Tag: Mike

Wong’s article is in a professional journal for those in the safety industry. Therefore, I thought the focus on the need for a review of safety protocols which include consideration of gender diversity was particularly powerful. She does a lot of work providing context, going into a lot of discussion about diversity in the workplace and what that’s meant in the past. She effectively acknowledges that many of her readers will likely be familiar with past diversity efforts, but won’t have really considered how they apply to their industry. Many of the uniforms, equipment, and fitness for duty tests were designed for men because the work was predominately being done by men. Wong stresses that as the gender diversity of the workforce increases, those uniforms, equipment and fitness for duty tests will need to change to meet that new reality. What might be safe for a man of average build may not be safe for a woman or person identifying as femme.

Throughout this first paragraph, Wong reuses the word “messages” to drive home her point. Some might have reached for their thesaurus, but in this case, the choice is quite deliberate. Wong is attempting to raise awareness of how not taking steps to address practices that may be considered exclusionary, that it’s sending a signal to those who feel excluded, and that signal is a reminder of their exclusion.

“On interpersonal and structural levels, such conditions communicate messages that people do not belong, that their needs are not recognized or deemed important enough to address, and that there is little interest in making things easier or more accessible for them to be successful. Such messages are at the core of most exclusionary practices. Continuously receiving these messages and having to navigate various obstacles can drain energy and take a significant toll on a person’s psychological, emotional and physical well-being, thereby reproducing yet another form of inequity with respect to how different workers are able to experience the workplace itself.

 In the second paragraph, Wong provides a solution to the problem raised in the prior paragraph. She effectively summarizes the prior paragraph with two key words: “tension” and “burdens”.

Part of creating more inclusive workplaces involves addressing this tension. It is important to raise awareness among those with the privilege of not having to think twice about how they function so they can be more responsive to others’ needs and simultaneously alleviate burdens for those who must be extra conscious and aware to simply get by.”

About a year ago, the owner of two local bars made some racially insensitive comments on Twitter. As a result, I made the decision not to frequent his establishments anymore. The first of these, Ryleigh’s, was home to the Baltimore chapter of the US Tottenham supporters club, and as a self respecting Arsenal supporter, there was no way I was ever stepping foot in there. His second bar, Crossbar, is a German beerhall-style spot, serving huge liters of beer. Once the owner outed himself as a racist, downing liters at Crossbar was longer an option. That’s why it stopped me in my tracks this past weekend when a friend suggested we go there once the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. It surprised me because this friend and I share many similar values and come down on the same side of many political debates. I got to thinking about whether my stance was actually hurting the owner, or myself.

With all of this in mind, for this exercise I wanted to find some writings about “cancel culture”. With the recent controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling’s comments about transpeople on Twitter, I took to Google to look for news articles offering perspectives. I experimented with the search terms, and typed in the following: “Should I still read harry potter jk rowling twitter“.

The first three results of my search were from The Guardian, the New York Times, and a link to Rowling’s Twitter feed itself.  I read the Guardian and Times articles, ultimately settling on the one from the Times for my notes-taking exercise.  Because I wanted to use a recent, news-worthy topic, I knew that Google would be the best tool for this particular job. However, I expect I’ll be using tools such as JSTOR to help me find a scholarly journal or article which will help me gain a historical perspective.

Rowling is clearly not the first person to be threatened with “cancellation”, and “cancel culture” is just the latest term for what is sometimes referred to as “consumer activism”. What I’m hoping to find are well-researched articles and papers – perhaps even a book or two – that focus on the effectiveness of consumer activism. How often have boycotts worked? Can they go too far?

I’d also like to find something that looks into whether it’s truly possible to separate the artist from the art. Should we all really stop listening to Michael Jackson? Should we not read Mark Twain? Should we stop watching films produced by Harvey Weinstein? What might be easy for some will not be as easy for others. I’m finding these questions intellectually stimulating, and am looking forward to getting some help in an attempt to answer them for myself.

Clearly we all took the Expanding The Canon assignment seriously. It’s always fun when everyone gets to chose subjects which are close to their hearts, intellectually stimulating, or in the best cases, both. I was particularly struck by Samantha’s post about religion in the workplace.  Despite having been raised Roman Catholic, I am not a particularly religious man. I am, however, a huge fan of Christmas. I have a tattoo on my chest of Santa Claus for crying out loud!I

It’s my love of Christmas that got me thinking as I read Samantha’s post. For ten to eleven months of the year, there are no hints or signs of religion at my workplace. Then, come mid to late November, Christmas decorations are hung everywhere around the office. There are some decorations for Chanukah and Kwanzaa, but they are dwarfed by the blinking lights, trees and ornaments throughout the building.

Everyone at work is well aware of my fondness for Christmas and as such, for the past several years, I have been responsible for organizing the office holiday party. This is typically a non-denominational event which usually involves drinks and dinner somewhere. This past year, however, my boss wanted to do something different.

She was enamored with the idea of riding around to see holiday lights displays. I loved the idea, and quickly looked into hiring a bus to drive us around certain neighborhoods known for their displays. A colleague suggested I hire a party-bus that featured karaoke, so that everyone could sing their favorite Christmas carols while we rode around town. While I understood her intention, I wasn’t quite sure that was the best idea. The idea behind the holiday party is to be as inclusive as possible. Asking people who don’t celebrate Christmas, and are perhaps unfamiliar with Christmas carols didn’t seem particularly sensitive and inclusive.

I ultimately decided to get the karaoke bus, and it seems I didn’t have anything to worry about. The people who chose to sang ended up picking rock & pop songs. The only holiday song that ended up being sung was “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.” Perhaps I got lucky, or perhaps other folks were being more mindful and inclusive than my fears had been giving them credit for.

For me, the “flashpoint” of Bogost’s article is the moment when Amy Webb blames our recent cultural obsession with STEM education for the current lack of diversity in computing. Given that the conventional wisdom du jour has been a focus on getting more kids – and in particular – girls and minorities into computing via STEM education, to have that quote from an NYU professor, which follows Bogost’s own self-identification as a professor of computing and liberal arts at Georgia tech is particularly powerful.

At the end of that passage, the reader is now asking themselves, “Well, if these guys don’t think getting kids into STEM is going to solve things, what will?”. Bogost now has the rest of the article to attempt to answer that question.

Bogost begins his article with an anecdote about a woman’s negative experience going through airport security. By “wagering” that most of his readers will have had similar experiences, he gets them to immediately identify with the subject of the story. He uses the familiar – going through airport security – to introduce a topic which is likely less familiar to readers, that of the consequences a lack of diversity in technology has had –  and will continue to have – on society.

Bogost uses the readers’ expectations against them. The title of the article,  “The Problem With Diversity in Computing” is only a slight hint; this article is actually going to challenge conventional wisdom.  He first introduces that conventional wisdom by using a version of “they say”. Rather than claim these positions as his own, Bogost presents them as those of companies and educators in the tech sector.

Bogost then shares that he teaches at Georgia Tech as part of the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing. One might assume that he will wax poetic about the great things they’re doing. Instead, he turns that assumption on its head, arguing that programs such as the Center are insufficient. In fact, the expert Bogot introduced in the first paragraph, Amy Webb, is described as being concerned with the current strategy for improving diversity with its current focus on software development.

Broadening the conversation to include different perspectives, Bogost includes quotes from Charles Isbell, the dean of computing at Georgia Tech, and Kamau Bobb, global lead for diversity research and strategy at Google. He weaves these quotes with quotes from Webb, as if he were a facilitator or host at a conference, rather than the author of a magazine article.

In his last paragraph, we finally get to read Bogost’s own opinion. After circling back to his opening paragraph by quoting Webb, he uses his last two sentences to respond directly to her position. He also leaves us with a heck of a closing statement: “The problem with computing is computing.” While the turn of phrase may come off a bit glib, it certainly leaves the reader with plenty to think about long after they’ve finished reading.