KT Moore, VP Marketing, Cadence Design Systems. Passionate about DEI and inspiring emerging leaders.
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The technology and engineering industries have been male-dominated for years on end. As women and other marginalized groups have broken through the industry, they’ve experienced massive occupational loneliness.
McKinsey details that only 26% of women held C-suite positions in the workplace in 2022—only 5% of whom were women of color. Compare this to the 74% of men who held C-suite positions—only 13% of whom were men of color. Other research shows that white Americans held 73.3% of tech jobs overall last year, with Black Americans making up just 7%, Latin Americans making up 8% and Asian Americans holding 20% of tech jobs in 2022.
When I began my career as a device modeling engineer, the lack of diversity in STEM was striking. There were few minorities or women, not just at my workplace but across STEM. As a minority, I often felt isolated and struggled to find my place. Despite these challenges, I was determined to succeed. There were moments when the obstacles seemed insurmountable and I contemplated giving up. It was during one of these trying times that my manager at IBM stepped in and took me under his wing. His timely support and guidance not only helped me complete my degree in electrical engineering and applied physics from Case Western Reserve University but also gave me the confidence to launch my career as an IC Design Engineer. I will always be grateful for his unwavering belief in me.
While the presence of women and minority groups in corporate America has been increasing in the pipeline since then (the early 2000s), their numbers are still significantly low. But the inclusion, diversification and curation of an equitable workplace have proven to transform workplaces and drive real-time company success.
Benefits Of DEI
Revenue Growth
To begin with, if DEI becomes a reality by 2025 and the gender gap is narrowed, over $12 trillion in additional GDP will be realized. Additionally, over $2 billion can be realized in revenue if racial inclusion and financial services are extended to America’s Black community. Bridging the wage difference and divesting from discrimination and prejudice among the Asian American community can also increase America’s productivity.
Over and above that, empowering Hispanic Americans guarantees the American economy massive growth: Their cumulative household consumption rises by 6% annually, and they can potentially bring about $2.3 trillion in revenue, despite their underrepresentation and marginalization in workplaces.
Our “One Team” culture at Cadence has established us as an unstoppable company since we respect one another and work together as a team. This commitment to diversity has elevated our team to the pinnacle of high performance, and in 2021, we launched 13 new products across all business groups, an innovation success I attribute to our cohesive, diverse, talented and passionate team.
Employee Retention And Job Satisfaction
DEI positively influences company culture. GPTW research yielded that employee retention is at a record high if age, gender, sexual orientation and race aren’t the basis on which they are treated. In a diverse and inclusive workplace where employees are treated equally, employees are more likely to look forward to work. If your organization is one for all, your employees are more likely to take pride in both the workplace and their work and have more likelihood of retention.
To improve retention and increase job satisfaction, you need to tie your company goals to purpose. Work should be impactful to the employer, employees and other stakeholders. At Cadence, our employees come to do meaningful work that’s transformative globally. Our culture is one of belonging, and our values nurture our employees’ creativity, fire their passion and embolden them to innovate solutions.
Ethical Standards For Future Technological Advances
Advancements in STEAM are happening every day, and disruptive AI is a great example of technology that is transforming society drastically. Such disruptive technologies should be human-centered and beneficial to everyone, which calls for the adoption of equity and inclusion in the physical workplace. A diverse, equitable and inclusive team will build less biased future technologies that are culturally diverse and ethical.
Being More Inclusive
Going forward, there’s a need to embrace equity, acknowledge diversity and foster inclusivity. For leaders, the steppingstone is to be open-minded and initiate the DEI conversation. Discuss with your team what inclusion might look like for your company and what they need from you in order to achieve that.
Having identified your team’s DEI needs, you can then take the lead in recognizing diversity in your team, appreciating it and encouraging your members to live their authentic selves at work. Enable your employees to build empowering inclusion groups among themselves, and support their efforts to honor their diversity.
To affirm your drive toward inclusivity, add to your policies stipulations for DEI. At Cadence, our differences are gems and we value each and every single individual on the team. Our policies and norms guarantee the expression of diversity: Our Black, Latinx, Veteran, LGBTQ+ and women employee groups have built communities within the company that empower each other through cultural celebrations and initiatives.
Conclusion
DEI guarantees companies success regardless of their size and type. It is important, therefore, that we build teams on the foundations of equality, inclusion and belonging. Eliminating bias and embracing employees regardless of their ethnicity, skin color, sexual orientation, age or gender is the first step in acquiring varying skill sets and experiences into the company portfolio. It improves creativity and problem-solving in a company, and can eventually lead to improved company performance, profit and solution-based innovation. Progress has been made, but we have yet to reach our ultimate destination. We will only get there if we weave humanity into our company cultures.
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