[OSGeo-Discuss] Diversity in FOSS4G
Cameron Shorter
cameron.shorter at gmail.com
Mon Aug 13 15:00:50 PDT 2018
I think I'm safe in assessing that all of us contributing to this
discussion (and probably many more lurking) believe in promoting
diversity. We might disagree on relevance of specific scientific papers,
but I feel we should not be distracted by our differences and rather
should focus on what we collectively agree on and can achieve together.
When I was married, an old wise relative advised "you can be right, or
you can be happy". I'll modify that for Open Source by saying "you can
be right, or you can have a collaborative community".
While this message is intended for all of us, Maria, I'm especially
thinking about you. I see in you contagious passion, and can-do
commitment to back that up. I'd love to see many of us in the community
rallying behind you even more than done already. And I think that the
more you are embracing and adopting the ideas of others the more
successful you will become.
Keep up the enthusiasm, Cameron
On 13/08/2018 11:39 PM, Guido Stein wrote:
> Hey folks,
>
> It is great to see so much discussion about what our standard as a
> community are for defining a successfully event.
>
> I would suggest that we codify our goals towards diversity and
> inclusion into the Code of Conduct (CoC). This would make it clearer
> about what values we as a community hold and aspire to.
>
> Please let me express my respect for everyone else's thoughts and
> feelings here. I am a sys white mail in my 40s who has been part of
> many communities including ones where the majority are male, female,
> Chilean, or white guys. I cannot speak for anyone else and I hope that
> the comments I share are taken in the positive helpful manor in which
> I intent them to be.
>
> When I was working on the FOSS4G Boston 2017 I was overwhelmed by the
> many factors that go into choosing speakers and keynotes. My intention
> for the conference was to be as inclusive and welcoming as I could
> make it. I attempted to do this by bringing multiple local communities
> which I knew about into the planning of the event and also trying to
> encourage people to do out reach to groups that I felt were not well
> represented.
>
> I am still not sure how to judge how I did in this effort. Is the goal
> to invite the right people who would represent the community? Is the
> goal to make sure you have the right mix of people who would represent
> the community? What is the benchmark? Which underrepresented group
> should you be measuring? Can you ask demographic questions of people
> attending to measure your success?
>
> Personally, I struggled with the idea of diversity. Not that diversity
> isn't important, but creating diversity may sometimes lead to quotas
> and tokenism. I never want someone to feel like they are being singled
> out to participate because I need to reach a diversity goal.
>
> For me it would be helpful if our values and priorities around
> diversity were written out in the CoC. I think there could be a strong
> case made for focusing our community efforts on bringing more women
> into our events, but I also think the same could be said for
> communities of color, youth, impoverished, and others.
>
> I think that being clear and specific about what goals and objectives
> we have as a community is an important step towards understanding who
> we are as a community.
>
> I look forward to the continued discussion.
>
> Thank you for your time,
>
> Guido
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 8:38 AM adam steer <adam.d.steer at gmail.com
> <mailto:adam.d.steer at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> I appreciate this topic arising. I appreciate the efforts of the
> FOSS4G Dar committee; and the reasons for their decisions. I also
> appreciate that the FOSS4G Asia LOC have a different operating
> environment and look forward to hearing about their drivers. And I
> appreciate discussion about various factors affecting diversity
> and audiences. From FOSS4G Oceania experience it’s not an easy
> discussion to get right - I hope we all make the best effort we can.
>
> I also want to avoid papering over a substantially disheartening
> part of this particular e-mail conversation.
>
> Earlier in this discussion thread a research paper was rolled out
> as evidence that women choose to do STEM less; with the argument
> following that aiming for levels of attendance and speakership at
> FOSS4G conferences which represent the population is over-reach;
> and then a few people jumping on the sciencing wagon.
>
> So I read the paper. …and I'm puzzled that in 2018, such a work
> would be latched onto and held up as truth without question. I
> would certainly not try to use it as a platform to base a solid
> argument on.
>
> What was more disappointing is that this work was repeatedly held
> up as canon and defended, as a counter to Maria’s patient attempts
> to inject some living experience into discussion about a topic on
> which she has invested vast time and energy (and whose initial
> assessment of the work was actually completely correct)!
>
> A great first step to increase diversity and inclusion would be to
> avoid this type of top down lecturing and engage with experience -
> and then listen. To stories like Vicky’s. To the experience of
> Maria and Maria; to the committee from FOSS4G Asia who have made
> choices for reasons we don’t know; and from FOSS4G in Dar, who
> made choices for very clear reasons because they were able to; and
> aimed to have a specific impact (which I hope, has worked).
>
> Back to lurking now..
>
> Adam
>
>
> --
> Dr. Adam Steer
> https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam_Steer
> http://au.linkedin.com/in/adamsteer
> http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0046-7236
> +61 427 091 712 <tel:+61%20427%20091%20712>
> skype: adam.d.steer
> tweet: @adamdsteer
>
> On 13 August 2018 at 21:21, Jeff McKenna
> <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com
> <mailto:jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com>> wrote:
>
> Thank you for sharing these personal stories Vicky.
>
> There are so many different cultural factors at our FOSS4G
> events around the world.
>
> How can we make sure that FOSS4G events are both diverse and
> inclusive?
>
> I think the first step is always to try contacting the FOSS4G
> local committee directly. And if you are concerned of a
> FOSS4G event but don't know who to contact, just send me a
> quick email and I'll forward you the direct contact. In the
> case of FOSS4G-Asia, I would forward you to Nimalika from
> OSGeo-Sri Lanka, who has been so kind to listen and take the
> advice back to her local organizing committee, where they can
> discuss and make the necessary changes.
>
> I also feel that old-school talking directly is still very
> important, and look forward to speaking directly of these
> issues with leaders Malena, María and others in Dar es
> Salaam. This is why I hop on a plane for a 40 hour trip, to
> work together on these issues so we can all continue to create
> great FOSS4G events of all sizes.
>
> -jeff
>
>
>
>
>
> On 2018-08-13 12:57 AM, Vicky Vergara wrote:
>
> Hi all
>
> I went to the last FOSS4G Asia in Hyderabad, India, within
> IIIT university premises.
> There I met wonderful students.
> I was actually impressed with a particular female student,
> very bright, and with lots of ideas to tell.
>
> I invited her to eat out.
> She could not go out of the university, because her father
> had forbidden her to go out of the University premises.
> I asked, where is your father?
> She told me he lived about 300km to the north, and that
> when she needed to go out, he would drive to take her to
> where she needed to go.
>
> Culture: not obey the (family/religion/legal) rules is not
> an option.
> She follows the rules, she is obedient.
>
> What do you expect for woman who live that kind of
> culture, that we don't understand, not even a 1%?
> If woman like her, get invited to be a keynote speaker,
> what is the probability for her to go?
>
> Can you fight a culture that is completely different to
> occidental cultures?
> Can you fight that culture, sitting in front of your
> computer, in England, USA, Mexico?
>
> What would you tell her if you had that conversation?
> In my particular case, I told her:
> I am sure my father has the same concerns as your father,
> that is why he came with me.
>
> And we ate in the University.
>
> I invited my father, I paid his airplane ticket, hotel,
> food, souvenir, etc.
> The reason that I invited him is: I wanted to fit in the
> culture as much as possible.
> When passing through customs, he was called, and he had to
> do the talking.
> When going shopping or eating, the cashier first
> interaction was directed to him.
>
> I can't fight a culture, I have to blend in.
>
> But I am glad that, this student's father is letting her
> study.
> And maybe, in the future, she will have daughters that
> will go to the University and they will be able to go out
> of the University premises to eat.
> And she will have grand-daughters that will can go out of
> the country (without a chaperon) and be speakers.
>
> Regards
> Vicky
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 12, 2018 at 6:19 PM, Ben Caradoc-Davies
> <ben at transient.nz <mailto:ben at transient.nz>
> <mailto:ben at transient.nz <mailto:ben at transient.nz>>> wrote:
>
> On 12/08/18 21:14, María Arias de Reyna wrote:
>
> No, this is not a dismissal based on opinions. It
> is based on facts.
> This paper falls into the "correlation does not
> imply causation"
>
> fallacy:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation
>
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation>
>
>
> Yes, but lack of correlation refutes causation. That
> is their point:
> gender equality does *not* cause equality of STEM
> gender outcomes.
>
> Science requires humility. There is no greater
> experience in science
> than refuting your own hypothesis because it means
> that you might
> have discovered something non-obvious. The obvious
> hypothesis in
> this study was that equality of STEM gender outcomes
> would improve
> with gender equality. Their surprising discovery is
> the opposite.
> While there is much conjecture as to the cause, the
> core finding is
> remarkable, good science, and worthy of publication (in my
> uninformed opinion as a layman).
>
> Kind regards,
>
>
>
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>
>
>
> --
> Adam Steer
> https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Adam_Steer
> http://au.linkedin.com/in/adamsteer
> http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0046-7236
> +61 427 091 712 <tel:+61%20427%20091%20712>
> skype: adam.d.steer
> tweet: @adamdsteer
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--
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier
Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant
M +61 (0) 419 142 254
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