Action Alert | Udacity Makes Good and Admits It Made a Mistake with an All-Male Advisory Board

The virtual higher education platform Udacity felt the heat this week when they announced their new Artificial Intelligence and Data Industry Advisory Board.

The fact that there are zero women on this board came as a surprise, especially since the speaker lineup at their upcoming Intersect 2018 conference is almost 50/50 (8 men, 10 women).

Much like our friends at the Consumer Technology Association, it didn’t take long for them to respond via a post on their website. The difference though? Udacity didn’t make excuses. They admitted they were wrong and explained the immediate action they are taking to make things right:

Each of the current board members is an incredible talent, and we remain grateful for their individual contributions and insights. And we believe in the idea of this board. But as the organizers, we have to acknowledge we have not yet achieved what we can and should achieve, and that we have failed.

We are acting on this now.

We applaud Udacity’s recognition of and response to their error and look forward to hearing about the smart women they’re bringing onboard this year.

Kudos to @udacity for acknowledging their mistake in creating an all-male AI advisory board and working quickly to make it right. #artificialintelligence #AI #genderavenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/action-alert-udacity-all-male-advisory-board