My Thoughts on the Article
The article “Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley” on the blog Lee & Low Books by Jason T. Low is a credible source because it has a credible author, relevant sources, useful hyperlinks, and accurate facts.
About The Author
Jason T. Low, the author of the article, is a publisher and co-owner of Lee & Low Books which is a children’s book that centers on diversity. Jason attended Parsons School of Design in New York City in 1985 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in 1989. Jason began working as a web designer for Lee & Low in 1997 and learned the aspects of the business as a process of building his way up. In the article, Jason provided links to all his writings in Lee & Low blog. However, there are no links to his profile or social medias as I have to manually search his name to find his information. Jason has Twitter and LinkedIn as social media profiles where I find his information. Even though it is quite difficult to find Jason’s information, I believe that he is a credible author because Lee & Low is a trusted and credible source of diversity topics. Jason has no affiliation with the tech industry, but he has an affiliation in writing about diversity. I believe that there is a tiny bit of bias in the article because it involves the opinions of women tech workers whom Jason interviewed.
Purpose
As a whole, the intended audience would be tech companies or anyone who are affiliated with technology, especially in the Silicon Valley. The purpose of the article is to inform readers about the low statistics of African Americans and Hispanics in the tech industry and the expert’s opinions and suggested solutions about improving the diversity in the tech field.
Objectivity
The article consists of facts and information about diversity in the Silicon Valley’s tech companies. Statistics of African Americans and Latinos in Silicon Valley Tech Companies are shown in a picture graph at the opening of the article. The article contains opinions and dialogue between the author and four women who are tech industry workers or diversity specialists. There is a significant emotion-arousing quote by Kimberley Bryant, founder and executive director of Black Girl Code, which states “There is a need for some serious analysis and transformation of corporate culture to create more nurturing environments for women and people of color if we truly want to see the diversity numbers improve.” The tech workers whom Jason interviewed are affiliated with the tech industry, which creates bias.
Accuracy
The article contains factual information such as the statistics of African Americans and Hispanics in the Silicon Valley’s tech firms. As of 2014, Silicon Valley’s tech industries consist of 50% whites, 41% Asians, 3% Hispanics, and 2% African Americans. These statistics come from over 200 tech companies in Silicon Valley. On the other hand, the article is filled with opinions from four women tech workers: Kimberly Bryant, founder and executive director of Black Girl Code; Rosalind Hudnell, chief diversity officer at Intel; Leah Smiley, president and founder of Society for Diversity; and Tracy Chou, software engineer at Pinterest. The author’s dialogue with the four women mainly centers on solutions to improve diversity such as a better approach when it comes to hiring tech workers and encouraging the education of technology. Overlooking bias, the information are accurate because the statistics and the tech worker’s opinions agree with the fact that Silicon Valley tech industries lack diversity.
Reliability/Hyperlinks
Lee & Low Books is a credible website when it comes to diversity topic. The article “Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley” contains statistics on the lack of diversity of Silicon Valley’s tech companies, which is supported by opinions from tech workers who are women of a minority race. Despite the looming bias and lack of hyperlinks, the opinions and dialogue of the tech workers are accurate information based on the statistics. The hyperlinks that are in the article lead to non-profit organization’s websites such as Black Girl Code and The Society for Diversity, which promotes the technological education and equal opportunities for women and people of color. In addition, the article is up-to-date because the article is written on March 12, 2015.
Graph
The graph from “Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley” shows the unequal distribution between gender and races in Silicon Valley tech industries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the article “Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley” by Jason T. Low is a credible and trusted source because the statistics are supported by actual tech workers with an accurate and up-to-date information. In addition, the article has a credible outside sources: Black Girl Code promotes girls of color aged 7 to 17 years old to learn computer programming and The Society for Diversity promotes equality and opportunities for everyone. To sum it up, the author did a great job organizing the statistics and supporting it with opinions and interviews from tech workers to address the lack of diversity in the Silicon Valley’s tech corporations.
Work Cited
Jason T. Low “The Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley.” Lee Low Blog. N.p., 11 Mar. 2015.
Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
“Black Girls Code.” Black Girls Code. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
“The Society for Diversity.” The Society for Diversity. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.
Racial Diversity in the Tech Industry 