I might be on my way to being old, but last I checked, I am female.
I did get 3 days away from my day job to work with ISOC at the Grace Hopper
Celebration. I briefly mentioned the code-match idea that we are pursuing and
that idea came to me at the GHC after having the opportunity to talk with
numerous young women, encouraging them to get involved in the IETF and taking
the time to give them examples of what they could do relevant to their areas of
interest. A few were excited, so I hope it makes a difference. It will take
more of an effort than working at one conference. We also have to do more to
improve the pipeline. Computer Science has had about 18% women since it
started. I think there are some disconnects from what young people think CS
means to what it actually means.
I was in Amsterdam the week before the IETF and talked with 2 young women from
China at the table next to me during dinner one night. They were choosing a
minor and I suggested CS, they responded that it was for geeks. I asked, do I
look like a geek? They said no (phew! lol). We talked for a bit and I gave
them examples of what they could do with a business degree and CS with an
interest in International studies and they were surprised. I think they were
interested once they understood what opportunities existed with a CS degree.
Anyway, there is a lot of work to do and I hope many are helping. I also asked
my HR rep to keep me informed of opportunities to help. They already had me on
a panel in front of the women at one university with several other colleagues a
few weeks ago. I am sure others are helping in similar ways.
The design team is looking at inclusivity and efforts will take time. The
code-match idea came out of GHC, but will be open to anyone that is interested
to develop running code for the IETF. It may help with researchers, young
attendees, and creating better connections to the open source community.
Ideas and input are welcome. This work will take time. Improvements in
programs will come from many people and groups, it is not limited to the design
team. ISOC and the Noncom are two examples of teams leading the charge to help
and doing a great job!
Thanks & we look forward to having your assistance! The diversity-dt wiki has
a long list of projects looking for interested people to drive them. Please
reach out to Suresh and I if you are interested.
Thank you,
Kathleen
Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 10, 2013, at 3:55 PM, "manning bill" <bmanning(_at_)isi(_dot_)edu> wrote:
Na … they are all -OLD-….
/bill
On 10November2013Sunday, at 12:44,
<l(_dot_)wood(_at_)surrey(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk> wrote:
Or because they're all men?
Lloyd Wood
http://sat-net.com/L.Wood/
________________________________________
I don't know if the diversity group has opted not to work
on gender issues because it's just too contentious, because
regional issues are easier, because they're planning to work
on it later, because of lack of interest, ... but it's pretty
striking.