Megan Smith Wants to ‘Debug’ Tech’s Diversity Problem

United States CTO Megan Smith

United States CTO Megan Smith Flickr user Internet Education Foundation

The U.S. chief technology officer said she remains hopeful about the prospects for change -- especially in Silicon Valley.

As an executive with Google’s secretive research arm, Megan Smith spearheaded the company’s “Solve for X,” an in-house think tank, which focused on using technology to come up with radical solutions to big problem.

Now, as the Obama administration’s third chief technology officer -- and the first woman to hold the position -- Smith has another of these so-called “moonshot” ideas: dismantling the digital ceiling that has limited the participation of women and minorities in the nation’s technology workforce and stifled diversity in some of the country’s most innovative companies.

"It's the moonshot of this time, right? And we're in the middle of it,” Smith said last week at a New America Foundation event on the lack of diversity in the tech sphere. “We're going to debug this. I believe we'll get there.”

It’s a problem that’s garnered heaps of negative headlines for Silicon Valley companies.

Women at Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter make up barely 30 percent of those tech giants’ workforce, according to a Bloomberg analysis last summer. At Google, black and Hispanic employees make up barely more than 10 percent of the workforce, respectively, and fewer than 5 percent at the others.

Still, Smith said she remains hopeful about the prospects for change -- especially in Silicon Valley.

“Of all the industries, it's an industry that is data driven and it is innovative -- and it moves fast once it sees what the problem is,” she said. “And I think there's a waking up going on."

Cracking the code on creating diverse workforces is about doing the right thing, but it isn’t only about altruism, Smith suggested.

“All of the math shows that products are better, companies are better, financial performance -- everything's better with a diverse team,” she said. “I think especially for our most pressing problems, whether it's poverty or cybersecurity, the more diverse the team, the better we are going to be to kind of protect ourselves and advance society in the ways that we need to do by getting this figured out."

The statistics are clear, though -- it’s not a problem confined to Silicon Valley.

For example,  women make up about 44 percent of the federal workforce, but only about 30 percent of IT jobs governmentwide, according to federal data. At NASA nearly 80 percent of aerospace engineers are men and at the Federal Communications Commission, nearly 90 percent of the agency’s electronics engineers are men.

The role of government in tackling the problem should be that of “convener,” Smith said, “sort of like the angels investors of venture capital -- find the person with a great idea and get them scaled."

There’s no shortage of great ideas. Over the past few years, a plethora of funds, firms and companies -- not to mention workshops, boot camps and hack-a-thons -- have sprung up, focused on building a better and more diverse pipeline to the tech industry.

But here’s where some policy setting might come in handy.

"We actually don't have a standardized competency -- not certification -- but competency that essentially handles risk mitigation both for the jobseeker and the employer,” said Aliya Rahman, program director for Code for Progress. Her organization works to recruit women and people of color from community organizing and social-activism circles, provide them the proper training and send them off to tech fields.

“Employers [say], 'I want to hire a junior developer who is a Python ninja,'" Rahman said, referring to the programming language. "Actually, that means nothing, to be honest."

Coming up with standardized ways to measure certain skill sets might change that.

"That's also really important because this is an industry that values: Show me what you built, not just your degree,” Rahman said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.