----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Harkins" <dharkins(_at_)lounge(_dot_)org>
To: "Andrew Sullivan" <ajs(_at_)anvilwalrusden(_dot_)com>
Cc: <ietf(_at_)ietf(_dot_)org>
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 4:59 AM
On Thu, April 18, 2013 6:44 pm, Andrew Sullivan wrote:
On Thu, Apr 18, 2013 at 08:17:21AM -0700, Dan Harkins wrote:
So a problem statement has been made: there is a notable lack of
diversity in the areas of race and gender. Why is this a problem?
Because some people report that they experience a chilly environment,
and we respect those people for their other contributions and would
like more people like them to contribute in similar ways, and
therefore we want to make the environment less chilly. I'm sort of
surprised that that problem, which has been stated in my view quite
plainly more than once in this thread, isn't evident to anyone
participating.
Well, that is certainly not the message that I read. What I read was
that the I* leadership is 97% male (and 97% white) and that alone
puts into question the legitimacy of the IETF as an International
Standards Development Organization.
<tp>
Yes, that is the message I am getting from this thread and it seems to
me to be a canard that originates from outside the IETF, perhaps in
groups promoting Diversity and Rights, as opposed to engineering.
I have encountered many network experts in my day job yet within the
IETF, I encounter a large number of seriously talented people, active on
many mailing lists, who are in a different league to the former group.
If we required the IETF to reflect the diversity of people who are,
e.g., IT network professionals, then the IETF would fall apart for lack
of ability.
And the IETF is unusual in its leadership. Some organisations promote
the technically able, regardless of their lack of management skills, and
suffer as a result. Leaders need to lead, and manage, and delegate the
technical aspects of the work. The IETF is different. WG Chairs and
ADs must have world-class technical skills - if anything, I think that
this comes at the expense of leadership, and sometimes wish that WG
Chairs and ADs had more management skills, but recognise that that must
not be at the expense of the technical skills. Even so, being the most
brilliant editor of, say, a new security standard does not mean that the
person would make a good AD.
If the ADs of the IETF have to represent the diversity of the world -
which could in extremis be construed as so many Chinese, so many
Indians, so many Africans etc - then the IETF would be a less effective,
probably an ineffective, organisation.
So what's the problem? And who says so?
Tom Petch
</tp>
If people are encountering a
chilly environment then that is a different issue.
It has been a few IETFs since I've heard someone approach the mic
and say "that is the stupidest idea I've heard in a long time" and a few
more since it was said to me. That kind of brusqueness is part of our
culture but I think it can be off-putting and a barrier to contributing.
New people get intimidated around a bunch of aggressive type-A
personalities and may be reluctant to present or contribute for fear
of being put down.
If we want to make the IETF a less chilly place that is more inviting
and we want to encourage participation maybe we should address
our cultural tics and idiosyncrasies that represent a barrier to entry
rather than enumerate the women who have registered for a meeting.
(And yes, I am talking about myself).
regards,
Dan.