Reflecting on the Promise of Meritocracy in Tech: Ladders of Opportunity & Ceilings...
summary
Claims that meritocracy perpetuates bias get backed by concrete evidence and fixes: a documented relative age effect in early selection, a cited 20% median unadjusted pay gap for women in European tech, and two and a half years of research gathered into a QR-linked dataset. Recommendations include measurable changes — track attrition, promotions and pay; require three measurable outcomes per employee before reviews; equalize review length and public criteria; train managers and remove open boxes.
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chapters (16)
- 0:00Meritocracy in tech
- 1:15Ideal of meritocracy
- 4:06Relative age effect bias
- 7:42Unconscious biases
- 11:54Social mobility barriers
- 13:41Intersectionality barriers
- 16:12Why women avoid tech jobs
- 19:08Gender pay gap
- 21:40Paradox of meritocracy
- 22:45Inclusive policies
- 23:29Acknowledging biases
- 24:10Data-driven bias reduction
- 25:15Performance evaluation standards
- 27:03Research on tech bias
- 27:44Conclusion
- 28:06Q&A
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