“We know big-name tech CEOs want no part of the diversity debate. But at least we know who they are,” Jon Swartz writes for USA Today. “Largely anonymous boards of directors for the tech industry are conspicuously silent and – for decades – have been the province of white, older men. They are equally to blame for hiring trends that skew toward younger, white males, as illustrated in diversity reports recently released by Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.”
“Progress on boards for women has been glacial, and nearly non-existent for African-Americans and Hispanics. White men held about 75% of the board seats on the 500 largest publicly traded companies, vs. 5.5% for male African-Americans in 2012, the most recent year in which data was available, according to the Alliance for Board Diversity,” Swartz writes. “A Bloomberg story Tuesday offered more depressing news: It said 82% of S&P 500 board members are male.”
“So far, the woeful figures have been accompanied by official comments from human resources representatives – and conspicuous silence from CEOs, save for Apple CEO Tim Cook,” Swartz writes. “Apple added Susan Wagner to its board in July amid a vow by Cook to diversify it.”
“The usually loquacious Jesse Jackson, who has pressed Silicon Valley to share its diversity numbers, is at a loss to explain why such an open-minded, socially-conscious industry is so exclusionary,” Swartz writes. “‘It’s amazing,’ Jackson said in a recent phone interview. ‘There are plenty of qualified African-Americans, but not much change.'”
Read more in the full article here.
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