This appointment comes on the heels of Pinterest employees’ recent virtual walkoutOpens a new window to demand changes related to gender and racial discrimination.
Whenever there are discussions on diversity, inclusion, and discrimination issues in an organization, most organizations tend to share data to compare their position against other companies and discuss their diversity hiring goals. Diversity hiring is being viewed as an all-purpose tool to close different gaps in the workplace. But does it serve the purpose of creating an inclusive as well as a safe workplace that can attract and retain diverse talent?
Pinterest’s Diversity Hire Amid Gender and Racial Discrimination Allegations
After making it into the news for alleged gender and racial discrimination, Pinterest has announcedOpens a new window that it will hire a new board member. Andrea Wishom, the president of real estate company Skywalker Holdings and former Harpo Studios executive, has been appointed in the new role. This makes her Pinterest’s first Black board member and third female board member.
This appointment comes on the heels of Pinterest employees’ recent virtual walkoutOpens a new window to demand changes related to gender and racial discrimination.
Last week, former Pinterest COO Françoise Brougher also sued the company, alleging gender discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination. They fired her in April, two years into a tenure during which Pinterest doubled its revenues and launched a successful IPO. It wasn’t her performance, but issues she raised concerning discrimination.
Before Brougher, Aerica Shimizu Banks and Ifeoma Ozoma, who were part of the policy team, also accused Pinterest of discrimination and underpayment.
In their petition, Pinterest employees shared that while Pinterest had led the way in diversity and inclusive hiring with diversity goals for new hires, it was not enough to create an inclusive organizational culture. There was a need for more transparency in compensation packages and a more top-down approach in terms of diversity hiring and leadership.
These cultural issues appear serious, and they can impact the company’s business, considering that most of the users and Pinterest’s target is women.
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Can Diversity Hiring Reverse a Culture of Workplace Inequity?
Pinterest is not the only enterprise to be accused of discrimination. Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley’s global head of diversity, Marilyn Booker, sued the company for firing her “after she tried to persuade executives to eliminate barriers to success for black financial advisers,†reported Opens a new window the New York Times. The article also highlights how Ms. Booker highlighted that limited funds were earmarked for diversity hiring in the organization.
At Adidas too, the HR chief stepped down after employees vocalized diversity concerns about a racist and discriminatory workplace.
The situation in tech companies is also bleak. According to a Opens a new window a new window” target=”_blank”>survey by the Kapor Center for Social ImpactOpens a new window , about 21% of computer science graduates are Black or Latino. Yet, they represent only 10% of technical roles at the 20 top tech companies.
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The question here is whether hiring from diverse segments will reverse a culture that allows misogyny and racial inequity to thrive.
Probably not. Token diversity hires at any organization level are not going to be enough to address the diversity challenge. And the message about diversity has been consistent across all studies and experts – diversity without inclusion is a meaningless effort. Creating an inclusive workplace should be top of mind for organizations, into which diverse candidates are hired.