veryroundbird

mary oliver stan account

i hate the internet but at least my wife is here


website ๐Ÿ 
birdwrongs.sh/
dreamwidth ๐Ÿ““
veryroundbird.dreamwidth.org/
ko-fi โ˜•๏ธ
ko-fi.com/veryroundbird
games ๐ŸŽฒ
smallbird.games/
mastodon ๐Ÿ˜
digipres.club/@ruiyi
ham radio mastodon ๐Ÿ“ก
mastodon.radio/@kd9vdm
twitch ๐Ÿ“บ
twitch.tv/veryroundbird
gemini ๐Ÿ”ญ
gemini://tilde.pink/~smallbird
gopher ๐Ÿ•ณ๏ธ
gopher://tilde.club/1/~smallbird/

i'm giving some thought to the way diversity initiatives are formed and structured in tech. when i was still participating in industry social activities (pre-pandemic, and also i got tiredโ€”it's a lot) and especially activities and programs for minorities in the field, a lot of it was structured around juniors.

i don't necessarily think this is bad or wrong. i do think the reason why a lot of people suggest minorities go into tech is a little wrongheaded; like, yeah, it's a field that can offer some upward mobility salary-wise, but the real thing that produces equity (and, furthermore, justice) imo, is when those minorities are able to wield decision-making power in the field to prevent stuff like "racist AIs" and "filters that don't work on black people" and "collusion with the surveillance state." that, and also diversity initiatives need to include mentoring and continuing education for that goal to succeed; if it's just dumping people in at the junior end of the pipeline, you know what that generally produces?

it produces an oversaturation of juniors, who are both at the bottom of the pay scale and now having to compete in a market where supply outpaces demand. furthermore, it can also lead to situations where the kind of work juniors are being taught (in bootcamps, for example) ends up being siloed into the general like, vibe of "work that abled cishet white dudes are too good for, and therefore pays less"

which is not to say that people are wrong for wanting to enter the field and in fact i want everyone who likes programming to get to program because. i love it. however i am starting to feel a bit cynical about motives from up above in a lot of places, when it's like nigh impossible to find active peer groups with institutional support when you're at a higher career level and not part of the in-group, and i just remember how many womens-ish events i've gone to where the default was being new to the field. you'd think if the ones for experts existed i would have gotten an invite by now


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