[OSGeo-Discuss] R: 2019 OSGeo UN Committee Educational Challenge

[Ben Caradoc-Davies]

On 20/05/2019 07:28, Jonathan Moules wrote:
>  > People with more than 40 years can apply.
> Yes but they suffer a 20% penalty, that's a very significant penalty and 
> is explicitly discriminatory against what is commonly considered a 
> "protected attribute" (age), hence my raising the issue.
>  > Moeover the scores will be compensated by their experience,
> The problem with this is that you are assuming that people >=40 have 
> experience with both writing proposals and giving training. 
> Statistically they're more likely to have such experience but it's by no 
> means guaranteed, it depends entirely on their career path.

Discrimination against older people is a serious problem in the software 
industry, especially new entrants or returning participants in junior 
roles. I do not think that OSGeo should endorse this practice. We should 
be inclusive.

The text also states that the gender of the proposer is a criterion. Why 
only gender and not sexuality, ability, or other diversity criteria? 
Will OSGeo accept self-reported gender identity?

I prefer to avoid these identity-related criteria because they are not 
inclusive. The other criteria look good to me.

Kind regards,

-- 
Ben Caradoc-Davies <ben at transient.nz>
Director
Transient Software Limited <https://transient.nz/>
New Zealand