Diversity Challenges in the Tech Industry: The Case of Pinterest

The San Franciscobased visual social media firm Pinterest is one of the first Silicon Valley companies that recognized the dismal state of diversity in the technology industry. In fact, a former Pinterest engineer, Tracy Chou, is credited with starting the movement toward more data-driven diversity management. The 2013 blog post-Ms. Chou wrote, titled Where Are the Numbers? motivated tech giants such as Facebook and Google to reveal the number of women and minorities in their workforce, particularly in technology and leadership positions. Pinterests own numbers were revealed in this management-authorized blog post, with the assumption that by releasing the figures and making a public commitment, its team of more than 700 employees would become more diverse.

Unfortunately, the results at the end of the first year of this experiment showed that it was business as usual. Similar to other companies, Pinterest was half White and 43% Asian. It had 42% women, but this was because of the inclusion of all business units in these calculations. Men dominated technology (79%), engineering (81%), and leadership positions (84%).

One year into its commitment, the numbers had barely moved, even though the company had instituted several initiatives: mentored female programming students; recruited at African American, Hispanic, and female engineering events; and invested in unconscious bias training. What had gone wrong? Even though recruiters brought in a more diverse pool of candidates, hiring managers continued to use the same selection criteria, including prioritizing hiring from a small set of Ivy League schools (that happen to have a less diverse body of graduates). In retrospect, even though top management wanted to diversify hiring, they had not made a business case to everyone in the company. Thinking in terms of diversity had not become a part of a widespread mentality; it had remained an HR initiative.

As part of an overhaul, the company entered 2016 with explicit goals: It announced that in 2016, 30% of its new engineers would be female, and 8% would be underrepresented minorities. It was careful to clarify that these were to be used as guidelines and not quotas. It also started a partnership with the consulting firm Paradigm. This firm uses HR analytics to examine how recruitment and selection techniques affect the diversity of hires and presents suggestions to remove barriers to diversity. For example, Paradigm recommended that Pinterest help employees better prepare for an interview at a Silicon Valley company. Companies in the tech industry are known for their unusual hiring techniques, ranging from casual dress codes for applicants to intense team interviews. By sharing information about what to expect as part of the hiring process, it was able to prepare applicants better, give them more clarity, and limit the influence of nonessential factors on interview performance. Asking employees to refer potential hires from underrepresented groups also worked, increasing the number of female and Hispanic applicants for engineering jobs. In the same time period, the company hired its first head of diversity. Pinterest instituted programs such as apprenticeship and summer internship programs to increase diversity. Broadening their university outreach partners was also helpful. To avoid potential bias, in meetings and interviews, they started introducing applicants with their academic major and not the name of the university. Finally, the company instituted the National Football Leagues so-called Rooney Rule, requiring that for each leadership position, at least one female and one underrepresented minority would be interviewed.

Early results are promising: In 2017, women constituted 29% of all technical roles, up from 21% in 2015, whereas underrepresented ethnicities rose from 3% to 9%. Pinterest remains committed to sharing what it learned and continuing its data-driven approach to understanding and promoting diversity. The technology industrys diversity problem has many sources, ranging from a leaky pipeline (which means that women and minorities leave the industry due to discrimination and other factors) to organizational cultures that do not internalize diversity as a competitive advantage. Efforts such as those at Pinterest are noteworthy for their transparency and for their willingness to be part of the solution.

Case Discussion Questions 1) What is the difference between diversity goals and diversity quotas? Why do you think Pinterest was careful to distinguish between the two?

2) What are some of the challenges to diversity management in the technology industry? List and discuss what prevents companies from attracting and retaining diverse talent.