The number of recent company closures suggests that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is poor in the UK technology sector.
Women Who Code, a charity supporting women in the technology industry, closed its doors in April, citing “factors that have significantly impacted our funding sources – funds that were critical to continuing our programming and fulfilling our mission.”
This was followed in June by the Tech Talent Charter (TTC) announcing that it would cease operations at the end of August. Founded in 2015, the industry association provided resources and networking opportunities to support the DEI activities of more than 800 signatory organizations.
A month later, global nonprofit Girls in Tech became the next victim after also struggling with funding shortages. So what’s going on here?
Waseem Ali, managing director of data and AI consultancy Rockborne, believes the DEI sector is currently suffering from a mix of economic, financial and political pressures.
“Just a few years ago, it seemed like most companies were loudly committing to DEI and publishing action plans,” he says. “But all the work they put in then now seems to be at risk – when I talk to organizations in my network, many activities are quietly being put on hold or stopped.”
Toby Mildon, diversity and inclusion architect at Mildon Ltd, also observes a “general slowdown”.
“Companies aren’t committing to projects and spending as much,” he says. “Part of this could be related to the economic climate and corporate austerity, as DEI isn’t seen by most as critical, but rather as a nice-to-have, especially when they’re focusing on core business goals like reducing costs and increasing revenue.”
This despite the fact that there is ample evidence that “inclusive companies perform better than those that are not,” he adds.
A mixed picture for DEI in technology
Jo Stansfield is founder and director of DEI consultancy Inclusioneering and a visiting lecturer at Cranfield University. She agrees that “things are difficult” but points out that the organisations taking the lead in DEI are “still investing”.
But Stansfield sees a shift in direction here. Leading companies are now “changing their language and talking less about DEI and more about the specific changes that are needed. So they are being more considered in terms of the language they use,” she says.
In some cases, Stansfield says, the shift may be due to an increasing maturity of the approach. The idea here is that employers are trying to ensure that everyone in the organization takes responsibility for achieving DEI results, not just certain teams.
But the situation is also partly driven by the vocal backlash against DEI in the US. This has also influenced attitudes in the UK, creating a more hostile climate in the process. Examples include former ministers announcing plans to scrap diversity training, ban diversity jobs in the civil service and require local councils to cut spending on diversity programs.
In other words, the picture is mixed. While things have “certainly improved over the last decade,” says Stansfield, there is still “a lot of work to do.” For example, the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, says women now make up 20% of the tech industry, compared to 16% six years ago. At current rates, however, that means it will take another 283 years for women to make up half of the workforce.
In addition, she adds, while “there has been a lot of talk about gender and a little bit about ethnicity, there has been little focus on LGBTQIA+ and disabled people in the tech industry. Socioeconomic background also needs to be given much more attention, especially as technology becomes more widespread and more decisions are made using AI.”
One problem is a “certain complacency” among some employers after a strong focus on DEI in the wake of social movements like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, Stansfield says. For others, it’s more of a problem of DEI “fatigue,” where organizations are taking a stance that says, “It needs to be done now and it’s time to focus on other things.”
But overall, she stresses, there are still “a whole lot of performative DEI initiatives” that “look good rather than provide good evidence of positive change.” Such problems are a major reason why the TTC decided to close its doors.
The next phase of the journey
Debbie Forster, the nonprofit’s joint executive director, explains: “DEI is at risk. If you look at things on a hype curve, we’re not quite at the peak yet, but we’re getting there, and we’re already seeing signs of stagnation. And as soon as you talk about it, the next thing that happens is decline, so we had to raise awareness of it.”
A key problem is that DEI initiatives require time, effort and investment to have an impact. “But too many companies have not put it at the heart of their activities – they have placed it on the side. But DEI cannot just be about marketing – it has to be linked to the profit and loss statement,” Forster emphasizes.
This scenario was documented in the organization’s 2023 annual benchmarking report, which noted that the industry has undergone changes over the past three years. Budgets have been cut and many DEI initiatives have been “put on hold” so organizations can focus on their business priorities. Additionally, full-time DEI professionals have been laid off and part-time employees have been asked to focus on their core roles.
“The research showed a reduction in DEI funding, a decline in focus and a decline in buy-in,” Forster emphasizes. “There was more of a trend for organizations to openly back down and use us as a fig leaf to cover up their inaction.”
In other words, DEI in technology had reached a “tipping point” and TTC could “see what was coming,” she says.
“We could have survived a few more years with a little less influence and a little less credibility while DEI started to fade,” says Forster. “But we’re letting go and closing this chapter because we don’t want to be part of the hype curve.”
Rather than rebranding or changing focus, the TTC decided it was now time to disband entirely. But to take DEI in technology to the next stage, Forster and her co-CEO Karen Blake have already begun an informal “listening exercise.”
Once the TTC is no longer around, it will launch an independent, dedicated LinkedIn group to continue gathering insights from engaged individuals and technology companies. The goal is to use these views on the current state of the DEI landscape as a basis for creating a roadmap that takes into account the future needs of the industry—whether or not Forster and Blake are involved in the future.
“We’re going back to basics, so we’re closing down the formal organization and instead we’re going to be an informal group of people who care enough about the issue to plan the next phase of the journey – and everyone is invited to join,” Forster explains. “We’re no longer going to be the TTC. We’re going to be a planning group, and Karen and I will create the roadmap after that.”
Light at the end of the tunnel
All of the resources the TTC has created and collected over the past nine years, including the D&I Directory and the Open Playbook, remain available to interested parties free of charge.
Forster says, “When we started, there was no way to assess DEI and we didn’t know what constituted ‘good.’ But now there are tools to help people do that, which means there are no more excuses.”
But one of the biggest challenges today is that too many leaders “still don’t get it,” says Mildon.
“HR managers and people on the ground get it, but many executives and business leaders don’t,” he explains. “They know it’s important, and they’ve read the McKinsey reports, so they’ve had an intellectual, cognitive response to it, but they’re still not 100 percent clear on why it’s important to their own company.”
The problem is that understanding the “why” is critical to developing a sustainable business case, Mildon adds.
Stansfield agrees. “You need to understand the business goals and how DEI can help you – otherwise it’s just magic,” she says. “It’s more powerful when it’s targeted. So, for example, if you’re trying to attract more talent, you might want to look at how DEI can help you achieve specific goals.”
But despite DEI’s current struggles in the technology space, Stansfield doesn’t believe the end of the industry is near.
“This is more of a dip than a complete crash, and when the economy starts to pick up again, we’ll see a recovery in the DEI sector,” she says. “The current situation is largely due to everything being a little tight on cash, but the new administration is planning a lot of new DEI policies to make things more equitable across the board, which will help.”
This means that while “the pressure will not necessarily ease,” the sector will revive and as the next development cycle begins, “we will see it come back into action,” Stansfield concluded.
