I have a Graduate Certificate in Women and Gender Studies. I have studied multiple dimensions of diversity (gender, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, etc.), with a primary focus on women. I also have a Masters Degree in Computer Science and have worked as a software engineer for almost 20 years. With regards to women in the workplace, there are several metrics/concrete factors that you can focus on. 1). Due to discrimination, women and people of color tend to have to work harder than men/white people to accomplish the same goals. Most companies track the number of hours worked by employees for general budget purposes. Cross-reference employee gender/race to see if you are treating them with equal expectations. 2). When hired for a position, women are more likely to have a degree than their male counterparts. Track your employees’ educational backgrounds by position level. Are you expecting more from female candidates? Note that this contributes to women’s higher student loan debt. 3). The first job is crucial for career path. Women and people of color tend to be automatically given first jobs with a lower career path than white males. Are you giving female IT graduates jobs as technical writers, whereas the males are being given jobs with server administration? 4). Women and people of color tend to be given projects with shorter career potential by default, unless they ask for the projects with higher potential. Pay attention to how you are distributing projects. 5). The Mommy Effect - Women with children are assumed to be able to work fewer hours, so they are given tasks with less career potential. The reality is that these women work the same amount of hours as their colleagues. Again, pay attention to how you are distributing tasks with higher career potential. 6). Mentoring is crucial for oppressed groups. This service could be offered through your HR department. 7). As someone previously mentioned, pay attention to your recruitment practices. Are you recruiting new hires from predominantly white colleges by default? Be sure to include more diverse institutions, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities or women’s colleges. 8). Flextime and work-from-home options are a big issue for women, who have families. Even in nuclear families, women tend to be the primary caretakers of dependents. 9). During meetings, be sure that folks from oppressed groups are heard and supported. 10). Also, if you need further justification for a diversity program, businesses who sponsor diversity programs experience less turnover rates. Professional women tend to have twice the turnover rate of men, and African Americans have two-and-a-half the turnover rates of whites. A frequent reason for leaving is a lack of progression in the career ladder (see Federal Glass Ceiling Commission below). Another metric might be turnover rates, categorized by position level. These might be a few factors to help you get started. If you are really motivated, your local college/university may offer courses about diversity in the workplace. **Update** Scientific sources for the above statements are listed below, including references to articles in peer-reviewed journals. Some of the themes are repeated across many sources. Also, I edited the above comments for clarification and added one more metric regarding employee turnover. ------------------------------------------------------- Boushey, Heather. 2009. The new breadwinners. In “The Shriver Report: A woman’s nation changes everything,” eds. Heather Boushey and Ann O’Leary. Washington, DC: Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress. https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2009/10/pdf/awn/chapters/economy.pdf - This is one chapter. The entire book is available at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2009/10/16/6789/the-shriver-report/ . Mary Ann Mason. 2009. Better Educating Our New Breadwinners: Creating opportunities for all women to succeed in the workforce. In “The Shriver Report: A woman’s nation changes everything, eds. Heather Boushey and Ann O’Leary. Washington, DC: Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress. The Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. 2006. “The Glass Ceiling”. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. (Basically, the book, “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology” is a consolidation of many articles from peer-reviewed journals. I won’t list them all out here, but there are many that are worth reviewing.) Glass, Jennifer. 2006. Blessing or curse? Work-family policies and mothers’ wage growth over time. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. Hochschild, Arlie, and Anne Machung. 2006. The second shift: Working parents and the revolution at home. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. - Hochschild is a major scholar on women, workplace, and economics. Institute for Women’s Policy Research. 2019. The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation. https://iwpr.org/publications/the-gender-wage-gap-by-occupation-2019/ - cites statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor - has some good charts Parker, Patricia. 2006. Negotiating Identity in Raced and Gendered Workplace Interactions. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. Ragins, Belle Rose, Bickley Townsend, and Mary Mattis. 2006. “Gender Gap in the Executive Suite”. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. Reskin, Barbara. 2006. “Sex Segregation in the Workplace”. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. Stone, Pamela, and Meg Lovejoy. 2006. Fast-track women and the ‘choice’ to stay home. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press. Williams, Christine. 2006. Gendered Jobs and gendered workers. In “Workplace/Women’s Place: An Anthology,” eds. Paula J. Dubeck and Dana Dunn. New York: Oxford University Press.