Great post, and it is undeniable that there is a diversity problem in the Tech industry specifically. I don’t, however, feel that any of your arguments touch upon this subject — this post feels more like a rant than it does a proposal for a more viable solution.

According to most tech companies, if I can’t pass an algorithmic challenge or if I’m not a “culture fit” I don’t belong. I haven’t even started my first full-time job yet and I’m already so tired of feeling erased and mistreated by the tech industry. I’ve worked so hard to make myself visible over the last few years so it hurt me to see Facebook make such false statements. What more must students of color do to make it clear that we are qualified to be in this industry?

This is so interesting to me. Is it wrong for tech companies to prefer applicants who can pass the same algorithmic challenge, or for applicants who they do feel like fit into the company culture (which, contrary to your misled belief, is more than “ping-pong, beer, or whatever other gimmick used to attract new grads.”) If this is the feeling that you are receiving from your interviews — I apologize on behalf of the industry and beg you to search somewhere else. Finally, that last bolded statement (“What more must students of color do to make it clear that we are qualified to be in this industry?”) does not connect — are you saying that students of color go through different algorithmic challenges, or different cultural interviews? If so, I would love to see some research behind this.

Congratulations on your impending Dartmouth graduation — that is a great school with a great computer science program. In fact, there are hundreds of great computer science programs, like Dartmouth’s, which are underrepresented in the general “tech” sphere. In fact, quoting the same USA Today article you are:

“One of the key problems: There are elite computer science departments that graduate larger numbers of African-American and Hispanic students, but they are not the ones w here leading companies recruit employees. Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, UCLA and MIT are among the most popular for recruiting by tech companies,…”

All in all, I get that you are frustrated — I’ve been in the same spot. Let’s take a holistic approach to this and see where we can find the solution. I can guarantee you that it won’t be by giving students of color easier coding interviews or a pass on a culture fit. With that being said though, maybe there are things we can do in terms of visibility, in terms of getting students of color the right internships to get them the future tech job the want, etc. Or, maybe we can blanket all of this and just create affirmitive action for corporations — after all, a black student who scores 280 points lower than an asian student is just as qualified…

I know this isn’t the response you wanted to hear — but I hope this triggers you to dive deeper into the issue more than just “culture” and “interviewing.” We know that there is a disparancy between Students of color with technical capabilities and employees of color on the tech industry — let’s try harder to get to the bottom of the issue.

Edit: I was pretty surprised that it seemed I was the only reader with this viewpoint — I then realized that Kaya Thomas of course just recommended the “you go girl” comments to the top. If you truly want progress made on this issue, please be willing to view it and all of it’s opinions holistically, and not subjectively. kthxbai