SAN FRANCISCO — Google's annual conference for software developers looks a lot like Google itself: Mostly male, white and Asian. Unwilling to accept the status quo, the tech giant is leading the charge to shake up the lopsided demographics of tech conferences and, at I/O, Google says it's making progress in closing the gender and racial gap.
The percentages of women and minorities attending the developers conference have not budged much since last year, but the numbers have, Google says. Women account for 23% of conference goers, same as last year, but I/O is 25% bigger, according to Google. Women accounted for 16% of attendees in 2014 and 8% in 2013. For the first time this year, Google
released the racial and ethnic make-up of attendees: 41% are white and 2% are black, in line with 2015; 6% are Hispanic, up from 5%; and 30% are Asian, up from 26%. Google declined to say how many people are attending I/O but more than 5,000 attended last year. "Last year was the first year we requested that people volunteer ethnicity and race data so we could have a better understanding of diversity. What we have seen in just one year with outreach efforts is an increase in black, Asian, Hispanic and multiracial representation," Natalie Villalobos, Google's head of global programs for Women Techmakers, she siad. For Google, this is part of a broader effort to increase the numbers and raise the visibility of women and minorities in an industry where they are significantly underrepresented, particularly in technical roles.
released the racial and ethnic make-up of attendees: 41% are white and 2% are black, in line with 2015; 6% are Hispanic, up from 5%; and 30% are Asian, up from 26%. Google declined to say how many people are attending I/O but more than 5,000 attended last year. "Last year was the first year we requested that people volunteer ethnicity and race data so we could have a better understanding of diversity. What we have seen in just one year with outreach efforts is an increase in black, Asian, Hispanic and multiracial representation," Natalie Villalobos, Google's head of global programs for Women Techmakers, she siad. For Google, this is part of a broader effort to increase the numbers and raise the visibility of women and minorities in an industry where they are significantly underrepresented, particularly in technical roles.
Two years ago, facing mounting criticism from civil rights leaders, Google took a major step toward addressing gender and racial imbalance in its workforce and the tech industry at large: It publicly divulged that lack of diversity. At Google, seven out of 10 employees are men. Most employees are white (60%) and Asian (31%). Latinos made up just 3% of the work force, African Americans 2% — a far cry from Google reflecting the diversity of its customers in the U.S. and around the globe. "We are not trying to create a short-term solution or a patch. We are thinking about what are the lasting cross-cultural changes we can make to drive the impact that is going to make the industry something we all want to be a part of," said Villalobos, who is Google's women in technology advocate, charged year round with raising the visibility of women at Google and at I/O.
Google I/O, which starts Wednesday in its hometown of Mountain View, Calif., is the company's main event for software developers. That's where Google showcases new products and its vision for the future and developers get a chance to rub shoulders with company executives and with each other. In recent years Google has made sure women are more visible on stage and in running sessions, and that they are more visible in the audience, too. Now the tech giant is also pushing to make the conference more racially and ethnically diverse, tapping its black and Hispanic employee resource groups to grow the number of minorities in attendance. "We really want to move the conversation beyond just gender and we really want to support diversity and inclusion in many different capacities," Villalobos said.
Outreach is the centerpiece of Google's strategy, with Villalobos stepping up efforts to distribute tickets to women in technology groups and grants to cover travel costs and hold coding competitions for women. Google expanded travel grant offerings to $70,000 from $20,000 in 2015 with recipients coming from groups such as the Anita Borg Institute and Women Who Code. It formed partnerships with groups such as Latinas and Brasilias in Silicon Valley and Women Catalysts to increase the number of women. Some 125 tickets and travel stipends went to women who won the Code Jam to I/O for Women competition, up from 100 in 2015.
To encourage women to connect and network, Google is holding a dinner for 1,000 women in Mountain View on Tuesday night and has maintained an active Slack community for women conference goers.
Addressing one of the key challenges for women who attend tech conferences where overt sexism is frequently on display, Google will for the second year enforce community guidelines and an anti-harassment policy at I/O. The policy can be found on the I/O web site, mobile app and on signs at the conference, Villalobos said. Google says it's also working to make I/O more accessible to people with disabilities. Google will have real-time captioning for the keynote address by Google CEO Sundar Pichai and for all the breakout sessions.
