In the startup space, the vast majority of diversity data is about gender diversity, mostly binary.
Of course, there are many more elements to diversity than just gender.
Ethnicity is a very important one.
Renoldi says:
Without representative data, its hard to measure the current state of the startup ecosystem.
After all, if you cant prove theres a problem, how can you tackle it?
Wheres the data?
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These laws extend to the private sector.
[In Europe] the focus is fully on [binary] gender.
Thats not what diversity is all about.
Diversity is much broader than just male, female.
The division line is more complex.
He was, however, raised in the Netherlands and has a Dutch passport.
He considers himself from a different ethnic background, but hes Dutch.
So how do you classify this?
There are many gray areas which make data collection difficult.
The data bottleneck
One founder familiar with Europes data diversity gap is Christina Calje.
Theres not really a conversation yet from a professional perspective [on ethnicity], she tells TNW.
Is the diversity of this country really being represented in the leading economic sectors such as technology?
Are we that diverse?
And thats not always convincing enough for the people who are the ones with the influence to create change.
Solving Europes talent problem
Diversity isnt just for diversitys sake.
Research proving that more diversity and inclusion meansbetter performing teams, smarter decision-making andhigher financial returnsis well documented.
Diversity is the biggest opportunity to attract new talent.
There are so many business cases why this is so good and needs more attention.
Data is crucial, and it keeps coming back.
you oughta understand: am I getting enough diverse candidates?
How are promotional processes done?
Do we see that its actually working for diverse candidates?
And do we have enough role models?
