I think you have to try to seperate skill and background. If somebody has sufficient skill, you can decide based on their background. And then you should make a systemic decision: a new person affects the whole team, and how people distribute functions within the group. Bringing in the right person with a different background on the right spot can do wonders.

And by background I surely mean gender, but also things like educational background, nationality, personality etc.

Nobody should brute force for gender diversity just for the symbolic victory. Diversity done right has its benefits, but like all paradigms you have to use your brains when implementing it. Refusing to do so and then after a half assed attempt declaring it doesn’t work, is what you sadly witness quite often.

I know multiple women in tech and every single one of them had their gender used against them many times during their careers. Hiring men and women like in regular fields won’t hurt tech at all. I don’t really get why it has to be a big thing at all.