What does diversity and inclusion mean to you?
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Lyft
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What is this question about
Interviewers are using this question to assess whether your view of diversity and inclusion is thoughtful, practical, and connected to how teams actually work. They want to know if you see D&I as more than a slogan: can you translate it into everyday behaviors, decisions, and tradeoffs that help people contribute effectively. At higher levels, they are also looking for whether you understand your responsibility to shape team norms and systems, not just hold positive personal beliefs.
“How do you define diversity, equity, and inclusion in an engineering team?”
“What does an inclusive team look like to you?”
“When you think about diversity and inclusion at work, what actually matters most?”
“How do your views on diversity and inclusion show up in the way you work with others?”
“What responsibility do engineers and leaders have when it comes to inclusion?”
Key Insights
- You should define both parts of the phrase. Many candidates talk about diversity as representation but never explain inclusion as who is heard, trusted, developed, and able to succeed once they are in the room.
- Ground your answer in behavior, not just values. A strong response names concrete things you do: how you run meetings, give feedback, onboard people, review ideas, or design hiring and promotion processes.
- Avoid framing D&I as being nice or avoiding offense. Strong candidates show they understand the performance angle too: better decisions, fewer blind spots, healthier debate, and more equitable access to impact.
What interviewers probe atlevel
Top Priority
At junior level, show that you understand D&I in practical team terms and can connect it to everyday collaboration, not just broad ideals.
Good examples
🟢To me diversity is bringing in people with different backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking, and inclusion is making sure those people can actually contribute and be taken seriously.
🟢I think diversity is about who is represented, while inclusion is about whether meetings, feedback, and day-to-day interactions let different people participate fully.
Bad examples
🔴To me it means treating everyone the same and not focusing on differences too much, because if you do that people can feel singled out.
🔴It means having people from different backgrounds on the team, and once that's true the team will naturally be inclusive.
Weak answers collapse D&I into a generic fairness statement; strong answers distinguish representation from participation and make the idea operational.
Do not pretend to own org-wide change; a strong junior answer is modest, credible, and focused on your real sphere of influence.
Good examples
🟢I haven't owned hiring or policy decisions yet, so I focus on how I show up in collaboration, documentation, and supporting teammates who are newer or less heard.
🟢At my level I think my responsibility is to be intentional in daily interactions and to raise concerns when I notice patterns that could exclude people.
Bad examples
🔴I think diversity is mostly about recruiting strategy and promotion systems, which I haven't really been involved in, so there isn't much for me to say beyond that it's important.
🔴I would drive inclusion by changing company processes, but as an individual engineer there's not much impact one person can have.
Weak answers either overreach or disclaim responsibility; strong answers are honest about scope while still showing agency.
Valuable
Show that you understand inclusion starts with curiosity and humility, especially when you do not share someone else's experience.
Good examples
🟢I try not to assume that what feels clear or comfortable to me feels the same to everyone, especially for newer teammates or people from different backgrounds.
🟢If someone reacts differently than I expect, I try to understand the context before judging the behavior.
Bad examples
🔴I don't really focus on differences because I think that can create division; I just assume everyone wants to be treated the same way.
🔴I haven't personally seen exclusion on my teams, so I think if everyone is professional it's usually fine.
Weak answers erase differences in the name of fairness; strong answers acknowledge limits in the candidate's own perspective.
Example answers atlevel
Great answers
To me, diversity and inclusion are related but not the same. Diversity is having people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives on a team, and inclusion is making sure those people can actually participate, be heard, and do well once they're there. In my last internship, I noticed the people who already knew the codebase and team shorthand spoke the most in meetings, so I started writing down context and acronyms in our notes to make discussions easier to follow for newer people, including me. I also got in the habit of asking if anyone had a different view before we wrapped a discussion, because some teammates took a little longer to jump in. I think at my level that's what it means in practice: being intentional about everyday habits so the team works well for more than just the people who are already comfortable.
To me, diversity and inclusion mean both who we build software for and who gets to build it — making sure the team and the product work for a wide range of people. In my first full-time role at a nonprofit, I realized our app assumed fast internet and English fluency, which kept some community members from using it. I volunteered to run a few short user sessions with nontechnical volunteers, then pushed for low-bandwidth fallbacks and simpler wording in the UI and help text. I also helped start a weekend coding workshop for local high school students to broaden our future talent pool, and suggested we add a short rubric to interview feedback to reduce bias. For me, inclusion is concrete improvements like those that let more people participate and benefit, not just good intentions.
Poor answers
For me, diversity and inclusion means treating everybody exactly the same. I don't really think it's helpful to focus too much on differences, because that can make things awkward. If people are respectful and professional, inclusion usually happens on its own. So I just try to be nice to everyone and keep things fair.
Question Timeline
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Early August, 2025
Lyft
Mid-level
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