Viewpoint: 'I feel like was accidentally hired'

bbc.co.uk

10 pointsmhandley3 comments

I fear that HN folks have got tired of this topic, but this is really well written and it made me think.

Also posting this to HN, and seeing that you got here first :)

I just wanted to add, that this seems like a very US-centric view. Here in the UK, I have worked with many non-white people over my career, and I've hired several to work on my teams. Certainly in London, race doesn't really come into it - if you are the best fit, you get hired, regardless of your ethnicity (it's illegal to do otherwise in fact).

I think there's a real risk of complacency. Computer Science is for the most part quite a diverse community, both here in the UK and in the US, and I love that. But there are groups who are very underepresented. In my CS classes in London there are a wide range of ethnic and national backgrounds, but there are relatively few black students. This doesn't need to be self-perpetuating. We should take Ibrahim's comments seriously, and try to be more welcoming.

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