Diversity in Engineering: Effect on Questions

Autumn Turpin
Jul 20, 2017 · 3 min read

Despite what many people think, engineering is not just about developing the best solution to a problem — it’s also about deciding what problems to address in the first place. The people present get to determine which questions are being asked, and how those questions are being answered.

Take Y Combinator, for example — a seed accelerator that’s invested companies such as Dropbox, Reddit, Airbnb, and nearly 950 others. In 2013, YCombinator added a fourth laundry service to its startup ranks. Given the prevalence of food delivery, and other convenience focused companies, making some room for one or two makes some business sense. However, it seems like a stretch to believe that there were absolutely no other worthwhile ideas present for funding. The lack of diversity in tech, especially in Silicon Valley, leads to a prevalence of companies that don’t necessarily promote true social change[2] or address issues that are affecting larger communities.

Diversity in engineering helps ensure that we’re asking the right questions. The engineer’s mindset of searching for the optimal solution for a problem can help contribute to this need for diversity — which means more than just having women at the table. It means including people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic situations[3], sexual orientations, international backgrounds — the list goes on. Making sure a variety of voices are heard helps ensure that engineering is done to the highest standard — avoiding exclusionary design and solutions such as designing airbags only for men that fail to protect women and children, excluding women from clinical trials because they’re capable of having children and the potential (yet as-then nonexistent) unborn child should be protected, neglecting to address systemic environmental issues in poor and often disproportionately minority-only (or majority) cities and towns…again, the list can go on.

The next step is to develop actionable plans that can be put into play. Small, local level impact can go a long way. Individuals can leverage their privileges (financial, career, access to resources) to help out others, and be a role model where they can. For example, people can recommend a friend to the internship they had last summer, or share experiences in engineering and how they’ve dealt with roadblocks with a younger student who feels discouraged. Individuals can also consider the impact they can have using their specific engineering skills — things such as choosing projects that work with underprivileged communities or creating teams that draw on a diverse skill set and background. A big roadblock to creating change is feeling helpless, and focusing on things one can do at the individual level both feels more achievable, and helps to set an example for others who also can eventually change their individual actions.

[1] Current issues that are specifically engineering related, and affected by a lack of diversity in who is solving problems: the ongoing Flint water crisis, lack of hormonal/physical (besides condoms, more akin to a male IUD) and reversible birth control for men which places the onus of contraception on women, lack of innovation in menstrual products & continued taboo on funding women’s health (and even still calling it only women’s health, excluding trans and gender non conforming people), overall lack of funding for any type of woman-led startup, especially startups led by black women…the list goes on!

[2] I think the conversation focuses first on women, then on racial/ethnic diversity (often leaving women of color out of the picture, forgotten), but I think it may be most easy to forget people from low-income backgrounds and realizing that is a form of diversity too — middle America exists!

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