The Other Side of Diversity

by Erica Joy Baker

Beginner · Medium

Original on medium.com
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Summary

Baker traces her career from a university IT job in Alaska through The Home Depot, Google's Atlanta and New York offices, and Silicon Valley, noting how often she was the only Black woman around. She describes taking on her colleagues' habits to fit in, putting up with harassment, and slowly losing her sense of self. After therapy and finding community in Oakland, she resolves to stop assimilating and argues that the industry, not she, needs to change.

Key points

  • Discussion of diversity in tech rarely examines the psychological effects of being the only minority on a team.
  • Early in her career Baker copied her coworkers' attitudes and habits in order to be accepted.
  • A predominantly Black team at The Home Depot let her be herself and thrive at work.
  • Years of isolation and constant self-monitoring in Silicon Valley led to chronic stress and health problems.
  • Finding community in Oakland showed her how much belonging she had been missing at work.
  • She commits to rebuilding her authentic self and argues the tech industry must change to include everyone.

Why practice this

Baker writes a plain, candid first-person narrative in short, direct sentences arranged in chronological order. Retyping it teaches clear personal storytelling, purposeful repetition, and how to build from specific incidents to a firm closing statement.

Practice an excerpt

These excerpts are short quotations for practice and commentary. All rights stay with the author; read the whole essay at the original source.

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I began my career in tech at the age of 21, as a Windows System Administrator for the University of Alaska. I was the only woman on my team and one of a few women in my organization. I was the only black woman, the only black person, on the entire floor.
Being in Silicon Valley has been simultaneously great for my career but bad for me as a person. I’ve been able to work on multiple different teams and really interesting projects. Unfortunately, my workplace is homogenous and so are my surroundings.
I know this: I am not my job. I am not my industry or its stereotypes. I am a black woman who happens to work in the tech industry. I don’t need to change to fit within my industry. My industry needs to change to make everyone feel included and accepted.

About this essay

Erica Joy Baker describes the personal and health costs of spending over a decade as the only Black woman on tech teams.

“The Other Side of Diversity” was written by Erica Joy Baker. Read the original at medium.com. Copywork shows a summary and short excerpts for practice and commentary; all rights stay with the author.

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