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More women in
                engineering
                Something that ACTUALLY WORKED.


                Kellan Elliott-McCrea
                @kellan
                Etsy, CTO



Monday, October 8, 12
?
Monday, October 8, 12
A quick history



Monday, October 8, 12
Jan 2011
                47 engineers: 44 men, 3 women.




Monday, October 8, 12
Dec 2011
                85 engineers: 81 men, 4 women.

                a 35% decline in gender diversity




Monday, October 8, 12
Something wasn’t
                working.
                a 35% decline in gender diversity




Monday, October 8, 12
?
Monday, October 8, 12
Why?



Monday, October 8, 12
https://www.etsy.com/listing/90013032/vintage-doll-arms-bag-hook-jewelry
Monday, October 8, 12
Why?


                80% of our customers are
                women.




Monday, October 8, 12
Why?


                50% of our staff are women.




Monday, October 8, 12
Why?


                I love being an
                engineer.




Monday, October 8, 12
Why?


                Cognitive diversity


                        * Nosh at Kellogg.
                        * Malone at Sloane.

                                              http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidmoonlightcom/6611619613/


Monday, October 8, 12
Why?


                Better recruiting
                opportunities.
                41% of Harvard’s CompSci class of 2013 are women.




Monday, October 8, 12
?
Monday, October 8, 12
Just saying internally
                wasn’t enough.
                There was no reason for an outside observer to
                believe us.




Monday, October 8, 12
Switching costs are
                high.
                Great engineers aren’t looking for a job.
                Great women engineers aren’t looking for a job, and
                there is a decent chance your company sucks.




Monday, October 8, 12
Lowering standards is
                counter-productive.



                Leads to a long term downward spiral.


                                                 http://www.flickr.com/photos/33909700@N02/3159698458
Monday, October 8, 12
Most technical
                interviews suck.
                Biased against a diverse range of folks including:
                introverts, and left handed people.




Monday, October 8, 12
“Quick, prove to me
                        how smart you are.”



Monday, October 8, 12
“Quick, prove to me
                        how smart you are.”



Monday, October 8, 12
What we learned.
                * just saying it internally isn’t credible
                * switching cost make hiring great women engineers
                especially hard
                * lowering your standards is actively harmful
                * most technical interviews suck, and undermine
                your diversity goals


Monday, October 8, 12
The thing that ACTUALLY
                WORKED.




Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Etsy Hacker Grants
  What we offered

                   • Etsy sponsored the summer
                        session of Hacker School
                   •    Expected 40 students, aimed for
                        20+ women
                   •    Offered 10, $5,000 needs-based
                        scholarships for women to attend
                        • Class is free, but NYC isn’t
                   •    Classes take place at Etsy offices


Monday, October 8, 12
“We’re asking everyone in the Etsy
           community, and everyone who reads this
           post, to help us spread the word to women
           they know who love hacking. If you know a
           woman who has made an awesome
           personal website, a great iPhone app, or
           anything of the sort, please encourage her
           to apply.” - Marc Hedlund, Etsy VP of
           Engineering


Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Hacker School Applicants
     Before and after the Hacker Grants program




                                                             661 women
                                 7 women


                                 140 men                       182 men

                        Spring 2012 (before grants)   Summer 2012 (with grants)



Monday, October 8, 12
The batch
     Who showed up?

                        • Spring (before grants)
                          • 7 women applied, 3 accepted,
                              only 1 attended
                        •   Summer (with grants)
                            • 661 women applied, 24
                              accepted, 23 attended




Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
Monday, October 8, 12
"The people here are phenomenal. I never realized
       the impact of being the only female in the room
       until I wasn’t. Every person here is smart,
       interesting, funny, supportive, capable, and very
       different from one another. The skill sets vary from
       designer, web developer, pastry chef, functional
       programmer, physics postdoc, astrophysicist,
       financial analyst, CS student, hardware engineer,
       etc, etc. I’m inspired by all of them."
       - Martha Kelly , Etsy Engineer. Start date Oct 3,
       2012

       bit.ly/in-the-room

Monday, October 8, 12
“This is how it should be.
                        batch[3]‘s balanced gender ratio
                        didn’t seem like a huge deal at
                        the time. It just felt normal,
                        really.” - David Peter
                        CompSci major @ RIT

                        http://davidpeter.me/stories/
                        hacker-school


Monday, October 8, 12
After the Summer
                * we hired 8 hacker school candidates. 5 women,
                and 3 men.
                * we've renewed the grant for the Fall
                * we have 20 women on our 110 person engineering
                team




Monday, October 8, 12
Very senior
                candidates.
                “I saw Etsy's work on Hacker School, I
                saw what you're doing with the B-Corp
                certification, and I want to be a part of
                that.”


Monday, October 8, 12
So that worked.



Monday, October 8, 12
The grants felt like a
                "real invitation".



Monday, October 8, 12
We’re seen to be
                actually working at it.



Monday, October 8, 12
More data, better
                hiring.



Monday, October 8, 12
More data, better
                risks.
                The one thing we changed about our
                hiring standard.




Monday, October 8, 12
What we learned.
                * just saying it internally isn’t credible
                * switching cost make hiring great women engineers
                especially hard
                * lowering your standards is actively harmful
                * most technical interviews suck, and undermine
                your diversity goals


Monday, October 8, 12
Design parameters for
                a solution
                * serious, but inviting
                * balanced
                * optimize for “let’s build together”
                * optimize for data gathering
                * normalized within your own organization
                * very public.
                * teams with 0 or 2+ women.

Monday, October 8, 12
Thank you!



Monday, October 8, 12

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More women in engineering: Something that ACTUALLY WORKED.

  • 1. More women in engineering Something that ACTUALLY WORKED. Kellan Elliott-McCrea @kellan Etsy, CTO Monday, October 8, 12
  • 3. A quick history Monday, October 8, 12
  • 4. Jan 2011 47 engineers: 44 men, 3 women. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 5. Dec 2011 85 engineers: 81 men, 4 women. a 35% decline in gender diversity Monday, October 8, 12
  • 6. Something wasn’t working. a 35% decline in gender diversity Monday, October 8, 12
  • 10. Why? 80% of our customers are women. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 11. Why? 50% of our staff are women. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 12. Why? I love being an engineer. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 13. Why? Cognitive diversity * Nosh at Kellogg. * Malone at Sloane. http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidmoonlightcom/6611619613/ Monday, October 8, 12
  • 14. Why? Better recruiting opportunities. 41% of Harvard’s CompSci class of 2013 are women. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 16. Just saying internally wasn’t enough. There was no reason for an outside observer to believe us. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 17. Switching costs are high. Great engineers aren’t looking for a job. Great women engineers aren’t looking for a job, and there is a decent chance your company sucks. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 18. Lowering standards is counter-productive. Leads to a long term downward spiral. http://www.flickr.com/photos/33909700@N02/3159698458 Monday, October 8, 12
  • 19. Most technical interviews suck. Biased against a diverse range of folks including: introverts, and left handed people. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 20. “Quick, prove to me how smart you are.” Monday, October 8, 12
  • 21. “Quick, prove to me how smart you are.” Monday, October 8, 12
  • 22. What we learned. * just saying it internally isn’t credible * switching cost make hiring great women engineers especially hard * lowering your standards is actively harmful * most technical interviews suck, and undermine your diversity goals Monday, October 8, 12
  • 23. The thing that ACTUALLY WORKED. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 28. Etsy Hacker Grants What we offered • Etsy sponsored the summer session of Hacker School • Expected 40 students, aimed for 20+ women • Offered 10, $5,000 needs-based scholarships for women to attend • Class is free, but NYC isn’t • Classes take place at Etsy offices Monday, October 8, 12
  • 29. “We’re asking everyone in the Etsy community, and everyone who reads this post, to help us spread the word to women they know who love hacking. If you know a woman who has made an awesome personal website, a great iPhone app, or anything of the sort, please encourage her to apply.” - Marc Hedlund, Etsy VP of Engineering Monday, October 8, 12
  • 31. Hacker School Applicants Before and after the Hacker Grants program 661 women 7 women 140 men 182 men Spring 2012 (before grants) Summer 2012 (with grants) Monday, October 8, 12
  • 32. The batch Who showed up? • Spring (before grants) • 7 women applied, 3 accepted, only 1 attended • Summer (with grants) • 661 women applied, 24 accepted, 23 attended Monday, October 8, 12
  • 37. "The people here are phenomenal. I never realized the impact of being the only female in the room until I wasn’t. Every person here is smart, interesting, funny, supportive, capable, and very different from one another. The skill sets vary from designer, web developer, pastry chef, functional programmer, physics postdoc, astrophysicist, financial analyst, CS student, hardware engineer, etc, etc. I’m inspired by all of them." - Martha Kelly , Etsy Engineer. Start date Oct 3, 2012 bit.ly/in-the-room Monday, October 8, 12
  • 38. “This is how it should be. batch[3]‘s balanced gender ratio didn’t seem like a huge deal at the time. It just felt normal, really.” - David Peter CompSci major @ RIT http://davidpeter.me/stories/ hacker-school Monday, October 8, 12
  • 39. After the Summer * we hired 8 hacker school candidates. 5 women, and 3 men. * we've renewed the grant for the Fall * we have 20 women on our 110 person engineering team Monday, October 8, 12
  • 40. Very senior candidates. “I saw Etsy's work on Hacker School, I saw what you're doing with the B-Corp certification, and I want to be a part of that.” Monday, October 8, 12
  • 41. So that worked. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 42. The grants felt like a "real invitation". Monday, October 8, 12
  • 43. We’re seen to be actually working at it. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 44. More data, better hiring. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 45. More data, better risks. The one thing we changed about our hiring standard. Monday, October 8, 12
  • 46. What we learned. * just saying it internally isn’t credible * switching cost make hiring great women engineers especially hard * lowering your standards is actively harmful * most technical interviews suck, and undermine your diversity goals Monday, October 8, 12
  • 47. Design parameters for a solution * serious, but inviting * balanced * optimize for “let’s build together” * optimize for data gathering * normalized within your own organization * very public. * teams with 0 or 2+ women. Monday, October 8, 12