Twitter aims to be slightly less white by 2016

Today Twitter revealed its latest staff diversity statistics and announced its intention to be slightly less white in 2016.

In 2015, U.S. Twitter employees are still predominantly white men. Since last year Twitter has managed to increase the number of women in its workforce by four percent, with women now comprising 34 percent of its U.S. workforce. Ladies represent only 13 percent of the company’s tech department and 22 percent of its leadership. Still, that’s a bump up from last year, when women only represented 10 percent of tech jobs and 21 percent of leadership.

In terms of ethnic background, Twitter employees are 59 percent White and 31 percent Asian. Overall, 10 percent of its staff identifies as Latino or Hispanic, biracial, Black or African American, and American Indian (those percentages breakdown to four percent, two percent, two percent, and less than one percent respectively). A majority of Twitter’s Black and Hispanic employees work in nontech positions, while tech and leadership positions are overwhelmingly comprised of White and Asian employees.

The percentage of minority ethnicities in leadership roles has actually decreased from last year. In 2014, Twitter reported that four percent of its staff identified as either Black, African American, or “other”. Though white leadership has remained steady at 72 percent, the number of Asian employees in leadership roles has risen four percent.

Next year the company wants to increase the number of underrepresented ethnicities in its U.S. ranks to 11 percent. It also plans on raising the number of women, both in the company at large and in tech roles, by one percent.

That may not seem like a lot, but it’s proving quite difficult for tech companies to infuse their workforce with women and more ethnically diverse employees.

To help diversify its staff, Twitter plans to tour historically black colleges and partner with organizations aimed at helping women and minority groups get the skills and experience they need to ascend in the tech industry.

Its 2016 goals include:

• Increase women overall to 35%
• Increase women in tech roles to 16%
• Increase women in leadership roles to 25%
• Increase underrepresented minorities overall to 11%*
• Increase underrepresented minorities in tech roles to 9%*
• Increase underrepresented minorities in leadership roles to 6%*

* US only