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 <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> On Nov 27, 2012, at 10:03 AM, Chad Nelson <[log in to unmask]> 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 <[log in to unmask]>
> 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 <[log in to unmask]>
> >> 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?
> >>>
> >>
>