Diversity in Early-Career Tech Policy Roles: Challenges and Opportunities

Early-career opportunities offer people a pathway to build careers in technology policy. Public Knowledge conducted research into the challenges tech policy organizations face in reaching people of color interested in the field. The research explores racial and ethnic diversity in early-career roles in technology policy, offers ideas for increasing diversity in such roles, and outlines the impacts of technology policy on people of color. A survey of technology policy organizations and found that:

• Job opportunities are circulated primarily within the tech policy groups and their networks, therefore making access to these networks crucial for entering the field.
• Job description content can influence the applicant pool, decreasing or increasing the pool of diverse applicants.
• There is a lack of data on early-career hiring in technology policy nonprofits; encouraging data collection could increase diversity.