A little more about Ashe
Ashe Dryden is an indie developer living in Madison, WI. She's been involved with the web in some form or another over the course of the past 12 years. She's actively involved in multiple communities both off and online. Ashe is known for being outspoken about the need for diversity, inclusiveness, and empathy. When she isn't discussing technology, she's cycling, tweeting, playing board games, debating the social implications of Star Trek episodes, being that awkward girl at the party, and waiting for her next burrito fix.
Ashe's Presentation
Programming Diversity (slides)
It's been scientifically proven that more diverse communities and workplaces create better products and the solutions to difficult problems are more complete and diverse themselves. Companies are struggling to find adequate talent. So why do we see so few women, people of color, and LGBTQ people at our events and on the about pages of our websites? Even more curiously, why do 60% of women leave the tech industry within 10 years? Why are fewer women choosing to pursue computer science and related degrees than ever before? Why have stories of active discouragement, dismissal, harassment, or worse become regular news?
In this talk we’ll examine the causes behind the lack of diversity in our communities, events, and workplaces. We’ll discuss what we can do as community members, event organizers, and co-workers to not only combat this problem, but to encourage positive change by contributing to an atmosphere of inclusivity.
Objectives:
- Educate about the lack of diversity and why it is a problem
- Examine what is contributing to both the pipeline issue as well as attrition
- Isolate what is and isn't working
- Inspire direct action by examining our own behavior and learning more about the people around us so we can empathize better
