IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2023 - 34

Commentary
courses, which were introduced to increase the representation
of minority students in computer science
by increasing interest among high school students
from the USA found that one of the courses offered
influenced the intention to further pursue a career in
computing [12].
The slow progress made by diversity initiatives
is likely connected to the complexity of the issue.
Gender diversity is intricately connected with social
expectations, conscious and unconscious bias, peer
pressure, awareness, and visibility of women in the
field to name just a few. Initiatives aimed at improving
diversity are slowly unraveling some of these
issues, allowing access to mentoring and sometimes
sponsorship; and training sessions that are aimed at
dissipating unconscious bias.
Challenges
Initiatives aiming to promote diversity, although
done with good intentions (i.e., aiming to fix a problem),
could lead to negative consequences. For
example, some diversity initiatives such as short bias
training have no evidence of long-term changes of
behavior and could lead to participants becoming
defensive when learning about their own biases
[13] and alienate the people who are in position to
make change [14]. Although diversity initiatives can
lead to defensiveness from the majority group, this
does not mean that they should not be performed,
but rather be performed in a way that is effective.
For example, to be more effective, unconscious bias
training needs to be complemented by other diversity
initiatives and should take place over a longer
period of time [15].
Even just the presence of diversity initiatives can
have unintended consequences. Diversity initiatives
lead to the presumption of a fair environment for
the unrepresented group which could make discrimination
more difficult to identify and address,
but also through the perception of unfairness by the
majority group [13]. When men perceive antimale
bias, research has shown that some men are more
likely to engage in discriminatory practices toward
women-for example, by providing negative evaluations
and less constructive feedback [16]. Grievance
procedures introduced to address issues could
also lead to negative consequences. For example,
women who file harassment complaint can end up
with worse career outcomes that those who experience
harassment but do not report it [14].
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Diversity initiatives can also signal that unrepresented
groups need to be helped to succeed [13].
This could result in minority groups being perceived
not as competent both by members of the majority
group and by their peers [13]. For example, minorities
are being told that they receive that job or promotion
because they are part of a minority not due
to their competence. Another side effect is members
of minority groups doubting their own competence.
In classrooms, women sometimes receive more help
from the teachers with their work; however, the kind
of help they receive is more executive (doing the
task for the student) as opposed to teaching the student
how to progress on their own [17]. This could
have short-term benefits but detrimental long-term
benefits [11]. Furthermore, this help is often provided
without women asking for it [18], further reinforcing
the stereotypes that women are not able to
perform without help.
The perception of unfairness and less competence
toward members of minority groups could
lead to less inclusive environments. This could further
decrease women's sense of belonging in the
field, which could further decrease their resilience
in succeeding [19].
Way forward
Without any diversity initiatives, we are running
into the risk of maintaining the status quo. This will
impede us, as a society, to achieve inclusive innovation
and creating software products that meet the
needs of and represent all users. To speed up change,
we need successful diversity initiatives. Rather than
being content with diversity initiatives that are reasonably
expected to promote a diverse and inclusive
environment but, are not necessarily backed up by
evidence, women need initiatives whose success is
supported by evidence (e.g., initiatives that improve
the number of women (and other minorities) in the
field, creating and maintaining a diverse, equitable,
and inclusive environment for everyone).
However, change is hard due to the multitude
and variety of factors that contribute to inequality
and the complexity involved in addressing them. It is
unlikely that a single type of intervention carried out
over a short period will alter the status quo. Instead,
profound changes should be implemented not only
by organizations but also by society at large. For
example, social identity [20] manifests in boys and
girls at an early age, with girls more likely to receive
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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2023

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