[Edu-sig] more thoughts on diversity...

[kirby urner]

On Wed, Feb 4, 2015 at 10:27 AM, Laura Creighton <lac at openend.se> wrote:

<< ... >>


>
> maybe this was for diversity, not edu-sig Kirby?
>
> Laura
>
>

Good points Laura.

I know from looking over dad's shoulder when he worked for Egyptian
Ministry of Planning,
that bids would come from firms, not individuals, but of course one would
see a list of names
attached and today that'd involve Googling up resumes, looking for what's
"out there" on
so and so, if it mattered.

In dad's case, he was looking at bids to build cities a ways from the
Nile.  If you've been
to Egypt you'll know it hugs the river closely, like a shoe string i.e.
that big polygon on the
map is not what you'd call "developed".  Some of the bids I saw looked very
unrealistic
and a man or woman with their name attached might therefore seem a member
of a
foolish dreamer firm.  Firms, companies, get reputations.  Word of mouth
matters.

In sum, in this era of corporate personhood it helps to remember that
corporations start
out gender-neutral unless branded by savvy spin doctors to exude one gender
or another.
So when we analyze discrimination in the workplace, these "new persons"
should be
included in our midst (that's the law (smile)).

Good point re Diversity.  Aahz once listed edu-sig as one of the many
Diversity-related
resources associated with Python.org and many a university and college has
a Diversity
office, so I think we're within the bounds of education as well.  VCs are
what makes the
discussion seem alien as private sector wheeler-dealers are what "the
cloistered" like
to wall themselves away from, but we should at least admit they exist, even
within
academia (universities have hired people to come in and encourage a more
patent-
minded culture, a trend which those of us in open source often find
offensive and
worth countering).

Kirby
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