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Pandora’s Diversity Numbers Are Mostly Good News for Women, Not So Much for People of Color

Or, more accurately: lack-of-diversity numbers.

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Even if the diversity numbers haven’t been exactly encouraging, it’s still great to see that tech companies are willing to acknowledge the problem by being transparent about it. Now the Internet radio streaming service Pandora has released their diversity numbers, and they’re a lot better than the rest for women, but still pretty poor in terms of racial diversity.

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Where most of the tech giants have hung around the 30% mark or less for total percentage of female employees (Facebook: 31%, Twitter: 30%, Apple 30%), Pandora blows that out of the water with a 50.8% men/49.2% women split for the whole company.

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That’s pretty great, but it’s important to note that they’re still lagging in leadership roles (38.8% women) and especially in tech roles, where women only make up 17.9% of their workforce. This is sadly more in line with the other companies, with Facebook at 15% women in tech, Apple at 20%, and Twitter at only 10%.

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Also less than great are their racial diversity numbers, which fall slightly below Apple’s numbers and just a bit above Facebook and Twitter’s. They’re committed to continuing the trend they’ve started with their overall gender numbers according to a blog post by Pandora founder Tim Westegren, which makes mention of the fact that Pandora’s headquarters are in Oakland—one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. It’d be nice to see that reflected in Pandora’s workforce for sure.

Apple released their numbers recently with a similar promise of a drive for greater diversity, and with these numbers, we’ll be able to track over the coming year whether they stick to it or not. Fingers crossed.

(via The Atlantic)

Previously in tech diversity

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Dan Van Winkle
Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct <em>Geekosystem</em> (RIP), and then at <em>The Mary Sue</em> starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at <em>Smash Bros.</em>

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