Diversity has been a trending topic for a while now, with diversity and inclusion being one of Glassdoor’s top hiring trends for 2020.
In the UK alone, between August 2018-2019, online job postings for diversity and inclusion roles soared by an impressive 106% and has continued to be a key element of hiring each year.
In the development space, diversity can translate across multiple areas of the industry, from the expected academic background of a developer, to soft skills and traits around team work, and naturally, the ageism and lack of ethnic and racial diversity.
So why is diversity so important in the development space?
Demand is growing
The demand for software engineers is continually growing, and even during the pandemic, the IT sector saw solid growth with only a 3% unemployment rate.
This demand can be seen in the high number of job postings, which also means there is an increased need for talent, given the global scale of technology-related roles (which you can read more about in our blog post on the war for talent).
As with most roles and industries, there is an expected route for many in terms of academic background and skillset, such as Google’s Go, which is still the most in-demand coding language, with Scala and SASS coming in second, according to Hired.
These skills and backgrounds can often inform the hiring process and create somewhat of a bias towards certain candidates on paper, due to the expectation that these are the factors required to make an expert hire, and therefore, improve your organisation in the long-term.
The rushed demand to hire developers means that this process is informed entirely by somewhat of a standard checklist, which can exclude self-taught candidates and those who have taken a non-conventional route.
Though a new openness to remote hiring (with 24% more employers being more open to remote hiring) has somewhat broadened the candidate pool, this emphasis on a ‘ideal candidate’ can mean that isn’t representative of the community at large.
There’s a disparity
The majority (66%) of tech workers in the UK identify as white, with the most underrepresented group being black tech workers, which is a clear and quite jarring disparity.
With developers specifically, 70.7% of respondents to Stack Overflow’s Developer Survey were White or of European descent, 9.6% South Asian, and only 3.6% as Black5.
This gap isn’t just present with race and ethnicity, it’s present with formal education, too.
A large majority of professional developers (85%) feel that formal education is somewhat important, which is markedly different to the public perception that formal education isn’t necessary to become a developer.
This makes sense given that 75% of respondents worldwide completed at least the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree or higher, even though many developers learn new programming languages for enjoyment, which implies continuous learning is also a key factor.
These are both key factors in the lack of representation within the industry, which can in turn be detrimental to the industry at large, as it could be missing out on highly skilled and proficient individuals simply on the basis of academic background.
Soft skills are just as essential
Across industries, there is a shift towards the importance of soft skills for candidates, which is no different in the development space.
A key element of software development is collaboration, given that the nature of software development itself relies on teamwork, especially when attempting to operate with high productivity.
This is important given that many academic options don’t necessarily teach these soft skills in relation to the job/industry, as they are focused on the theory rather than the practice – thus, many candidates without a certain academic background may be well inclined towards soft skills, but aren’t considered for a role by default.
Additionally, there is the importance of problem solving skills and self-direction, which student developers seem to be quite proficient in, with 65% being self-taught in some form.
On average, student developers plan to learn 6 coding languages, which can be a clear indicator that many students ready to enter the workforce are attempting to upskill and have a drive to learn, at a time when, though 95% of web applications are built on JavaScript, JavaScript skills aren’t on most computer science curriculums.
Looking beyond the academic background to these soft skills means that employers have access to a larger, highly driven, talent pool (alongside the simple fact that much of the coding ecosystem is changing at such a rapid pace that many curriculums may already be out of date).
So, why is diversity so important in the industry?
Beyond the fact that studies have found inclusion and diversity has a positive effect on software development teams, there is also the untapped talent pool to consider.
At a time when demand is so high, there are a large number of candidates with the soft skills and self-taught knowledge that can drive success for organisations.
The most dynamic, innovative organisations are those that benefit from the varied experience and approaches of a diverse team, which makes problem-solving an easier process due to the combination of different skills and backgrounds.
Diversity shouldn’t be an afterthought, given that it is a competitive advantage and also addresses the lack of representation in the industry.
As a result of the pandemic, many people will be re-skilling and changing their careers and priorities, and discounting individuals who could be a fundamental part of an organisation and its success would be detrimental to any organisation.
Key takeaway
Building a diversity and inclusion strategy in your organisation means that you can access an untapped talent pool that can fill vacancies, and as a result, meet the high demand across organisations.
Diversity can also enhance your organisational culture by building a team that has a variety of experience, skills, and lived experienced, which can drive innovation and make the collaborative process more dynamic.
By widening the talent pool, you can increase the chances of finding the best possible hire for your organisation.
If you’d like to discuss your recruitment needs, get in touch so we can help.