Diversity in Engineering
A perspective by Erica Horowitz, Senior Front-End Developer
Let me start with a little backstory: I joined Collective Health about two years ago, as the company’s first female engineer. I was accustomed to an environment in which gender imbalance was a regular phenomenon, having previously worked in finance and studied engineering in undergrad. I’d also read lots of articles about how tough Silicon Valley’s work environment was for women, so I came in very conscious of my own difference. It was a very pleasant surprise, therefore, when my difference wasn’t a big deal, or even a “deal”, at all. We were a small company with inclusiveness at the core of our DNA, so everyone respected each other, end of story.
The company grew. Between 2014 and 2016, we went from 25 to 250 people, my team went from three to 10 people, and I started to see some shifts in dynamic. Suddenly, instead of a 50/50 male to female ratio on the Frontend team, there was an 80/20 ratio. As a 5'2", soft-spoken female (albeit an assertive, opinionated one), I found myself working harder to have the same influence I once had effortlessly. The shift was not conscious, but when you’re in an environment like Silicon Valley, where the talent pool is more homogenous, minority groups are at a disadvantage because of unconscious biases and cultural differences.
Now, I recognize I am fortunate in a lot of ways. I come from a financially stable and progressive family. I was able to attend a well-established university. I am White. And “Women in Tech” is a very hot-button topic these days, so there is widespread awareness of the issue. I can only imagine how it feels for members of other underrepresented communities, especially if they don’t have the support network that I have had. This is why the Engineering Diversity Initiative at Collective Health is so important to me. I am constantly inspired by the contributions of my coworkers; losing any one of their voices would have an adverse effect on my team and on the company.
The initiative was started six months ago and comprises volunteers from Engineering, Recruiting, and other teams around the company. It is dedicated to promoting inclusiveness and diversity of all kinds, both within our Engineering team and beyond.
So, how does the Engineering Diversity Initiative work? Well, we are approaching the topic on a few fronts:
Expanding the Applicant Pool
It is no secret that traditional recruiting sources for Engineers are skewed toward White and Asian males. To counter this, it is important to Collective Health to make a conscious effort to ensure that qualified, but underrepresented, candidates aren’t getting lost in the fray.
A fellow coworker (female, engineer), once shared a story about how she didn’t apply to a job posting because it was looking for people who were the “best developer they knew” and she knew she wasn’t. She was later contacted by the same company for the same role, and got the job. Something as seemingly trivial as wording of a job post can have a profound effect on responses, so we now pass all our engineering job listings through Textio’s Talent app in order to remove negative triggers and gender-biases.
We are also actively reaching out to groups dedicated to giving a voice to those underrepresented in tech. For instance, Collective Health is now a proud sponsor for /dev/color, a Y Combinator non-profit for attracting, mentoring, and retaining black talent. We will also be attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference next week. We are excited to not only learn from the best women in tech, but to also broaden our network of female engineers. If you are planning to attend the conference, hit us up @CollectvHealth!
Removing Biases in the Interview Process
As we broaden our applicant pool, we are conscious about the realities of passing up competent engineers on the basis of internal biases. Often masked as lack of “qualification” or “culture fit,” they are a major blocker to diversity in hiring. One way we have started to combat this is by having a standard set of screening questions for all interviewees. Another, is our new partnership with Paradigm to provide Unconscious Bias training for all engineers at Collective Health.
Investing in Retention Strategies
An important part of improving diversity over time is ensuring we don’t lose employees due to lack of support within the company. We have been actively attending diversity-themed meetups around the Bay area to gain insights into other companies’ best practices of addressing the topic.
We also recently held a brainstorming session that resulted in targeted task forces to address specific, tangible ways to make our company more inclusive. One will be working on a series of internal events that each celebrate an underrepresented group and highlight influential members of the group in the Health Tech space. Another is increasing the visibility and awareness of supportive communities, such as our Women in Tech and Pride groups, within Collective Health.
Though we’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done on the Engineering Diversity Initiative, we never want to stop improving. Diversity and inclusion is a process that is never complete. We are currently setting up a formal process to assess and benchmark our progress, with a North Star goal of achieving parity with California’s demographic makeup. We believe our engineering team should be representatives of the clients we serve.
The inclusiveness I felt from the very beginning was a major selling point for me when I joined Collective Health, and I am so proud that it continues to resonate with new employees to this day. As our company grows and evolves, our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness grows and evolves with it.
Building a diverse tech company in a traditionally homogenous industry is no small feat. But neither is rebuilding how health benefits work. Luckily, the team at Collective Health is always up for a challenge — we love to focus on what is right, not what is easy.
Read more articles like this at our Collective Health Tech Blog.
