Practical Diversity at Thinking Digital Women

Meri Williams, ChromeRose @Geek_Manager
PRACTICAL DIVERSITY: CREATING
SPACE TO BE AWESOME
Thinking Digital Women
November 2016

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kodomut/3667608102/

I’m A Bit of a Diversity Statistic
 Woman… (working in tech)
 Gay…
 Foreign…
 Employed (this is a bad thing if you’re foreign…)
 Disabled…
 Atheist…
 BUT grew up hugely aware of (unasked & undeserved)
privilege I had growing up white in Apartheid South Africa.

My childhood
was FULL of
signs like these
Horrible & horrific
but impossible
to escape

I CANNOT DENY THAT PRIVILEGE
In fact, the most useful thing I can do is assess,
understanding & acknowledge that privilege

Check out the original article from Peggy McIntosh:
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html
In Apartheid South Africa,
ALL systems were set up to
actively & blatantly give
advantage to white folks and
disadvantage non-whites.
We are less good at spotting
this when it isn’t so blatant.

“We have to aggressively, and uncompromisingly,
attack the pernicious lie that the technology
industry is a meritocracy. Perpetuating this myth
only serves to bolster the egos of those who have
succeeded already, at the expense of saying that
people who are underrepresented in tech today
aren’t present because they aren’t good”
– Anil Dash

NOT DISCRIMINATING IS
IMPORTANT
Legally, if nothing else

BUT TOLERANCE IS A
TERRIBLE WORD
Would YOU want to be tolerated?

WOULDN’T A FULLY
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT
BE BETTER?
PROTIP: Helps Everyone!

Diversity is a Spectrum
Active hatred &
discrimination (*isms)
Micro
aggressions
Indifference
Active inclusion
Tolerance

“A micro-aggression is
telling young boys that
they are very smart,
and telling young girls
that they are very
pretty. ”
- Faruk Ates @kurafire

So How Do We Move Right Way?
1. STOP allowing underprivileged groups to be
pushed away
(actively/deliberately OR passively/unintentionally)
2. START building actively inclusive
environments

EVERY
ROLE IS
CAPABLE OF
VIRTUOSITY

WE NEED TO STOP LEVELLING
PEOPLE OUT TO EQUAL
CONSISTENT MEDIOCRITY
AND INSTEAD
FOCUS ON GETTING THE MOST OUT
OF DIFFERENCE

WE ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE
RESOURCE UNITS

WE ARE COLOURS … OR FLAVOURS
WE ARE BETTER IN COMPLEMENT,
IN CONCERT WITH EACH OTHER

WE JUST NEED A SHIFT IN
PERSPECTIVE

WHAT IF WE THINK OF PEOPLE AND
ROLES AS A MATTER OF CASTING?

HOW DO WE ASSEMBLE A GREAT
TEAM WITH COMPLEMENTARY
ABILITIES?

Craft Inclusive Environments
1. Am I EXPECTED here?
2. Am I RESPECTED here?
3. Can I BE MYSELF and BE SUCCESSFUL
here?

Some Things That Work…
(some of these surprised me)

Check the Signals You Send
• Logistics matter – do all your events exclude
people in particular groups? (e.g. those with
caring responsibilities)
• People can’t judge your intent – only your
actions (you can harm without meaning to)
• Language matters (what default are you
assuming?)

Reduce Fear
Increasing opportunities is worthy & important.
But reducing fear is equally so.
(tips: reduce impact of failure, risk of
humiliation, acknowledge risk IS DIFFERENT for
those in underprivileged groups)

EDUCATE YOURSELF & OTHERS
ABOUT PRIVILEGE & IMPLICIT BIAS
If you keep doing what you always did, you’ll keep
getting what you always got

Privilege = Difficulty Setting of Game of Life
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/

Implicit Bias
Very interesting Harvard research into implicit
bias – we don’t realise it, are not ACTIVELY but
rather PASSIVELY discriminating
There is a site with tests you can do that reveal
your bias: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

http://xkcd.com/385/

Check If Systems are Loaded
Companies that assess effectiveness / performance and then
AUTOMATE pay rises based on this tend to reduce the gender
pay gap.
One interpretation:
“Pitching for a pay rise” inherently favours men, who tend to be
more confident in their abilities and more comfortable talking up
their results.
Shy/humble guys suffer too.

Johnny Clegg
They taught us to forget our past
And live the future in their image
…
They said
“Learn to speak a little bit of English,
Don’t be scared of a suit and tie.”
Learn to walk in the dreams of the foreigner.
I am a third world child.

MOST ADVICE READS AS
“BE MORE LIKE A STRAIGHT CIS
AMERICAN WHITE GUY”
Finding a way to be successful and still be yourself is
important

VALUE THE WHAT OVER THE HOW
Know when people need telling what to do
(Hint: it’s not often)
Help them get what they need the rest of the
time (Hint: not just someone else telling them what to do)
Learn, practise, use coaching skills

Frame Guidance Altruistically
• Advice which focuses on how to “do better for
yourself” has a very limited appeal. (a la
“steal more pie”)
• Altruistic advice (a la “bake more pie”) appeals
to a much broader audience (including non-
individualistic cultures…)

When We Reframed Networking…

As much as 40% better
Much energy is spent
if you have to hide
your private life, or
pretend to be
something you’re not

Role Modeling Matters
• When a woman presents/represents at
recruitment events, more women apply
• When you present a monoculture, people
make assumptions you won’t like

“Did You Always Know You Wanted to
Be So Senior?”
Men leaders tend to say:
“Yes, I always knew I could do more.”
Women leaders tend to say:
“No, but my mentors believed in me, and I
trusted they were right.”

The Most Important Question
Best predictor of recruitment AND retention?
Someone’s ability to agree with:
“Someone like me can be
successful here”

Practical Diversity
1) Assume fear. Understand risk. Then focus on reducing.
2) Advise people to bake more pie, not steal more pie.
3) Understand & educate about privilege & implicit bias.
4) Connect people with role models.
5) Grow more role models. Encourage them to be visible.
6) “Someone like me can be successful here?”
7) Tell people you believe in that they can.
8) Tell people you believe in that they are there because of their
skills. (no one likes being a diversity stat)
9) Find ways for ALL to be true to self AND successful.
10) Look at whether your processes/systems discriminate. Fix.

GO!
SHAPE/MAKE SPACE
BE AWESOME
BE INCLUSIVE
And thank you for participating 
Need help? meri@chromerose.co.uk

Practical Diversity at Thinking Digital Women

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