Focus on Allies Diversity and Inclusion in Technology for 2018

Focus on Allies Diversity and inclusion in technology for 2018

http://frameshiftconsulting.com/

CC BY-SA Frame Shift Consulting, Sara Smollett @frameshiftllc Why listen to me?

Founder Frame Shift Consulting

Co-founder and executive director of the Ada Initiative, non-profit for women in open tech/culture

Lead author of and advocate for a code of conduct used by thousands of conferences Valerie Aurora @frameshiftllc Why listen to me?

10+ years volunteer work with international D&I groups

Taught ally skills to 2000+ in Spain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, Mexico, etc.

Linux kernel and file systems developer for 10+ years Valerie Aurora @frameshiftllc What is an ally? Some terminology first:

Privilege: an unearned advantage given by society to some people but not all

Oppression: systemic, pervasive inequality that is present throughout society, that benefits people with more privilege and harms those with fewer privileges @frameshiftllc What is an ally? Some terminology first:

Target: someone who suffers from oppression (also called "a member of a marginalized group")

Ally: a member of a social group that enjoys some privilege that is working to end oppression and understand their own privilege

Actions @frameshiftllc Example

Privilege: The ability to interview for a job and have the interviewer assume that if you have children, you will continue doing a good job at work

Oppression: Family members’ expectations that women take on most of the childcare, fathers using paternity leave for things other than childcare, belief that mothers don't want to return to full-time paid work @frameshiftllc Example

Target: Any woman who wants to work for pay for an employer

Ally: A man who takes on significant childcare responsibilities, donates to women’s causes, uses paternity leave for childcare, speaks up at work against stereotypes about mothers, and reads news articles about privileges fathers enjoy and mothers don't @frameshiftllc What do diversity and inclusion mean?

Diversity: The state of having people in a group who differ along race, gender, sexuality, age, disability, religion, class, caregiver status, etc.

Inclusion: Everyone in a diverse group is valued, included, and respected, without unfair discrimination or bias CC BY Steve Garry https://flic.kr/p/2TTztX @frameshiftllc Common diversity and inclusion misunderstandings

An individual can’t be “diverse” - diversity exists only in the context of a group

Many efforts focus on increasing diversity without also increasing inclusion

CC BY Senorhorst Jahnsen https://flic.kr/p/5QSiBv @frameshiftllc Examples of diversity and inclusion efforts

Volunteer-run affinity groups

Travel scholarships

Code boot camps

Advice books aimed at targets

Volunteer-run mentoring programs

Recruiting outreach

Conferences for marginalized groups AdaCamp Portland CC BY-SA Jenna Saint Martin Photo @frameshiftllc What’s wrong with diversity and inclusion today?

Most work is aimed at changing behavior of targets

Less work is aimed at changing behavior of allies @frameshiftllc Reasons to focus on changing target behaviors

Targets directly benefit from change and are more self-motivated

Targets are often more aware of oppression

Targets are often lower status and easier to tell what to do

Targets as seen as the cause of the problem

Avoids confronting feelings of guilt in privileged people @frameshiftllc What’s wrong with focusing on targets?

CC BY Nicolas Raymond https://flic.kr/p/eeZ2WB @frameshiftllc Targets are overworked

Discrimination

Harassment

Abuse and assault

PTSD @frameshiftllc Targets have less money

84%: Women vs. men hourly (EU, 2013)

59%: Women vs. men annually (EU, 2013)

63%: disabled people vs. abled (US, 2011)

73%: mothers vs. fathers (US, 2015)

58%: Latinas vs. white men (US, 2015)

Overall unemployment is 9.7%, for immigrants it is 17.3% (France, 2013) CC BY Tax Credits https://flic.kr/p/bZwHv5 @frameshiftllc Targets are more likely to suffer retaliation

"[...] Ethnic minority or female leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are penalized with worse performance ratings; whereas [ethnic majority] or male leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are not penalized for doing so."

David Hekman, Stefanie Johnson, Wei Yang & Maw Der Foo, 2016

Does valuing diversity result in worse performance ratings for minority and female leaders? http://amj.aom.org/content/early/2016/03/03/amj.2014.0538.abstract @frameshiftllc Targets are often in the minority

Sources: Second 2011 Wikipedia Editor Survey, FLOSSPOLS report @frameshiftllc Targets have less power and influence

< 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Black

< 7% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women

ZERO Fortune 500 CEOs are Black women

Smurfette Principle (Katha Pollitt)

“The probability that a woman occupies a top management team position is 51 percent lower if another woman holds a position on the same team.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.2461/full CC BY-SA Bruno Girin https://flic.kr/p/4Mv4o2 @frameshiftllc Targets are seen as whiny, complaining, jealous

A response to my publication of the example conference code of conduct: @frameshiftllc And yet... @frameshiftllc Books/non-profits/organizations for allies in tech

This slide intentionally left blank. @frameshiftllc Proposal: 2018 is the year to focus on allies

CC BY Jay Huang https://flic.kr/p/CaWDeZ @frameshiftllc Allies have more time and energy

CC BY Nick https://flic.kr/p/5bt6cp @frameshiftllc Allies have more money

CC BY Pictures of Money https://flic.kr/p/s6895e @frameshiftllc Allies are less likely to be harmed

CC BY Vic https://flic.kr/p/8v6v22 @frameshiftllc Allies are often in the majority

CC BY Senorhorst Jahnsen https://flic.kr/p/5QSiBv @frameshiftllc Allies have more power and influence

CC BY Chris Brown https://flic.kr/p/6kMMhW @frameshiftllc Allies are seen as altruistic, giving, kind

CC BY Kat Ter Haar https://flic.kr/p/8ugZks @frameshiftllc What do good ally skills look like?

CC BY P.murjani https://flic.kr/p/9LL2rj @frameshiftllc An ally self-educates

CC BY mer chau https://flic.kr/p/e2n2zi @frameshiftllc An ally listens

CC BY-SA Omoju Miller @frameshiftllc An ally gives credit

Example: Whenever possible, credit legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw by name when using the term "intersectionality" (the concept that people can be subject to multiple, overlapping forms of oppression, which interact and intersect with each other) @frameshiftllc An ally asks for consent from the target

CC BY-SA May S. Young https://flic.kr/p/cmY4Cm @frameshiftllc An ally keeps the focus on helping targets @frameshiftllc An ally speaks up & draws fire @frameshiftllc An ally uses their energy wisely @frameshiftllc Charles’ Rules of Argument

1. Don't go looking for an argument 2. State your position once, speaking to the audience 3. Wait for absurd replies 4. Reply one more time to correct any misunderstandings of your first statement 5. Do not reply again 6. Spend time doing something fun instead http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Charles%27_Rules_of_Argument @frameshiftllc An ally spends money

CC BY-SA Japanexperterna.se https://flic.kr/p/srsFmV @frameshiftllc An ally uses their social capital

CC-BY-SA Daniel Tenerife https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Red.jpg @frameshiftllc An ally acts even when it’s uncomfortable

CC BY Philip Bump https://flic.kr/p/9Ac4EN @frameshiftllc An ally sacrifices personal gain

CC BY kris krüg https://flic.kr/p/9m3nhH @frameshiftllc An ally follows leaders from marginalized groups

CC BY Tim Green https://flic.kr/p/ne1gEt "Nothing about us without us" @frameshiftllc An ally makes mistakes - and apologizes

CC BY butupa https://flic.kr/p/95iJuo @frameshiftllc Ally skills in practice @frameshiftllc Ally skills in practice: better meetings

Meeting formats tend to default to the unmoderated caucus format:

1. Anyone can speak at any time 2. By being the first person to speak during a pause 3. Or by interrupting someone else currently speaking 4. And keep speaking until they stop or are interrupted @frameshiftllc Ally skills in practice: better meetings

In the unmoderated caucus format, the discussion is dominated by people with more power and privilege

Problems: privileged people talk over less privileged people, privileged people take credit for others' ideas, hard to stop off-topic discussion, less privileged people don't share their information, people talk at the same time, interruption is common... @frameshiftllc Solution: Use meeting roles

Good meetings have people taking the following roles:

● Facilitator

● Timekeeper

● Notetaker

● Gatekeeper https://frameshiftconsulting.com/speaking/#meeting @frameshiftllc Better meetings require more structure

Using meeting roles requires more organization and effort, but results in:

On-time meetings, everyone gets a chance to talk, fewer interruptions, correctly assigning credit, less off-topic discussion, more input from marginalized people, etc.

End result: better decisions @frameshiftllc Better remote meetings

Being the only remote person in a meeting is somewhat similar to being the most marginalized person at a meeting

Fixing problems for more marginalized participants often also fixes problems for remote participants

More from Chelsea Troy (@HeyChelseaTroy): https://chelseatroy.com/2018/03/29/why-do-remote-meetings-suck-so-much/ @frameshiftllc How to learn ally skills?

Follow @frameshiftllc on Twitter

Take the Ally Skills Workshop

Materials freely reusable; train-the-trainers also available

CC BY-SA Ada Initiative Being taught at Google, Airbnb, Square, and more @frameshiftllc How to get the Ally Skills Workshop

Email [email protected]

Dr. Sheila Addison specializes in teaching workshops in academia

Sign up to email list to be notified of the next public train-the-trainers https://frameshiftconsulting.com/ally-skills-workshop/ Dr. Sheila Addison @frameshiftllc In conclusion

Most diversity and inclusion efforts focus on targets

Targets have less time, energy, power, and influence

Allies have more ability to make change

Ally skills can be learned Let’s focus on allies Q&A

Valerie Aurora

Frame Shift Consulting http://frameshiftconsulting.com/ally-skills-workshop/ @frameshiftllc New Zealand slides @frameshiftllc Example

Privilege: The ability to walk into a convenience store and have the owner assume you are there to buy things and not steal them

Oppression: The self-reinforcing system of stories, TV, news coverage, and legal system stereotyping Māori people as criminals, that benefits non-Maori people and harms Māori people @frameshiftllc Example

Target: Any Māori person who wants to enter a convenience store

Ally: A non-Māori person who donates to legal system reform organizations, actively objects to racist stories, votes in anti-racist ways, and reads news articles about this privilege @frameshiftllc Targets have less money

90%: white women vs. all men 87%: Asians vs. whites 86%: women vs. all men 81%: Māori vs. whites 77%: Māori women vs. all men 72%: Pacific women vs. all men

CC BY Tax Credits Source: June 2016 hourly wages from: http://cevepnz.org.nz/Gender%20pay%20gap/gender-ethnicity.htmhttps://flic.kr/p/bZwHv5 @frameshiftllc Targets have less power and influence

CEOs for top 50 NZ publicly listed companies include zero women (& few non-white people)

Smurfette Principle (Katha Pollitt)

CC BY-SA Bruno Girin https://flic.kr/p/4Mv4o2 @frameshiftllc European slides @frameshiftllc Example

Privilege: The ability to interview for a job and have the interviewer assume that if you have children, you will continue doing a good job at work

Target: Any woman who wants to work for pay for an employer

Across EU, women make 16% less per hour compared to men and 41% less per year (2013)

Germany: women make 22% less per hour

France: overall unemployment is 9.7%, for immigrants it is 17.3%

For French citizens of African descent, only 61% of difference can be explained by skills & education

CC BY Tax Credits https://flic.kr/p/bZwHv5 @frameshiftllc U. S. slides @frameshiftllc Example

Privilege: The ability to walk into a convenience store and have the owner assume you are there to buy things and not steal them

Oppression: The self-reinforcing system of stories, TV, news coverage, police, and legal system stereotyping Black people as criminals, that benefits non-Black people and harms Black people @frameshiftllc Example

Target: Any Black person who wants to enter a convenience store

Ally: A non-Black person who donates to legal system reform organizations, actively objects to racist stories, calls their representatives to support police reform, and reads news articles about this privilege

Actions @frameshiftllc Targets have less money

87%: Asian women vs. white men 79%: Lesbian couples vs. men married to women 78%: white women vs. white men 73%: Black men vs. white men 73%: mothers vs. fathers 66%: trans women vs. their pre-transition income 65%: Black women vs. white men 63%: people with disabilities vs. those without

58%: Latinas vs. white men CC BY Tax Credits More likely to have unpaid caregiver responsibilities https://flic.kr/p/bZwHv5