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If you go look at Glassdoor ratings from disabled people and compare them to non-disabled people, you’ll quickly notice that companies score lower among their disabled employees as compared to those who are not disabled.
The reason is that discrimination in our society creates what statisticians call a selection process.
A selection process is a collection of decisions and resulting actions that mean some “units” are less likely to appear than others.
For example, historically, women have been excluded from clinical trials, and so many drugs are calibrated on men. The result is that women are prescribed doses designed for heavier bodies (resulting in higher toxicities and higher side effects to benefit ratios).
This same pattern repeats constantly throughout our society. It explains why women are typically better surgeons than men in terms of outcomes. The more intersections a person has, the more this tends to be true because they’ve had to overcome more obstacles, often making them exceptionally skilled.
So if you really want to be the best, you have to be taking advantage of this terrible state of society.
That’s why I’d much rather have a queer disabled Black veteran woman as my surgeon, data scientist, software engineer or CEO than a straight non-disabled white non-veteran man (knowing nothing else like their track-record).
The same pattern repeats hard core in tech with respect to: disabled people, people of color, especially according to the darkness of skin, veterans, LGBTQ people and women.
This presents a major arbitrage opportunity for organizations that get this and take action to hire and fund marginalized people.
The sheer grit it takes to succeed against systemic barriers often translates into unparalleled expertise, skill and ability. If you’re serious about building a top-notch company, you need to recognize and leverage these dynamics.