During CES 2015, our CEO, Brian Krzanich challenged the tech industry to increase the hiring of women and minorities. Since then there has been plenty of commentary regarding gender quotas. While we need to keep our workplace balanced, is it possible that in announcing such goals we may actually drive top talent away? I hope not.
I must admit that this whole diversity discussion has caused me to pause and actually doubt my own self-worth. When I was asked to join the Intel Evangelist program, my first reaction was that I felt honored and that I had earned it. I am very active in Social Media making sure that developers who want to implement our technologies have the right tools to do so. And I am relentless (follow me: @gaelhof, see?)
But then I realized that I was the very first woman to be brought in and for 5 seconds I began doubting my worthiness of such a role. I even made a comment about this to a colleague and her face instantly turned red. Her immediate comments emphatically pointed out that this whole diversity drive was making women feel as though they were being given positions that they did not deserve. Wow, she was right. I was actually feeling like that – for the first time in my entire 14+ years at Intel. Had our CEO not announced our goal to bring in more women, I would not have given it a second thought. I earned it.
I hope that women who are joining our company are not experiencing these same thoughts. There is a lot more that goes into the hiring process than one’s gender. I have never seen a male or female get hired who did not warrant the job offer.
Finally, let me end with this: I am very honored and excited to be the first woman Intel Evangelist and I plan on embracing this role.
The post Being the Big Pink Elephant appeared first on Intel Software and Services.