Does Diversity Add Value in Engineering or Just Complexity?

[Anonymous]

I work with teams of engineers every day. I don’t think the racial or gender makeup makes a difference at all. As long as the team members are good and have the desirable attributes, that’s all that matters. Diversity of experience is great.

The teams I work with are also fairly diverse ethnically and by gender. It really doesn’t make a difference. They’re professionals focused on getting the job done. End of story.

[Anonymous]

Communication problems can happen with any racial profile.
So not sure why diversity is a problem here

And cultural differences shouldn't influence the workplace since basic professional decorum is expected anyways.

Hire qualified candidates irrespective of skin color

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are not a true engineer. True engineers value humanity, perspectives, and the unquantifiable aspects of people. Real engineers see problems as opportunities; and use these problems to create more robust solutions. You insult and dishonor our profession….

Said the Woke engineer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Communication problems can happen with any racial profile.
So not sure why diversity is a problem here

And cultural differences shouldn't influence the workplace since basic professional decorum is expected anyways.

Hire qualified candidates irrespective of skin color

I agree with this 100%. But that frequently isn't what happens.

If we could finally solve our educational issues (let the gifted soar, but also truly educated the disadvantaged, and not let the middle of the pack fall through the cracks) we would solve diversity problems.

[Anonymous]

Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

[Anonymous]

Engineering diversity just means hiring good, competent people from wherever. The communist style DEI the corporate world wants isn't really compatible with engineering, or at least the engineering that requires safety standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

100%

[Anonymous]

So if someone wanted to maximize their opportunities as a candidate in one of these programs, what is the secret password that will open the door? And what companies are pushing these initiatives the most. My google search came up with Boeing, Lockheed, GM as Fortune 500 for engineering and manufacturing…the usual FANG type companies in IT…are there any other smaller scale companies who value dei and know how it impacts innovation revenue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

The current anti-DEI push has laid to rest any pretense of DEI getting in the way of hiring qualified people. The administration has hired wildly unqualified candidates who meet their ideological requirements under the pretense of being anti-DEI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone believe diversity is valuable in most engineering or tech fields outside of corporate settings?

I lead a team of about 20 software engineers, and I struggle to see the value in diversity as it is currently being pushed at the corporate level. In some cases, it feels like it introduces challenges, particularly around communication, language, and cultural differences, which can add overhead to collaboration.

I can see where diversity makes sense in areas like outreach or programs focused on learning about and working across different cultures. I also see value when a tech company is serving a specific country or industry, where having a subject matter expert who understands that market can help guide the team. But that does not necessarily mean those individuals need to be embedded directly on the core engineering team.

In core engineering roles, I question whether diversity provides meaningful benefits beyond corporate talking points or checkboxes. In certain industries outside of tech, like power line workers and other roles where clear communication is critical for safety, these challenges could even pose risks.

Am I off base here? It sometimes feels like what is labeled as diversity in the tech industry is actually driven by cost considerations, such as hiring through visa programs, rather than a genuine focus on diverse perspectives.

Unless they dont speak the same language I am not sure why safety or lack of communication would be blamed on "diversity". If everyone has the same view it leads to bias and myopic thought. And just because there is consensus does not mean its correct. You should know better. Consensus doesnt always mean accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

100%

You say there is amazing engineering coming out of Japan and China that are "hardly diverse" but 1) it depends on what kind of engineering you are talking about, for one thing, 2) you don't know that they aren't compensating for a lack of some kinds of diversity by strategically building teams that have other kinds of diversity (like bringing in people with completely different kinds of industry backgrounds, or using personality testing to build teams that promote communication/competition for good ideas), and 3) Americans live in a diverse society so if you're talking about building things for the American market, they should probably be designed/engineered/built by teams that understand that whole market if you want them to come out of top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

100%

You say there is amazing engineering coming out of Japan and China that are "hardly diverse" but 1) it depends on what kind of engineering you are talking about, for one thing, 2) you don't know that they aren't compensating for a lack of some kinds of diversity by strategically building teams that have other kinds of diversity (like bringing in people with completely different kinds of industry backgrounds, or using personality testing to build teams that promote communication/competition for good ideas), and 3) Americans live in a diverse society so if you're talking about building things for the American market, they should probably be designed/engineered/built by teams that understand that whole market if you want them to come out of top.

I can sorta see your point for certain commercial end items but that’s a subset of manufacturing. And for even commercial end use items, that’s a subset of the process. So, yes, for that subset of subsets, you would want to make sure you can evaluate what your full range of customers might want. Not sure engineers, no matter what their background is, are the best group for that though. Diverse or not, they’re still engineers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

100%

You say there is amazing engineering coming out of Japan and China that are "hardly diverse" but 1) it depends on what kind of engineering you are talking about, for one thing, 2) you don't know that they aren't compensating for a lack of some kinds of diversity by strategically building teams that have other kinds of diversity (like bringing in people with completely different kinds of industry backgrounds, or using personality testing to build teams that promote communication/competition for good ideas), and 3) Americans live in a diverse society so if you're talking about building things for the American market, they should probably be designed/engineered/built by teams that understand that whole market if you want them to come out of top.

I can sorta see your point for certain commercial end items but that’s a subset of manufacturing. And for even commercial end use items, that’s a subset of the process. So, yes, for that subset of subsets, you would want to make sure you can evaluate what your full range of customers might want. Not sure engineers, no matter what their background is, are the best group for that though. Diverse or not, they’re still engineers.

That's a strange position to hold, many other industries perceive that problem-solving improves when you have a more diverse team instead of a less diverse one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing. Diversity is the new modern religion/ideology (or kool-aid depending on your views) for certain people. You see it in their tones on this thread, firmly believing in the sanctity of diversity without a single shred of evidence it delivers the benefits they claim (amazing engineering coming out of, say, Japan or China, which are hardly diverse, so the idea that diversity for the sake of diversity gives you better ourcomes is more akin to religious beliefs than anything factual or truthful). And we all know what is really meant by diversity here. It's not more Asians or nowadays South Asians, who incidentally have had large presences in American engineering in the last 50 years. If we are being truthful, diversity mainly means the right quota of blacks, and in a profession like engineering, more women. Does it meaningfully make the outcome better? No. Does it make people feel better? Yes. Just like religion.

100%

You say there is amazing engineering coming out of Japan and China that are "hardly diverse" but 1) it depends on what kind of engineering you are talking about, for one thing, 2) you don't know that they aren't compensating for a lack of some kinds of diversity by strategically building teams that have other kinds of diversity (like bringing in people with completely different kinds of industry backgrounds, or using personality testing to build teams that promote communication/competition for good ideas), and 3) Americans live in a diverse society so if you're talking about building things for the American market, they should probably be designed/engineered/built by teams that understand that whole market if you want them to come out of top.

I can sorta see your point for certain commercial end items but that’s a subset of manufacturing. And for even commercial end use items, that’s a subset of the process. So, yes, for that subset of subsets, you would want to make sure you can evaluate what your full range of customers might want. Not sure engineers, no matter what their background is, are the best group for that though. Diverse or not, they’re still engineers.

That's a strange position to hold, many other industries perceive that problem-solving improves when you have a more diverse team instead of a less diverse one.

I disagree. I work for a major manufacturer. I don’t think that hiring managers for their engineering projects think that racial/gender diversity for the sake of diversity improves their problem solving ability. I do think they appreciate different experiences, which can come from a variety of sources.

[Anonymous]

Our team is based all over the world... Really helps get things done, some timezone os always working. We work across a variety of accents and work cultures to meet the same excellent product requirement.