Diversity Policy

“Inclusion is not a matter of political correctness. It is the key to growth.” – Jesse Jackson

Diversity and inclusion are actually quite normal for us. In fact, they are an essential part of our identity. We contribute to research and publish widely on diversity and inclusion within the IT sector. More on that later. But first, why have a diversity and inclusion policy if it is so normal for us? Because, unfortunately, it is not yet properly embedded in the IT sector. And because we want you to know how we view diversity and inclusion, so you can understand why we do things the way we do. But most importantly so that you feel comfortable with Young_Coders and with our clients.

A group of IT consultants in brainstorming

What are diversity and inclusion

Diversity includes everything that makes a person unique. This is not only about gender, sexuality and ethnicity, but also about your personality, religious beliefs, skills and more. Inclusion is about how you make a diverse team feel good, safe and valued in their workplace. Inclusion is about everything from safety to acceptance in the workplace. It includes relationships among colleagues, grievance procedures, being able to show who you are and want to be.

Diversity and Inclusion at Young_Coders

At Young_Coders, we evaluate candidates solely on potential. We do not look at background, but only at the future. We rely on our non-biased selection process; an objective assessment with science-based tests and games that map out your potential.

Not a goal in itself

We don’t do this with more diversity as a goal, but because it simply works better. By judging candidates solely on potential, we do not exclude anyone and our Challengers are a diverse reflection of society. A diverse group of people with complementary skills, backgrounds and interests adds tremendous value to IT teams. And we don’t just say that, we’ve had it researched. Anthropologist and development sociologist Maud Verploegen explored the value of diversity and inclusion in the tech world for us in 2021. Her research article can be read here.

Read Research Paper

Inclusion

Thus, diversity is important to the success of organizations. But inclusion is essential for sustainable diversity. The importance of diversity is now well known in many organizations, but we noticed that inclusion often gets a lot less attention. This was illustrated in the survey on diversity and inclusion.

For example, many organizations invest heavily in diversity without giving enough attention to inclusion. As a result, minority workers feel less comfortable in the workplace and leave quickly. Not a good thing for the employer, but especially not for the employee. If your organization stands for diversity, then you must also provide a safe work environment where everyone can be themselves. We think that’s very important. Fortunately, our clients share the same values, and we work together towards an inclusive work environment for our Challengers. Our clients ensure a safe working environment and we pay close attention to inclusion in our soft skills training. Intercultural handling, collaboration, dealing with conflict and communication are all components that come up in soft skills training. In doing so, we give our Challengers tools to create a safe working environment for themselves and each other.

Want to learn more about the added value of diversity in IT? Read on our blog how diverse IT teams are creating better software and more innovation.

Read blog