Transforming Tech: Advancing Innovation Through Inclusion The National Academy of Sciences

Despite years of efforts to increase diversity in the tech workforce, women of color have remained underrepresented. Even in cases where some groups of women of color may have higher levels of representation, data show that they still face significant systemic challenges in advancing to leadership positions.

To address these challenges, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine assembled current research and feedback from public workshops to develop recommendations for stakeholders to increase recruitment, retention, and advancement of women of color in the tech ecosystem. 

But developing recommendations isn’t enough to address the challenge. We have to teach business leaders in tech about these recommendations so they can put them to good use.

The solution? Transforming Tech: Advancing Innovation Through Inclusion, a lively conversational podcast for tech business managers and leaders who want to hire people from all backgrounds and ensure their workplace is inclusive. 

In this five-part series, entrepreneur, computer scientist, and CEO Jamika Burge and her guests cut through the jargon and use “design thinking” to guide listeners to better ways of recruiting, retaining, and advancing women and people of color in their ranks. 

Each episode gives the audience actionable solutions to increase the diversity of people and perspectives through fun, informative, and entertaining conversations and narratives.

Recruiting, retaining, and advancing diverse individuals in the tech field can feel complex. Every company wants to have the most competitive, creative, and, most importantly, inclusive team. 
Do you want actionable solutions to achieve this ideal workforce? 

Welcome to Transforming Tech, A guide for diversifying your technology business's workforce. This first episode of our five-part series highlights the hiring opportunities and company support systems that impact recruiting women of color in tech. 

Host Jamika Burge speaks with computer science professor Ann Quiroz Gates, Google's Program Manager for University Relations Sloan Davis, and Joan Williams, the founder of Bias Interruptors, to explore the unconscious biases influencing diverse hiring practices and how companies big and small can take concrete steps to diversify their hiring. 

Based on research and analysis from the National Academies’ consensus study “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech,” Burge and her guests use design thinking to help tech companies recruit, retain, and advance women and people of color in their ranks. 

Click HERE to view the full consensus study report. 

Finding new employees from diverse backgrounds can seem challenging if you don’t know where or how to look. But there are many talented people out there who could help transform your company — and if you don't hire them, your competition might. 

In this second episode of our five-part series, host Jamika Burge speaks with computer science professor Ann Quiroz Gates, Google's Program Manager for University Relations Sloan Davis, and Joan Williams, the founder of Bias Interruptors, about techniques for hiring with an eye toward equity. They’ll offer action items from partnering with minority-serving institutions to thinking intentionally about diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Based on research and analysis from the National Academies’ consensus study “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech,” Burge and her guests use design thinking to help engineering and tech companies recruit, retain, and advance women and people of color in their ranks. 
Click HERE to view the full consensus study report. 

Overall, tech companies work hard to achieve inclusive hiring but can be dismayed when new hires from diverse backgrounds don’t stick around. What factors impact how employees feel about the workplace environment, and whether your company is the right place for them?

In this third episode of our series, host Jamika Burge speaks with Joan Williams, the founder of Bias Interruptors; Marisela Martinez-Cola, a sociology professor at Morehouse College; Rocío Medina van Nierop, the CEO and co-founder of Latinas in Tech; and Mia Ong, a senior research scientist at TERC. They talk about the biases women of color face in tech and how real, honest feedback can teach companies not just where the problems lie but how to solve them. 

Based on research and analysis from the National Academies’ consensus study “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech,” Burge and her guests use design thinking to help engineering and tech companies recruit, retain, and advance women and people of color in their ranks. 
Click HERE to view the full consensus study report. 

When a workplace culture results from nothing more than a bunch of people sharing an office, that culture can make certain people feel welcomed and others feel isolated. How can tech companies develop a workplace culture that is inviting to everyone they hire? 

In this fourth episode of our five-part series, Jamika Burge speaks with Marisela Martinez-Cola, a sociology professor at Morehouse College, Joan Williams, the founder of Bias Interruptors, and Mia Ong, a senior research scientist at TERC. They give actionable advice about listening to women of color in the tech workspace to establish and maintain a workplace culture that benefits everyone. 

Based on research and analysis from the National Academies’ consensus study “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech,” Burge and her guests use design thinking to help engineering and tech companies recruit, retain, and advance women and people of color in their ranks. 

Click HERE to view the full consensus study report.

Women of color are underrepresented in tech but even less represented in tech leadership. How can tech companies ensure that everyone has the opportunity to train, grow, and offer their best ideas for leading your business to success? 

In this last episode of Transforming Tech, host Jamika Burge speaks with Rocío Medina van Nierop, the CEO and co-founder of Latinas in Tech, Joan Williams, the founder of Bias Interruptors, Mia Ong, senior research scientist at TERC, and Dwana Franklin-Davis, the CEO of Reboot Representation. Together, they offer advice on training opportunities and creating paths for women of color to advance in the workplace. 

Based on research and analysis from the National Academies’ consensus study “Transforming Trajectories for Women of Color in Tech,” Burge and her guests use design thinking to help engineering and tech companies recruit, retain, and advance women and people of color in their ranks. 

Click HERE to view the full consensus study report.