Google kicked off a big and important trend when it started reporting diversity data last year. And now Twitter is joining another one that acknowledges that reporting raw data on the issue isn’t enough: The social-media site is following the example set earlier this year by Pinterest and Intel by setting firm goals for the diversity levels it wants to reach by next year.
The goals are modest if they’re judged against the demographics of the overall labor market. But setting and pursuing them is essential for a company that, as of right now, has zero underrepresented minorities on its leadership team in the US. And tech companies that haven’t set goals have seen little change in their employee makeup.
(The company defines underrepresented minorities as any ethnicity other than white or Asian in the US, according to a spokeswoman.)
Here are the company’s goals, in comparison to where they are now. Note that gender numbers are for the company’s worldwide employee base, but ethnicity numbers are for the US only. If Twitter hits its goals, the biggest jump by far will be in the number of underrepresented minorities in leadership positions: