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Comment by specialk | Hacker News Reader

There are responses in here that say they are in a healthy environment where they "feel great, valued, treated equally, competent and successful". What's the magic ingredient to a healthy working environment for everyone? Or is it just an environment where implicit/explicit bias towards minority groups in tech just doesn't exist? How do you make someone who is a minority on the team feel like a valued and vital member of the team?

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There are so many little things you can do to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable, a lot of companies do these things for women and minorities but everyone benefits.

-regular checkins -coaches/mentors -make sure that everyone participates in meetings/dev huddles. Often toxic environments stem from just a few individuals who are louder than everyone else. No one else is ever heard and doesn't feel like part of the team. -make sure people feel empowered to do their job and more. get rid of micromanagers. -management should be open to feedback and act on it.

Feedback is the key ingredient. Make sure employees have a channel to voice their opinions and that it is acted on.

You know what the funny thing is? Those are characteristics of great management, independently of who is being managed. Some companies do it right and foster the right culture, some don't. I've myself been lucky, but I know enough people to realize there's plenty of bad management in the Silicon Valley.

I don't think it's realistic to strive for an environment where bias does not exist at all. Biases are implicit, part of human nature, and built into our subconsciousness. What makes me feel more comfortable is a place where people _admit_ their biases, where leaders say and act like they want the team to be more inclusive, and we all at least _try_ to make a more diverse workplace.

An inclusive work place also points out and immediately acts when teammates do things that are NOT inclusive e.g. racist or sexist jokes. That's a way of showing that you care about your teammates and their work environment.

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