By Melissa J. Anderson

The IT industry faces more than a pipeline problem when it comes to increasing the retention of diverse employees. According to a new report by The Level Playing Field Institute, an exclusionary culture may be the bigger problem in keeping women and underrepresented people of color within the technology workforce.

The report, based on anonymous survey data from 645 engineers and managers, showed that women and minorities had significantly more negative workplace experiences than male or white employees at every size of tech company. Additionally, individuals who reported more negative experiences (like bullying, difficulty balancing work/family, exclusionary cliques, etc.) were more likely to want to leave their company within the next year.

The report says:

“The findings bring to light the substantial differences in workplace experiences based on race and gender that occur across large company and startup work environments and document the significant impact that negative workplace experiences have on job satisfaction and turnover.”

The workplace culture of IT is driving women and minorities away. Here’s how.

By Melissa J. Anderson

We’ve discussed the business case for board diversity – whether gender, ethnicity, disability, or otherwise – several times on Evolved Employer. For examples, studies like Catalyst’s report “The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity” revealed that companies whose boards had a better gender mix tended to perform better than those with fewer women.

Companies with more diversity at the top have a better chance at attracting and retaining diverse talent, as well. And empowering every employee to perform at their highest capability is what companies sorely need in order to innovate and remain competitive.

But those reasons simply aren’t enough for some individuals, who stand in the way of initiatives designed to improve corporate diversity. Here are three more reasons that companies need to improve boardroom diversity.