The tech sector is hampered by unconscious biases that distort perceptions. And it’s a big problem. Tech will continue to lose top talent if we don’t make significant progress in changing the ratios. According to LinkedIn’s research, only 28% of software engineers are women, and that number has only gone up 3% over 15 years. Even worse, women in leadership roles has risen a measly 2.3%.

Here are eight ways founders, investors, and engineers can start shaking things up to fix tech’s diversity and inclusion problems.

For Founders:

  1. Think of diversity from the start. Sarah Kunst, the founder of Proday, recommends using the “mirror rule”: Making sure that people you bring on–employees, service providers, etc.–don’t always look like you.
  2. Address unconscious bias in your hiring. Another hiring bias is prioritizing top engineering schools as recruitment pools.
  3. Untap understanding of consumer needs with diverse engineering teams. To ensure products and services have wide appeal, get input from people who reflect the full range of end users.
  4. Track and encourage your promotions. “Individually encourage all women and underrepresented minorities in your organization to go for a promotion."

For Investors:

  1. Increase the percentage of women and people of color making investment decisions. Just as we must diversify the tech workforce, we must also change the face of investment
  2.  Increase ROI by devoting a percentage of your investments to fund inclusive startups. Greater representation isn’t about charity or fairness. It’s about understanding consumer needs and generating profits.

For Engineers:

  1. Advocate internally to recruit and retain more diverse teams.
  2. Expose yourself to different perspectives.

Read the full article about making real progress on tech's diversity problem by Allyson Kapin at Fast Company.