I think questions of proportionality are meaningful, but regardless of how we're doing by that standard, there's still work to be done. I want to see the tech community become a lot less white and male, and if that means that the community spends a little time explicitly encouraging a more diverse group of presenters, then sign me up for that job.
--James On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 10:20 AM, Ross Singer <rossfsin...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Nov 27, 2012, at 10:03 AM, Chad Nelson <chadbnel...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Rosalyn, > > > > If we are only 17% women, when we are subset of the broader Library > > community, which is majority women, then we are doing something wrong. > And > > that deeper question, what do we need to do to encourage more women to > > participate in the community, to make the community as a whole appealing > > and safe, is the question I am really asking. > > > > I'm not entirely sure I agree with this. The issue is less about where > the number is now than where it's going (and how quickly). > > Is our (completely hypothetical) 17% up from 2006 (or whenever), when > Code4lib started? If so, then I'm less inclined to panic about the > statistics and just continue working towards making the community amenable > to more groups. > > If it has plateaued or regressed, then, yes, we need to be extremely > concerned. > > -Ross. > > > Chad > > > > > > On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:57 AM, Rosalyn Metz <rosalynm...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > >> I think first we would need to do a survey of how many women are in the > >> community. if it turns out that this community is only 17% women then > >> we're on target. who knows, maybe we're actually 10% women and we're > way > >> above target. in which case the real question might be "how do we get > more > >> women in tech." > >> > >> > >> On Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:11 AM, Chad Nelson <chadbnel...@gmail.com> > >> wrote: > >> > >>> Ooops. Hit the wrong key. > >>> > >>> So, about our presenters... > >>> > >>> Is it a problem that only 4 of our 33 presenters are women? Or that > only > >> 16 > >>> of 95 proposers were women? > >>> > >>> Is there something this community needs to do to encourage more women > to > >>> feel like they can and should speak / propose sessions? > >>> > >> >