Mentoring and diversity for Python [LWN.net]

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 23, 2018 20:48 UTC (Sat) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946)
In reply to: Mentoring and diversity for Python by bobbytables
Parent article: Mentoring and diversity for Python

> If you belong to one of those groups and are concerned about some possible bias, why don't you submit code under pseudonym like Jack Kelso?

Among other reasons, people are proud of their work and want to be recognized for it, sometimes this is a step to building a career as a programmer. People also want to attend conferences or speak at a event etc.

to post comments

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 24, 2018 1:40 UTC (Sun) by bobbytables (guest, #65908) [Link] (7 responses)

That's shouldn't be a problem, it should be easy for the author to prove who he / she is under a pseudonym.

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 24, 2018 1:47 UTC (Sun) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link] (6 responses)

> That's shouldn't be a problem, it should be easy for the author to prove who he / she is under a pseudonym.

How? Resumes are reviewed only for seconds. A link with your name is obvious. Also, how would you present in a conference while hiding under a pseudonym?

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 24, 2018 1:53 UTC (Sun) by bobbytables (guest, #65908) [Link] (5 responses)

And who uses their real name as a github user? It's incredibly easy to make up a gender neutral sounding handle.

If you have reached the stage where you should be presenting, there should be no need any more to have the pseudonym, you can go public from then on as your value as been proved, women, minority or not.

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 24, 2018 2:04 UTC (Sun) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link]

> And who uses their real name as a github user?

Lots and lots of people including me

> It's incredibly easy to make up a gender neutral sounding handle.

Why should some people be forced to do that?

>If you have reached the stage where you should be presenting, there should be no need any more to have the pseudonym

Why do you want people to hide their identity in the first place?

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 24, 2018 2:12 UTC (Sun) by rahulsundaram (subscriber, #21946) [Link]

> If you have reached the stage where you should be presenting, there should be no need any more to have the pseudonym

Have you read https://lwn.net/Articles/417952/

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 24, 2018 9:03 UTC (Sun) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link] (2 responses)

If you have reached the stage where you should be presenting, there should be no need any more to have the pseudonym, you can go public from then on as your value as been proved, women, minority or not.

That is not how things actually work out in Real Life™. There are women who are at the top of their respective areas of expertise but they still get hit on and/or belittled by (male) sleazebags at conferences (and elsewhere).

Also, there's an obvious incongruity in saying that in a free-software “true meritocracy”, women should just adopt pseudonyms in order to ensure that their work will be judged on its merits because nobody knows they're women. In an actual meritocracy, people's work would be judged on its merits no matter what name they're using for themselves. A “true meritocracy” where half of the potential participants must disguise themselves in order to be able to play on a level field is not a meritocracy at all.

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 27, 2018 10:34 UTC (Wed) by nilsmeyer (guest, #122604) [Link] (1 responses)

Having bad experiencres with other people is just a fact of life, whether it's at a conference or anywhere else. This isn't a problem unique to women.

Mentoring and diversity for Python

Posted Jun 27, 2018 12:43 UTC (Wed) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link]

It is when people target a woman in a manner that they would not have, had she been a man – and that unfortunately happens all too often. Male software developers don't tend to get harrassed for being male software developers (see, e.g., Gamergate).

Also, if “that problem isn't unique to women” is a true statement it should, if anything, be interpreted as a call to action, to try to minimize bad experiences for everyone including women. Unfortunately it is, more often than not, interpreted as an excuse for doing nothing at all (“it's just a fact of life”) – in effect a form of whataboutism.