Diversity Hire Syndrome
Hi,
I am a Software Engineer. I write code for a living. I love what I do. In case you haven’t noticed, I am also a Black woman. I love being a Black woman but I don’t love feeling like the diversity hire. Let me explain…
78% of Software Engineers are Male. 4.9% of Software Engineers are Black or African American. So there are not very many other Software Engineers that look like me. Personally, I don’t really have a problem with this. Though, I do have a problem with society putting my race and gender before my accomplishments, constantly.
Here’s an example:
I make mistakes at work sometimes. Not always but I am human and I slip up. Also, I’m fairly new at my current job. I only started 5 months ago. Anyway, when most people make mistakes they don’t think: “Oh no all the White people will think that I was hired for my race and gender not my ability.” Do most people think that? I really hope not and I (mostly) think I’m over exaggerating. Though, this is something that crosses my mind almost every time I make a major mistake, which is rare but still happens. This is not something that crosses a White man’s mind: “Oh no, I made a mistake and now everyone will think I’m here just to meet quotas.” No company (that I’ve heard of) has a massive hiring push for White men but they do for Black women.
So at times it makes me feel like I am mainly in a Software Engineer position because I am a Black woman not mainly due to the fact that I’m a stellar Software Engineer.
The thing is that people oftentimes use my race and gender to erase my accomplishments. When people see a White man as an a Software Engineer, they don’t think of his race and gender immediately. They instead think of his accomplishments as a Software Engineer. But when people see me, they see my race and gender first. I want people to talk about my Masters Degree, my academically published papers, and my experience as a Software Engineer before they talk about my race and gender.
I believe that natural diversity is a great thing. Forced diversity is not. Forced diversity (e.g. requiring race quotas) has the adverse effect that many in support of it might think. Especially when the fixation becomes on race, gender, and becoming the “first Black woman” instead of the achievements that it took to even be considered. I want the focus to be my accomplishments first and my race and gender second, always.
Thanks for reading.
