Diversity and Startups

Examples include the intense focus on competition and prizes (I didn't think it was a good idea for YC Hacks to explicitly advertise the prize of getting an interview), the fact that many hackathons now have applications processes where more applicants are rejected than accepted (so that the net effect is more exclusion than inclusion), and the general vibe of having to power through the night with redbull while cranking out code.

Most hackathons I've attended I've usually gotten this exclusive, rather than inclusive vibe. From my own experiences, the most exclusive hackathons have been the larger, more monied, more applied-to ones that have more applicants than attendees. The most inclusive hackathons have been smaller, intimate hackathons where the problem has been not having enough attendees!

EDIT (reply to below): I'm referring to the general feeling of inclusion vs. exclusion (of newcomers, people not sure if they fit the mold of hardcore coders, etc.). The next step is to argue that exclusion discourages minorities from pursuing the field.

I think aspirations are likely to play a big role here, after all people tend to judge their successes relative to their family and close friends. So for a kid from a poor neighbourhood (who's more likely to be black), getting a good job with a decent salary and benefits is a great success already and running a startup is too risky so there's less incentive.

If you come from an upper middle class family and all of your siblings are training to be lawyers or doctors then that ups the ante a lot in what your "floor" to success is, and like you say risk is reduced because of family so starting "the next facebook" looks like a more attractive option.

2) The bias doesn't seem to be that strong to me. This is a simplification, but I'd guess that girls start with about a 10% handicap. Meaning that in close cases, girls lose out. But in the cases of girls who clearly have ability, I don't see the bias against them as something that will prevent them from being successful.

3) A more important question is "what can we do about it?". I agree with the idea to showcase successful women. I think it'll help a little. But obviously it isn't anything close to a solution by itself.

Option 1: If people were less biassed in the general sense, the bias against girls would be reduced. I think that making people less biased in the general sense is an important goal, but ultimately unlikely to happen for some time.

Option 2: As there are more and more instances of girls having success, people will start to view girls as more competent, and the bias will be reduced. I think the fastest way to reduce the bias against girls is to increase the amount of successful girls.

The question then becomes, "how do you do that?". This is getting long so I won't go into this too much... but I think it needs to be active rather than passive. Don't just sit there and wait for them to come to you asking for help. Go out there and inspire and persuade them.

But what percentage of the founders were pg's age or older?