Driving equity in the workplace through Global Self-Identification

In 2019, we launched our Global Self-Identification (GSID) program, an initiative designed to provide Uber with granular insight into our workforce, using data provided voluntarily by employees. Our GSID program helps us understand employee diversity, enabling us to leverage the strengths of our team and address the diverse needs in employee experiences through data-driven strategies. This year, Uber’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Awareness (IDEA) Team is launching a three-part thought leadership paper series on its GSID program.

For the launch of the first paper, “Global Self-Identification—Helping Drive Equity in the Workplace through Data,” which unpacks this data initiative, we spoke to Dyan Ferraris, Uber’s Head of People Science & Strategy on the Global IDEA Team, to tell us more about the GSID program and the publication of the paper series.

Dyan: Global Self-Identification (GSID) is a comprehensive data initiative to assist Uber in collecting up-to-date demographic information that creates a more accurate picture of our workforce. Having a better understanding of our diverse workforce helps us to:

GSID centers around one of our core values, ‘Great minds don’t think alike.’ We seek out diversity—diversity of ideas, identity, ethnicity, experience, and education, etc. Our platform users are extraordinarily diverse, and their needs are best served by a high-performing team with diverse perspectives. The more diverse we become, the more we can adapt and ultimately achieve our mission to reimagine the way the world moves for the better. 

But having a mix of viewpoints at the table often isn’t enough. Across the tech industry, underrepresented groups leave faster than they arrive. This highlights the need to foster a culture of inclusivity and belonging.

The comprehensive data collected through our GSID program helps Uber create a more accurate picture of our workforce, enabling our People Team to develop better programs and processes that promote inclusion and a sense of belonging.

We are committed to being accountable in our DEI efforts. By sharing our GSID program and learnings, we believe we can contribute to the broader conversation about equity in the workplace and encourage other organizations to take similar steps toward creating more inclusive and equitable workplaces.

For us, building and deploying GSID isn’t really a question of if, it’s almost entirely a question of how. The GSID thought leadership paper series offers insights into Uber’s approach to GSID and its impact on our DEI efforts. Other organizations can learn from our experiences, methodologies, and data-driven strategies to implement similar initiatives within their own workplaces. By sharing our learnings, we aim to foster collaboration and collective progress in advancing DEI across industries.

“Global Self-Identification—Helping Drive Equity in the Workplace through Data” is the first of a three-part series. In this first paper, we unpack our process for collecting the data. In the next two installments, we’ll showcase our learnings around underrepresented populations worldwide (part 2) and how we are applying the data to advancing our workforce, workplace, and even marketplace goals (part 3).

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Learn more about GSID and the steps we are taking at Uber to reimagine a more diverse and equitable company, in our thought leadership paper Global Self-Identification – Helping Drive Equity in the Workplace through Data.