PFS! Computer Science

Diversity in Technology; Project 1 - Website

6.0. Overview

Having a diverse community benefits everyone. You can take this on faith, but you can also see examples of this everywhere. At the most fundamental level, genetic diversity is literally built into our DNA. All species—over generations, over time—adjust to changes in the environment as a result of small, random variations in every individual that is born.

Variation and diversity make us better.

Diversity is, of course, not always comfortable. We have a tendency to distrust situations, or customs, or cultures that we're not as familiar with. We love our sports teams, where we pretend that our side is "the good guys" and the other side is "the bad guys." We sometimes like to think that a person's gender, or income level, or education level, or race, or sexual orientation make it so that person should be treated differently from someone who is more like ourselves.

6.0.1. Equal vs. Equitable

Of course, there are situations where people should be treated differently.

You're almost certainly familiar with this graphic, which summarizes the difference between treating people fairly and treating people equitably. It's a good reminder, especially for people with privilege.

6.1. Diversity in Technology

It's clear right now that, perhaps in part because our larger issues in society, technology has a diversity problem. Famously, most technology companies are filled with a lot of white "bro" employees who look down on others that don't look like them or act like them.

 

Some employers are starting to realize that, in addition to the obvious discrimination issue, there are commercial reasons why a company might want to make sure a diverse group of people has developed and delivered their products.

Especially as artificial intelligence and machine learning become more prominently used, it is important to make sure diverse groups are used in training data, and monitoring its use.

For technology to be more inclusive, we need to have more women, and more students of color, learning about technology and going into technology fields.

6.1.1. What conversations are people having?

There are conversations happening all over the place about technology, gender, race, and discrimination. Some examples:

6.1.1. Coded Bias

6.1.1.2. Women Who Code

 
 

6.1.1.3. Kamau Bobb - Unpacking Equity

6.1.2. What can a student do?

If you get interested in learning more about technology, there is so much that you can learn online and in classes.

Ally Annick, Naval Academy, class of 2020
Ikenna Ogbogu, SCaLEx conference presenter

You don't have to be a professional hacker or coder to be able to use technology for good.

6.1.3. How can you support others?

How can a man support women in technology? How can a White person support People of Color?

6.1.4. How can you represent yourself?

References