The importance of staff diversity has increased in the past couple of decades, more in some companies than others. Many companies—having learned that a diverse staff can offer much more than a homogeneous one—have increased efforts to make diversity a part of their culture and organization. At the same time, business has faced government and societal pressures to hire staff from all walks of life.

We often presume diversity means inclusion of women and African-Americans, but these days diversity is about a lot more. Diversity relates to race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and national origin—to name just a few. You can also have diversity in an IT staff’s competency, training, and job bands (e.g., the managerial ranks). The most important thing to keep in mind as you read this article is that diversity is about differences among individuals, not groups. That’s what distinguishes recognition of diversity from stereotyping.

Perhaps more than any other industry, information technology has gone through a major shift by increasing the diversity of its human resource pool. Many offshore countries, including India, Philippines, and Russia, have improved their available IT resources with a concentrated effort to provide training and education and have built a strong business around this approach within their countries. Over time, many of these skilled IT professionals have migrated to the U.S. and joined our teams. However, even those who stay put in their own countries can add to an international company's diversity by being virtual team members.

In spite of efforts to increase IT diversity, the divide is still too great. Women, for example, are still underrepresented, being just under 30 percent of the IT workforce (Figure 1 shows percentage by country). Furthermore, women and men tend to work along specific lines within IT. Men tend to work as architects, network engineers, systems administrators, and desktop support staff; women are more concentrated in areas of training, documentation, and application development. Part of the reason for underrepresentation of women in the technology field has been attributed to the fact that women have not traditionally participated in engineering and science programs, from high school through college.

The former president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, suggested that fewer women enroll in a science or technology education curriculum because of intrinsic differences between men and women. But the issue goes back to the earlier years of education during which a student was encouraged one way or the other, often based on his or her gender. In February of 2006, then-President Bush announced the American Competitiveness Initiative in an effort to help build success and leadership in science and industry. The proposal was to train 70,000 high school teachers and to offer advanced courses in math and science. Since underprivileged students, often the ones from diverse backgrounds, generally perform worse than their counterparts, Bush’s program was designed to offer extra support to ensure math and science skills are strengthened among all students, no matter their background or social status. The program addressed the concern that by the time these kids get to college, it’s often too late to get them interested and engaged in math and the sciences. Without the proper background and passion for the field, these students would set themselves up to fail if they tried technology once they reached college age. Using Bush’s proposal, the strategy is to encourage students, particularly minorities, to get into math and science starting in kindergarten and on through high school.

Why Worry About Diversity?

Let's consider the trends that have prompted so many businesses to become more concerned about diversity: growing numbers of women in the workforce, spreading interest in outsourcing, heightened sensitivity to the possible legal repercussions of antidiscrimination laws and regulations, and increasing globalization.

Women in the workforce. More women than ever before have entered the workplace. The number of dual-income families in the U.S. has risen to record levels, and single moms also add to the number of female workers today. With some women earning more income than their significant others, many men have made the decision to be the stay-at-home parent, giving way to even more women in the workforce and shifting the traditional male-female roles in our society. This shift means greater emphasis on gender issues and blurred lines across gender roles. Why is this important to consider? For one thing, many working women continue to be the primary caregiver of children in addition to their full- or part-time jobs, leading to the need for more flexible work schedules. Alternative work arrangements, such as working from home, flexible hours, compressed work weeks, and job sharing, have become part of the modern workplace.

In the traditional workplace, men were expected to work excessive hours, giving up family dinnertime and soccer games in favor of meeting a deadline or entertaining a client. With more women entering the workplace, and given the dual responsibilities women generally carry, this expectation has lost at least some of its original power—among both men and women. Many would even say that women are not as driven to climb the corporate ladder as traditional men, leaving room instead for their personal lives. Women's interest in a different work-life balance has, in fact, affected today’s modern male worker to an extent. Just take a look at all the soccer and softball coaches out there on the fields; they’re mostly men.

Outsourcing. Outsourcing is not a new trend in the U.S., but outsourcing in IT has picked up steam in the past decade as organizations have tried to contain soaring costs of the domestic IT workforce, software, and hardware. Outsourcing has naturally led to a flood of other languages, cultures, and time zones into the IT marketplace. This, in turn, has created a shift toward more desirable skills onshore and a new breed of IT workers who must learn to work with virtual teams. The project manager in Chicago can no longer walk over to the development team and assess progress. The business analyst can no longer look over the shoulder of the Java developer and ask him to make a design or code change. Business requirements must be clearly stated with much greater levels of detail than before. And since the Java developer in Russia may not be as fluent as his onshore American version, care must be taken to ensure the business and technical language is clear and easily interpretable.

In addition, some things may be completed faster while others may take longer. Assuming the type of work is easily transferable from one IT professional to another, it may be possible to do a handoff at the close of U.S. business hours to an offshore staffer whose day is about to begin—in effect, working on a project around the clock. On the other hand, if there is a question or problem, work may be halted, awaiting the U.S. day to start again before progress can be made and increasing the turnaround time. These are just some of the adjustments we must make to IT outsourcing. Cross-border legal, political, religious, and language differences must be considered as well. In spite of its challenges, IT outsourcing use has risen significantly in recent years, adding diversity to our workforce, albeit mostly virtually.

Legislation. Various U.S. federal and state laws make it illegal for a company to discriminate against employees on the basis of race, religion, sexual preference, and many other characteristics that make a diverse workforce. Before these laws, companies felt free to make hires based on subjective criteria. But given the legal repercussions of such a decision, companies have learned over time that being held accountable to these laws and regulations has helped them create a more dynamic and interesting workforce. Larger companies even have Chief Diversity Officers to help ensure that discrimination doesn’t take place in the hiring process or during a person’s employment. In addition to discrimination “policing,” diversity officers play a role in helping minority employees succeed and receive the same opportunities and recognition as their colleagues. Diversity officers also help in providing opportunities for all employees to leverage the knowledge, preferences, and opinions that the minority individuals offer, making for a richer culture within the company. Inclusion of diversity in the workforce requires cultural as well as corporate adjustments. Larger organizations offer diversity classes and cultural events or celebrations to help create awareness and bring tolerance and understanding among their employees.

Globalization. Increased globalization has helped many companies become exposed to international markets, an opportunity that was not previously possible for some and cost prohibitive for others. With globalization comes a more complex social responsibility because companies have to position and promote their goods properly to avoid offending other cultures. Increased globalization also requires a better grasp of other languages for appropriate linguistic review of communications to ensure the right message is communicated. For example, the word “shorts” means cutoff pants in the U.S., but it means underwear in some other countries.

The economic conditions of other markets also should be considered. Some countries, for instance, have low buying power or do not make extensive use of credit cards. Political concerns should also be taken into account, and these could change like the shifting wind. Drawing on a multicultural team of IT professionals can help organizations to consider the right marketing and sales messages that can ultimately increase sales and help their buying communities.

A homogeneous IT team can build software, but it’ll do so only with its members' inherent knowledge, colored by their life experiences. Not everyone is a world traveler or is familiar with cultural nuances. A diverse team of IT professionals can help conceptualize, develop, and support a richer, more culturally diverse software, which leads, in turn, to increased marketing opportunities, more creativity, and a more positive business image.

Leverage from Within

According to the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), the number of women in IT in the U.S. dropped from 41 percent in 1996 to 32.4 percent in 2004. African-Americans in IT also fell during the same period from 9.1 percent in 1996 to 8.3 percent in 2004. The ITAA report does not provide more current information but states its belief that women, African-Americans, and Hispanics continue to be underrepresented in IT. As you might expect, many minorities who are in the IT workforce also happen to be in administrative or other nonmanagement roles. Many companies, in an effort to help increase diversity at higher levels of rank and pay, offer minority employees opportunities for advancement.

In fact, you don’t even have to be in IT to make it in IT. At my former company, the mail guy, a young man of 20 who sorted and delivered mail during the day and studied computer science at DeVry University in the evenings, was offered an IT role within a year. Bill had a particular interest in solving problems. As he wandered in and out of managers’ offices with the mail, he would stop to chat and ask about their day. On one particularly busy day, my computer froze in the middle of printing a presentation that I was about to take with me to a meeting. Bill happened to walk in at that time and, after setting my mail on my desk, noticed the look of horror on my face. He asked if I wouldn’t mind if he took a look. Within minutes, Bill had my computer up and running and my document ready at the printer. When I returned from my meeting, Bill, with my permission, had cleaned up my computer, which was wrought with heavy disk fragments and low memory. He recommended additional RAM and left my office.

Soon after this incident, my colleagues and I began calling Bill up from the mail room to look into our computer issues before we even called the help desk (which we fondly called the “helpless desk”). Before Bill finished his DeVry program and became a Microsoft Certified Engineer, we had a job waiting for him at the corporate office. It didn’t take long for Bill to raise the bar at the help desk, creating an environment where others’ ambition levels were elevated.

Diversity Declining

Although we’ve been importing quite a bit of IT talent from other countries, diversity has actually been on the decline overall. According to a 2007 article in CIO Insight (“How Diverse is IT?”), proportionally fewer African-Americans and Hispanics are in IT than in other jobs. “African-Americans represent 6.5 percent of employed IT managers and staff professionals but 11 percent of all types of managers and staff professionals,” reads the article. Hispanics represent 5 percent of IT staff. The number of women in IT is also imbalanced, with less than a third of IT professionals in this group. These figures take only two minority groups into account, so you can imagine the facts of diversity if you include other minority groups.

The number of women in IT has declined by 8 percent over the past six-to-seven years. In the same period, African-American representation in IT fell by a whopping 25 percent. Why such a sharp drop? Many believe that during the Internet boom, a lot of people, including African-Americans, switched to IT careers because jobs were plentiful and offered better than average salaries. Although IT managers rushed to hire as many talented people as possible (even importing them from other countries), corporate cultures didn’t shift, and career advancement opportunities for minorities did not evolve. After the Internet bust, many minorities left the IT field to pursue other careers. In many cases, minorities were the first to be laid off since they’d joined the IT workforce later than their Caucasian counterparts and offered relatively less business and IT knowledge. Minorities were also among the largest group of quitters, as they didn’t perceive long-term growth opportunities and advancement to be as real for them as for their nonminority counterparts. In a nutshell, they left IT because they were disillusioned with the field. Today, this departure has left IT hiring managers in a position where they have trouble finding qualified minority IT professionals for critical positions.

Diversity Deepening

While diversity in the U.S. workforce has been on the rise, it has declined in IT. This situation is not desirable for global companies by any means. Some CIOs are beginning to understand the depth of value a diverse IT workforce can offer them, but those CIOs are in the minority. Generally speaking, diversity-savvy CIOs work for Fortune 500 companies. Yet in today’s virtual marketplace, many small and midsize companies target products and services to a diverse customer base around the globe. These are the companies that are missing the boat. To deepen your IT team's diversity, you have to take specific actions. Start with education. Next, leverage the power of public relations to promote your interest in diversification and attract the minority talent you seek. At the same time, ensure your company is culturally ready to accept, nurture, and grow people from diverse backgrounds and lifestyles. This acceptance may be a major challenge for human resources and IT management, but it is also the key to successfully cultivating and leveraging diversity in IT.

Deepening the diversity pool does not mean adding only African-American and women to your mix. This article has made reference mostly to these two minority groups by way of example, but a diverse workforce includes different races, nationalities, sexual preferences, and even disabilities. Although the IT workforce is more diverse today than it has been in the past, minorities are underrepresented in the field relative to other jobs. As much as it may be a challenge, your company is better off with a more diverse group, particularly if you market to diverse customers. And if you want to encourage better relationships among your increasingly diverse staff, focus on the similarities and take advantage of the differences.

Nahid Jilovec is a System iNEWS technical editor. An award-winning writer and speaker, she has published four e-commerce books and has written more than 200 articles.