The internet industry continues to struggle to retain talent from underrepresented groups, according to the Internet Association’s (IA) inaugural Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Benchmark Report. Yet, as companies mature, the representation of women is increasing, the report reveals.
The ‘first-of-its-kind’ workforce report for the internet industry, examines current practices among IA member companies that vary in age, size and business model, to understand the current landscape of historically underrepresented populations in the workforce.
“The internet industry is young. Our members on average are under 10 years old, and there are many lessons and best practices that can be shared among each other to improve overall D&I efforts,” said Sean Perryman, IA Director, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and Counsel. “This report helps us gain an industry-wide understanding of the current workforce landscape, and enables us to develop evidence-based standards and best practices that help further diversify the internet industry’s workforce.”
REPORT FINDINGS
According to the report, 70% of IA member companies have an appointed D&I head with direct reports and dedicated D&I budgets. The report found that internet firms with dedicated D&I budgets have a higher representation of women and underrepresented groups. It also revealed that 81% of those have formal employee resource groups, and 56% recruit regularly from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and predominantly minority serving institutions.
However, IA members recognise that more work remains to be done to address the lack of diversity in their firms, and the need to continue to invest in resources and partnerships that help to promote diversity and inclusivity in the workforce, confirmed the industry body.
“Companies must move boldly with investments to address the huge lack of diversity in the industry,” said Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, US Representative for Texas’s 29th district. “As policy makers, we remain committed to advancing these efforts and to increasing accountability across the industry.”
INDUSTRY-WIDE COLLABORATION
An industry-wide collaboration is needed to improve D&I across the industry, according to IA President and CEO Michael Beckerman: “Collective action from the industry is necessary to pave a way forward for established internet companies that must continue to retain diverse talent, and for companies just starting out that may have more limited resources to attract diverse talent. No one company can tackle diversity and inclusion issues on their own, so it’s important to change our focus on this issue as an industry, from a competitive lens to a collaborative one.”
Adding to his comments, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, representing Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, and Tech Accountability Caucus Co-Chair, stated: “The lack of diversity in the tech industry remains a concerning issue. We know that without the perspective, opinions, and life experiences of people from all walks of life, we open the door to subconscious or unintentional biases that can negatively affect products and services used by Americans. Creating the broad changes necessary to promote greater workforce diversity, something I’ve been actively pushing for in Congress, requires a baseline set of data.
“I applaud the Internet Association’s willingness to take on this endeavour, as well as their eagerness to engage with policymakers and industry stakeholders to create this report. I’m hopeful that companies will look at this report and take this opportunity to implement diversity and inclusion best practices, which strengthen the industry as a whole. This is an important step and I look forward to future engagement.”
Click here to access the report.
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