An example: I interviewed an underrepresented minority student from Stanford. He was bright but obviously only understood computing from what was taught in class. So he didn’t do that well in the interview. If it were up to me, I would still have brought him in as an intern. However, the company did not move forward. Under their criteria, they wouldn’t move forward because the student would not have been able to contribute. The company should have changed the criteria to look for raw ability instead of realized ability and to look to nurture the next generation rather than feeding its hiring pool directly.

How did you test for computing skills 'outside' of the class though (you mention it was obvious, I don't see how this can be)? Or is it just your gut-feeling that he wasn't any good at extracurricular computing?

One good step is mentorship, outreach, and internship programs for socioeconomically disadvantaged kids starting from elementary school. The tech giants should just embrace this.