While many Vancouverites spent much of the spring pining for a normal summer, the past two months for Vivian Chan consisted of interviewing 20 vice-presidents and C-suite Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) leaders about barriers facing increased representation within the B.C. tech sector.
Chan, the founder of the Impact Coalition non-profit, found three consistent threads emerging throughout the talks.
Leaders found their access to networks was more limited than that of their counterparts, inherent – not necessarily conscious – bias often stymied diversity within corporate ranks and different advocacy groups often remained in silos rather than campaigning with each for more diversity.
“I think that BIPOC leaders often aren’t in the circles where a lot of these opportunities for boards, for leadership, for visibility are available. And so much of it is networking,” said Chan, who also serves as global head of digital sales at Vancouver-based tech company NexTech AR Solutions Corp.
The Impact Coalition, a youth-oriented organization focused on racial justice and tech, is urging businesses and organizations to rethink their boardroom composition.
Practical steps, such as compiling lists of potential boardroom candidates that can be offered to organizations and offering mentorship to potential BIPOC boardroom candidates, can go a long way right now, according to Chan.
Her organization examined 16 organizations funded by the B.C. government to support technology and innovation within the province. Of the 190 board seats across those organizations, 70 seats – or 37% – were held by women while 21 seats – or 11% – were held by BIPOC leaders.
“We need to have less aspirational talk and more action because the needle still needs to be moved,” Chan said.
Last fall the BC Tech Association, which advocates on behalf of the province’s technology sector, came under fire following the election of its new board of directors.
Of the newly elected directors, none appeared to be people of colour.
CEO Jill Tipping has since committed to doing better with outreach and solicitation process, and her organization has committed to the federal government’s 50-30 Challenge.
The initiative is aimed at reaching gender parity and greater representation (at least 30%) of under-represented groups on boards and in senior management positions.
Ottawa, which has not provided a timeline for reaching those goals, is urging companies and non-profits to “voluntarily take action towards achieving meaningful and substantive improvements in supporting diversity and inclusion within their organization.”
The province, meanwhile, is seeking to promote diversity within the tech sector’s general workforce.
Earlier this month it revealed it was earmarking $15 million for its Innovator Skills Initiative (ISI), which aims to fund job placements for 3,000 people from groups under-represented in the sector.
Companies would be able to access grants of $5,000 as part of the ISI, which is being administered by Crown agency Innovate BC.
Consultations on how the program will operate began in May with groups including Black Entrepreneurs and Businesses of Canada Society, Black Business Association of BC and the First Nations Technology Council, among others.
“This massive talent shortage means that you can’t leave half the population on the bench. You just can’t be successful. So people are driven forward now by financial considerations and that’s often the way that societal change happens,” said Brenda Bailey, MLA for Vancouver-False Creek and parliamentary secretary for technology and innovation, who is leading consultations with stakeholders.
A May 2020 McKinsey & Co. report bolstered findings from 2015 regarding the financial success of businesses that are ethnically and gender diverse.
Companies with more than 30% female executives were 25% more likely to be more profitable than the national industry median, and ethnically diverse companies were 36% more likely to be profitable than the national industry median.
Bailey, the former executive director of the DigiBC industry association and co-founder of gaming developer Silicon Sisters, is writing a book examining the lack of diversity within tech.
While she acknowledged it’s a complex issue, she highlighted that much of it comes down to the wider adoption of personal computers back in the 1980s.
“There was a decision in marketing to market the new home computer to men,” she said. “That decision has had a more profound impact on the claiming of the technology sector for men than any other marketing decision in history. And it’s perpetuated itself.”
Her sense is that the tech sector is willing to diversify now but cultural perceptions of who might make the ideal tech worker remain overwhelming in many instances.
“The stereotype is so strong that even if [under-represented groups] have the capacity and the skill set, you can’t see yourself there. It’s that powerful.”
