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When you look only at the % of speakers who have a particular attribute, you're looking at the output of a very long process spanning years. Before the schedul

When you look only at the % of speakers who have a particular attribute, you're looking at the output of a very long process spanning years. Before the schedule was announced.. did the organizers get the speakers they wanted or did some decline? Before that.. when CfP responses were rated, did the submitters provide relevant supporting material like a resume of previous speaking appearances (to demonstrate speaking skill) and blog posts, articles, etc (to demonstrate expertise in the topic). Before that.. did the submitters have writing and speaking skills that made them comfortable to submit? Before that.. was the CfP well-publicized to relevant groups, companies, etc? Before that.. was the CfP entirely open? Was it invite only? Was it a blend of the two with only some of the slots open to the CfP? Before that.. did the person believe they had the skills and expertise to submit? Before that.. did the person actually have the skills and expertise to submit? Before that.. did the person have a job or interests to give them the opportunity to learn those skills? Before that.. did they get encouragement and support along the way? Before that.. did they receive the education to get the job or choose those interests? Before that.. did they believe they could learn and work in the industry? Before that.. did the person have the aptitude for those skills? If the number at the beginning of this process is small and every one of those steps chips away at the entire group - let alone those with particular genders, ethnicities, etc - of course the output is going to be low.

caseysoftware 14y ago
And for the record, that doesn't mean I like the result. I just think we need to look at this as a systemic problem and address it as such.. not blame the people at the end. For example, my undergradate engineering school adopted a bunch of Girl Scout troops to encourage and grow interest in STEM. It has taken years but female enrolment has increased by 50%.. and they're not just shuffling from other schools. They're growing the pool of qualified candidates.
- erikpukinskis 14y ago
  Every single person making all those decisions (the encouragers, the skill builders, the aptitude developers, the educators, the inviters) are "people at the end". We're all the end of the line when they come across us. Your kindergarten teacher was the person at the end when you entered their classroom. So I disagree with you. The blame does lie with "the people at the end".
  - davidp 14y ago
    You disagree that this is a systemic problem, while finding people to blame throughout the system...?
anthonyb 14y ago
> did they believe they could learn and work in the industry? > did they get encouragement and support along the way? > did the person have a job or interests to give them the opportunity to learn those skills? > did the person believe they had the skills and expertise to submit? These reasons are exactly why quota systems are used. If there isn't anyone from your particular group at a highly demanding conference panel, or visible in your industry, you're much less likely to become a part of it... even though you're more than capable of performing at that level if you put the time in.
- demet8 14y ago
  You just summed this whole thing up in a nutshell.
- hacker789 14y ago
  Let's improve Hacker News by adding an empowering point multiplier to women's posts. The overwhelming majority of posts are by men, so isn't this the only just action? Also: Why are women more valuable than stutterers at conferences?
  - mkmkmmmmm 14y ago
    There are more potential women participants than potential stutterer participants? Also being a woman isn't like having a speech impediment.
    - hacker789 14y ago
      Stutterers are disproportionately unrepresented as speakers at conferences, despite potentially having extremely valuable information to share, just like women.
      - vacri 14y ago
        Can you please show some statistics to back that up? I've been at a conference with a stuttering speaker, and I'm not sure that it's true that the preponderance of stutterers in conference speakers as compared to the general public is as disproportionate as that of women.

caseysoftware 14y ago

And for the record, that doesn't mean I like the result. I just think we need to look at this as a systemic problem and address it as such.. not blame the people at the end. For example, my undergradate engineering school adopted a bunch of Girl Scout troops to encourage and grow interest in STEM. It has taken years but female enrolment has increased by 50%.. and they're not just shuffling from other schools. They're growing the pool of qualified candidates.

erikpukinskis 14y ago
Every single person making all those decisions (the encouragers, the skill builders, the aptitude developers, the educators, the inviters) are "people at the end". We're all the end of the line when they come across us. Your kindergarten teacher was the person at the end when you entered their classroom. So I disagree with you. The blame does lie with "the people at the end".
- davidp 14y ago
  You disagree that this is a systemic problem, while finding people to blame throughout the system...?

anthonyb 14y ago

> did they believe they could learn and work in the industry? > did they get encouragement and support along the way? > did the person have a job or interests to give them the opportunity to learn those skills? > did the person believe they had the skills and expertise to submit? These reasons are exactly why quota systems are used. If there isn't anyone from your particular group at a highly demanding conference panel, or visible in your industry, you're much less likely to become a part of it... even though you're more than capable of performing at that level if you put the time in.

demet8 14y ago
You just summed this whole thing up in a nutshell.
hacker789 14y ago
Let's improve Hacker News by adding an empowering point multiplier to women's posts. The overwhelming majority of posts are by men, so isn't this the only just action? Also: Why are women more valuable than stutterers at conferences?
- mkmkmmmmm 14y ago
  There are more potential women participants than potential stutterer participants? Also being a woman isn't like having a speech impediment.
  - hacker789 14y ago
    Stutterers are disproportionately unrepresented as speakers at conferences, despite potentially having extremely valuable information to share, just like women.
    - vacri 14y ago
      Can you please show some statistics to back that up? I've been at a conference with a stuttering speaker, and I'm not sure that it's true that the preponderance of stutterers in conference speakers as compared to the general public is as disproportionate as that of women.