Driving Innovation Through Inclusion

In May, Capital One was named the #1 company on InformationWeek’s Elite 100 ranking of the country’s most innovative users of business technology. This recognition is a testament to the great work of our people, both their technical contributions and—just as important—the efforts they make every day to shape and contribute to our culture of inclusion.

Diversity of thought, gender, orientation, race and background bring incredibly valuable perspectives to better reflect end users, and therefore create better products.   And as vital as diversity is, it’s just the start.  Organizations need to be inclusive to truly unlock the potential of diverse teams. When every member of the team feels valued, included, and respected, work gets done better and faster, which is why we need to encourage under-represented groups to enter the technology workforce and create environments where they want to stay.

At a time when the need for technologists is so high, women are selecting technology-related college degrees at half the rate they were in the mid-80’s, even though women are earning more degrees than men now in the United States.  More than half of women working in the technology industry leave the field entirely at the mid-point in their careers—twice the departure rate of men. There are many contributing factors, but oftentimes men and even women are unaware that those factors are widespread. By creating awareness of inequity and bias and then empowering those in the field to identify and change it, we can continue the process of creating a level playing field where everyone has a chance to succeed. 

We’re focused on inclusivity with our Women in Tech initiative that supports both women in the company, as well as girls and women in our communities who are interested in technology.  In order to increase the number of women in tech, we have to ignite a love of tech in girls at young age, empower them to learn technical skills, and inspire them to enroll and succeed in academic technology tracks.  Capital One is committed to help solve this problem by supporting organizations like Black Girls Code, Girls Who Code, Women Who Code, and the Anita Borg Institute. We’re a founding partner of Women Who Code with high levels of participation and volunteerism by our associates in WWC networks across the country, as well as representation on their Executive Board. We’ve seen firsthand the impact that leadership roles in WWC networks can make in the professional and personal lives of women technologists, and we want to see more women being given that opportunity.

Black Girls Code continues to expand rapidly while maintaining quality educational programming for girls of color to start that love of tech early and foster its growth. The newest chapters of Black Girls Code launched in Washington, D.C. last year and Chicago this year, both with our involvement. The mission of Black Girls Code is critical because while the overall number of women in tech is low, the number of women of color in tech is even lower.  Capital One also signed on to participate in Girls Who Code’s #HireMe initiative, which was launched at the Anita Borg Institute’s Grace Hopper Conference last year to bring companies together to commit to hiring Girls Who Code alumni.  We believe in the power of women in technology and will continue to contribute to programs that work to encourage and harness that power.

There are amazingly innovative organizations dedicated to increasing diversity in tech, and we applaud and support them. The next step is continuing to hire those candidates from diverse backgrounds and constantly working towards a fully inclusive tech culture across the industry so that those candidates stay to create, make, grow, and thrive – and inspire the next generation of great tech talent.