The Absent Rainbow in Silicon Valley

Regardless of how diversity is defined, it is an issue that is sweeping the nation. By the 21st century, racial and ethnic minorities will constitute 25% of the U.S. population, affecting the makeup of the U.S. labor force (7). By the year 2000, women will constitute 47% of the total workforce and the average age of the workforce is expected to increase from 36 in 1986 to age 39 (7). If the corporate society does not address the issue by learning how to manage diversity, they will fail.

Minority administrators have an astronomically immense portion of Americans believing that minorities no longer face segregation in the work environment. The fact of the matter is that these examples of surmounting adversity are the exemption and not the tenet. They are more a consequence of the tirelessness, ability, desire, and resoluteness of these bellwethers than anything else. Numerous minorities have possessed the capacity to get access into the work environment, and conventionally move into lower and center level administration positions. Notwithstanding, by and sizably voluminous, the way to achievement deadlocks. In opposition to prominent feeling, minorities probing for achievement in the work environment consistently experience

From Hollywood to the the social sector, diversity, rather the lack thereof, has been a topic of conversation. Although many organizations have begun to advocate for diversity, more work must be done. Across the social sector,women and people of color remain severely underrepresented in leadership positions. Organizations must become intentional about creating a diverse workforce and implementing inclusive policies that foster positive work environments. When employees feel represented and included they are happier and more likely to contribute to fulfilling the organization's mission.

This indicates that the number of African Americans hired externally for the Shift Leader position is only 36% of the amount of white individuals hired externally for the same position. The number should be around 80% in order to fulfill the four-fifth’s rule. In performing these calculations across all positions, there is evidence that points to disparate impact

In reference to the African American employees, by using the 4/5 ratio, there is evidence of disparate impact discrimination. Reviewing this case, all but three occupational categories, African American employees’ percentiles were less than 80%. The percentages became visibly lower with the higher level job occupations. There was a 2.78% difference between White

An often overlooked aspect in the pipeline and retention of minorities in professional settings is the development of management skills that are most frequently acquired while on the job. My experience with the National Society of Black Engineers highlighted this reality and presented a practical avenue for me to support the training and development of minorities by using my time in leadership positions to ensure that there were ample opportunities for students to learn some of the most valuable soft skills needed to succeed in their careers. While serving as Regional Chair, I worked with 15 students from various universities to support the region’s 3,000 members. Every moment spent with my executive board served as a teaching moment on successful

Today I had a conversation with my partner / investor Gilbert (Arenas) on why he was denying an offer and all I could do was agree with him. After our conversation I started to wonder , why have I never been in Mashable , Tech Crunch , or any huge tech blog ?

In the article Diversity in the Workplace, written by Kenneth Jost published on October 10th 1997, reads about the changes job settings face because diversity is being encouraged. The statistics, in this article, prove that there was more white males employed than other genders and races, but this issue is decreasing over the years because of diversity awareness. Later, the article spoke about affirmative action, and diversity training being created to help minorities receive equal employment opportunities. Also, affirmative action was created to help minorities with college and university admissions. The visible change lead white males to feel threatened that their jobs were being taken. 56 percent of white males believed these programs that

Post-Civil Rights Movement, the African American community has become dependent on white establishments for employment. Regrettably, “only two percent of all working African Americans work for another African American person within their own neighborhood.” In addition, the unemployment rate of African American men, since integration, has plummeted unrelentingly. Black men presence in the work force was at a staggering seventy-nine percent of the work force (Blackford 150). However, today, that number has declined by fifty-seven percent.

Within the upper echelons of upper management is scant room for African American women. This mini-proposal outlines a research project that focuses on the phenomena of the nominal amount of African American women are in positions of management or organizational leadership within the City of Philadelphia.

     Affirmative action has helped the income, promotion and labor force participation rates of both women and minorities. For example, between 1982 and 1995, the percentage of female managers and professionals in the U.S. rose from 40.5 to 48.0 percent; blacks from 5.5 to 7.5 percent, and Hispanics from 5.2 to 7.6 percent. By comparison, these groups form 51.2 percent, 12.6 percent, and 10.2 percent of the population, respectively. Progress has been steady, but still incomplete.

As many minorities seek to attain wealth and status in America they are strained to leave any cultural or traditional ways behind closed doors when they enter into the workplace. Many do this to avoid being excluded, and as an attempt to become more equal to other fellow work colleagues, also many feel that white "supremacy" still exists- even in a subtle way. Nonetheless, once one accomplishes such a difficult task, the obstacle of earning a substantial income to maintain a decent standard of living is still a grueling task. According to Professor Harris, a teacher of political science at San Jose State University, approximately 60% of jobs in America are obtained through personal relationships and associations. This notion demonstrates that because many non-minority groups own businesses, and they tend to hire relatives and the like -many minorities are often excluded from attaining the "better" position within a company, and because many minority families we not able to leave a legacy for their family members to carry on, many minorities often miss out on opportunities to also be able to create a legacy that can continue to thrive- and the cycle continues.

Harvard Business Review September, 1996 / October, 1996 HEADLINE: MAKING DIFFERENCES MATTER: A NEW PARADIGM FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY BYLINE: by David A. Thomas and Robin J. Ely; David A. Thomas is an associate professor at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. Robin J. Ely is an associate professor at Columbia University 's School of International and Public Affairs in New York City. Their research and teaching focus on the influence of race, gender, and ethnicity on career dynamics and organizational effectiveness. ABSTRACT: MAKING DIFFERENCES MATTER: A NEW PARADIGM FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY DAVID A. THOMAS and ROBIN J. ELY Diversity efforts in the workplace have been undertaken with great goodwill, but, ironically, they often

Over the past 50 years, employers have seen a vast shift in the demographic of their employee's. Where once specific jobs were held by a specific type and group of people, today, at that same

While Apple’s products are innovative, their 2014 workforce did not exhibit the diversity they claim to support. According to their 2014 workforce demographics survey, Apple reported that 70% of its U.S. employees were male and 55% were white (Chowdhry, 2014). These figures show that supporting diversity and inclusion, in theory, does not necessarily translate into actual behaviors. However, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was not satisfied with these demographics (Chowdhry, 2014) and as continuation of their diversity initiative, they have taken steps to increase the diversity they claim to embrace to include updating their charter to increase minority representation on their board of directors (Chowdhry, 2014). While their 2015 workplace figures are relatively the same (69% male/54% white) (Inclusion & Diversity, 2015), the fact that Apple’s leaders recognize their shortcomings and are increasing their recruitment and hiring of minority employees (Inclusion & Diversity, 2015), in addition to donating $50 million in a multi-year initiative to increase minority representation in the technology industry (Lev-Ram, 2015), proves that Apple is truly trying to practice what they