I was part of a group discussing recruiting and on-boarding of women (and to a lesser degree minorities in general). Some highlights that we settled on :
- Include at least one woman on interview panels for women candidates. This helps to make it clear that the company isn't a mono-culture and reduces the "I don't look like anyone here" effect of being a lone woman in a room full of middle-aged white guys (and maybe a woman recruiter, which only exacerbates things). This may not be possible if you currently have no woman engineers, but try.
- Be willing to hire junior engineers, both when looking for women and just in general. While it is a bigger risk and requires more upfront investment, you greatly increase your available talent pool.
- Have a "buddy system" during on-boarding, and actually train your mentors rather than just throwing them into it. When possible, pair new employees with someone of a similar gender/minority/background to help people know they are not alone in your organization. Some tips for mentors:
- Ensure your mentee knows how you prefer to be interrupted for questions (IM, email, in-person) to minimize frustration on both sides.
- Have safe spaces for mentees. No question is a stupid question.
- Remember that training and mentorship is a separate skill from engineering, and must be practiced. Recognize your mentors and teachers both within the organization and those working externally.
- Reach out to groups like Hackbright and other training programs and try to be involved in their hiring and placement process.
- Talk to (and hopefully sponsor) meetup groups like PyLadies, Girl Develop It, Black Girls Code, et al. Every one of these meetups is replete with women looking for jobs.
Hopefully some other people from the panel can chime in and remind me of any I've forgotten.