its author." - The Washington Post 2016 ENSURE FAIR RECOGNITION @yennycheung
40. Fair recognition with Yelp Love ENSURE FAIR RECOGNITION @yennycheung
41. Practice Ally skills Create an inclusive culture through speaking up against racist / sexist / homophobic behaviors. @yennycheung
42. Privilege: an unearned advantage given by society to some people but not all ALLY SKILLS @yennycheung *From Frame Shift Consulting”
43. What are my privileges? @yennycheung ❏ Part of the dominant ethnic and/or racial group ❏ Male ❏ Masculine ❏ Cisgender (your gender is the same as that assigned to you at birth) ❏ Straight ❏ Not disabled ❏ A legal resident or citizen ❏ Speak the dominant language, especially with high-status accent ❏ Neither "too young" nor "too old" ❏ Certain height/size/shape ❏ Not a mother ❏ Not a caregiver ❏ From an upper or middle class family ❏ High caste *From Frame Shift Consulting” ALLY SKILLS
44. Encourage one another to speak up and point out things that are not fair to others. Attend and lead ally skill trainings. @yennycheung ALLY SKILLS
45. As a leader, before we encourage others to adopt a behavior, let’s set a good precedence. @yennycheung ALLY SKILLS
46. An inclusive engineering culture is only achievable if all people are on board. CLOSING @yennycheung
47. Thank you! @yennycheung
48. Questions? @yennycheung
49. https://chelseatroy.com/2018/05/24/why-your-efforts-to-ma ke-your-company-inclusive-arent-working/ References “Interrupt Bias” by Steve Workman @yennycheung https://larahogan.me/blog/what-sponsorship-looks-like/ https://frameshiftconsulting.com/ally-skills-workshop/ by Valerie Aurora
50. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyatarr/2018/11/30/how-this -study-misses-the-mark-on-equal-pay-and-the-pay-gap/ Image References @yennycheung