Where the Tech is She? What can we proactively do to improve local diversity?

Seen it and heard it talked about on NPR.

I've met a grip of chicks who work in Drupal. I also do freelance work for an agency that is almost entirely chicks (me and the owners dog being the only male exceptions). Web-Dev is notably more diversified than other industries from my experiences.

I found the "Brogrammers" statement hilarious as well, but mostly because I put it in context to the Drupal community. I'd be hard pressed to find a less bro-ly bunch, unless we went to a LARP convention. Actually take that back, they at least hit each other once and a while, haha. That's a good thing though :)

The things I find that make it less likely I'll participate in something...

• It's on a school night: as a mom, I tend to be the one who does the things like putting kiddo to bed. That means if it is on a school night, I'm unlikely to attend. I'm even less likely if it is a good distance from home, as it means I spend a lot of time on the road that would be used helping with homework or whatever.

• It's in a bar area: I don't drink beer - don't really drink all that much at all - and tend to not be around people who are drinking.

Talking with other women, I find that these two things are common reasons why they don't participate in many tech related events, work in tech businesses, etc.

The alcohol thing, while important, doesn't really apply as much to the Portland meetups. The primary meetup is held at the OpenSourcery offices and rarely has alcohol during the meetup. While the group does move to the Laughing Lab afterward, the Lab serves food and non-alcoholic bevs and hasn't garnered any complaints from the handful of "dry" portland drupalers who I know attend. The Way Out West meetup is held at a library, where alcohol is not permitted at all (afaik, but I've never attended, so I could be wrong). If I recall correctly, the Front End meetup gathers at the Funny Monkey offices... which I haven't been able to attend, so I can't comment on alcohol there.

As for school-night vs weekend, I'd be interested to hear from more Drupal moms (or dads) on that. I suspect that Drupal meetups on weekends would be a low priority for many people and be poorly attended. The main portland meetup is scheduled to end at 8pm, which means most people should be able to get home around 8:30 or 8:45 (for those who live way out). Would changing the end time to 7:30 help those with kids and make a difference in the choice to attend?

I'm also curious if the focus should be away from meetup tweaks and more onto what the community can do to foster drupal/technology learning in girls so that they go on to study CS as they grow up.

The High Visibility Project is a video project to hear what individual women have to say about the topic of women in technology.

I'd like to see more diversity in general in technology (and in Portland) and workplaces where everyone is comfortable with and respectful of each other. And mostly in regard to the WW article: Besides generally just not being a jerk, people need to have boundaries, express boundaries, and respect boundaries -- and all three of those take conscious effort, even the first. To foster a respectful workplace you obviously need to avoid hiring/keeping around total jerks, and have managers work with people who are making others uncomfortable so they're aware of what they're doing/how they're affecting others, and see if they're willing to change, and monitor their progress, etc. (I'm considering "total jerks" as people who are completely unwilling to change.) There's a whole other conversation here, too, about where *ist/*phobic attitudes come from and how screwed up our culture is, but that's a bit of a tangent. Those are my thoughts for now...

I found the article interesting, if somewhat incomplete. It was short, so it couldn't necessarily delve deeply. As a beer fan, I am hardly going to turn my nose up at either having beer in the office or where we meet (and LL is quite family friendly). That said, there are elements of the 'work hard play hard' ethos that simply does not work for someone, male or female, with family responsibilities or even other interests. And it remains the reality that women are still considered primary caretakers. Education is crucial, at early ages, to encourage girls to seek technology careers. But a work environment that supports fair pay for all workers, reasonable hours and expectations, and gives more than lip service to the idea that we all have a life outside of work is important.

So, jessehs, in response to your original post: I don't think the beer or pingpong is a problem. But if this is accompanied bys an expectation that people with families and external commitments are going to lengthen their day at work in order to play ping pong while also meeting their work obligations, then you may have a problem.

And no, I am not a chick. If I want to refer to myself as one (I don't), fine, but please, don't call me one. Not offended, but I am not young, flighty or covered in yellow feathers.

The hard part about any issue related to a specific group about race, gender, sexual identity, etc is that it's easy to over-regulate social behavior without considering the intent of someone's actions. Many groups have a legitimate claim to feeling underrepresented, but being all-inclusive is also impossible. The key is in the intent of the group's actions.

Take the example of ping pong and beer. Sure, these may be activities that one gender may find more appealing than another, but the intent behind them isn't to create a culture of exclusion. Sometimes people honestly just want to play some ping pong and have a brew. Sometimes a term like brogrammer is just meant to be a clever play on words and not an insult by the person saying it. The details lie in the intent and the perception of that intent.

Now, we should be mindful of our impacts, and seek to keep our culture open an inclusive, but not to the point where we whitewash our ability to be social for fear of offense. Along that vein, I have difficulty conceiving of any intended exclusionary practices we've established. This isn't a good 'ol boys club, nor is it a sewing circle. The core of DUG is based on the projects and people that are a part of our local community, and illepic and others are always looking for more content from people regardless of gender. There is alcohol for those that want it, there are games for those that play them, the meeting begins within a reasonable time-frame of working hours, and ends before it's too late (and you're always welcome to come late or leave early).

This sums it up perfectly (from the new draft of the Drupalcon Code of Conduct):
"DrupalCon is an international event that attracts diverse people from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. We acknowledge that cross-cultural communication can often be complicated and encourage everyone to consider both the impact of their actions on those with different backgrounds and experiences and the honest intentions of those who may have unknowingly caused offense."

Be mindful of what you say, but also be mindful of the intentions of the person saying something. If someone upsets you or says something you feel is exclusionary, say something to them or a DUG organizer and I'm sure you'll quickly find a sympathetic ear.

As a new Drupal developer I'm happy just to see this discussion. I've been in tech a long time but most of the developers I've worked with have been guys, and I think what nonsie said is true - guys seem to have the confidence to use what they know and "bluff" the rest (i.e. figure it out on the fly). I don't really have the confidence for that, and that may be the case with other women. One thing I really like about the Drupal community, though, is that no one I've ever talked to about Drupal assumed I knew less than they did. Which is pretty unusual in the tech world, in my experience.

Also important and pertinent: http://railsgirls.com/portland

I suppose unfortunately my one and only experience with blatant male chauvinism has been within the Drupal community. As a whole I don't feel that the Portland community is in any way a fiery ball of testosterone hell bent on keeping women in the kitchen. Maybe that's because it's Portland: 1/3 hippie, 1/3 hipster, 1/3 magnetic awesome!