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Introducing Passion Projects

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Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#41

Post by jessedhillon »

jQueryIsAwesome wrote: post #31
jessedhillon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the self-centered logic of the OP, even if a minority group has only 0.1% representation, they should have no events targeting specifically them and their causes -- the 99.9% majority should be able to attend, and presumably contribute to the conversation with no ability of the event's organizers to moderate the dialog or direct the focus to the minority's experiences. Anything less than that is segregation. It do…

I see, women are going to share their traumatic experience in tech. BTW, this discussion is just silly because there are millions of meet Ups in tech filled with only men, but in the other hand meet ups of rape survivors not accepting men would be just evil, men are a minority in that group, it would be like a tech company not accepting any women.

Ok. Good luck trying to convince them to let you in, I'm sure your unassailable logic misses nothing obvious. Make sure you let them know that it's evil for you not to be allowed in.

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#43

Post by girvo »

pablasso wrote: post #40
msoad wrote: post #23

So I started programming (for real) about two years ago. I spent about four months teaching myself coding PHP, JavaScript and CSS. I was able to secure a job after four months. I wasn't really good enough for the position. My wife is doing the same. She is following my path. She have me, I teach her and she is learning much faster. After a year, she is still looking for a volunteer job! Nobody believes she can do any…

She should just release whatever she creates why learning. Stereotypes are no longer valid if you have a proof of your skills in Github.

In an ideal world, you would be correct. This is not an ideal world.

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#44

Post by msoad »

pablasso wrote: post #40
msoad wrote: post #23

So I started programming (for real) about two years ago. I spent about four months teaching myself coding PHP, JavaScript and CSS. I was able to secure a job after four months. I wasn't really good enough for the position. My wife is doing the same. She is following my path. She have me, I teach her and she is learning much faster. After a year, she is still looking for a volunteer job! Nobody believes she can do any…

She should just release whatever she creates why learning. Stereotypes are no longer valid if you have a proof of your skills in Github.

What if I tell you I didn't know Git when I got my first job and she has a bunch of green dots in her Github profile?

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#45

Post by memset »

This is really neat! Kudos to github.

Here is a question: as one of two engineers at a 6-person seed-round startup, what could we be doing to contribute to the ecosystem of people who support women in technology? We don't have the office space - much less the money - to find or sponsor a monthly talk. So within the context of running our business, what can we do?

Sometimes I fear that, until we have a successful and profitable company (with spare conference rooms, clout to find people who would like to give lectures here, or an otherwise large audience), there isn't much we can do to contribute.

What can smaller companies or even individuals within organizations do?

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#46

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

mlent wrote: post #15

I disagree with everyone saying, "Why create something separate for women? Isn't that further separation?" For the most part, women don't take up much space in the tech industry. Women look at the big names in tech, and they don't really see people who are "like me." This can be intimidating and disheartening. Creating more spaces for women to connect with other women, and share their experiences and encouragement is…

> Why create something separate for women? Isn't that further separation?

Segregation is not considered segregation if it has good intentions. The political term is "affirmative action" [1].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#47

Post by tptacek »

msoad wrote: post #44
pablasso wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She should just release whatever she creates why learning. Stereotypes are no longer valid if you have a proof of your skills in Github.

What if I tell you I didn't know Git when I got my first job and she has a bunch of green dots in her Github profile?

I tell you I absolutely believe you, because I watched my wife have the exact same problems.

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#48

Post by oliverhunt »

holman wrote: post #29
oliverhunt wrote: post #19

I think this is a good idea but is the word 'Passion' only in the name because it's women?

A "passion project", in my mind, is simply a project that you're excited about (notably one that is likely outside the bounds of your normal, day-to-day job). I distinguish them from "side projects", which tend to be something you're interested in, but not something you're necessarily defined by. That's the reason the program's called passion projects — hopefully we'll have a ton of talks on really interesting things…

Most definitely. We share the same meaning of the concept of a passion project. I was probably just over thinking it, I am just suspicious of the way such highly emotive language has been used and it just happens to be for an interview series with women.

I'll admit I had not read the link before I posted that comment, but looking at it now I still believe that the language used is overly emotional and I think that it has been used just because this is a series on women.

A definition of the word passion involves, among other things "strong and barely controllable emotion" and I think this may be an obvious case where a gendered stereotype has been blatantly applied.

Some sentences taken from the link:

"celebrate the work of some of the most passionate women in our industry."

"share one of their nearest and dearest passion projects with our community."

"to hear about some positive experiences from other women in our industry doing what they love."

Re: Introducing Passion Projects

#50

Post by mpyne »

hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #46
mlent wrote: post #15

I disagree with everyone saying, "Why create something separate for women? Isn't that further separation?" For the most part, women don't take up much space in the tech industry. Women look at the big names in tech, and they don't really see people who are "like me." This can be intimidating and disheartening. Creating more spaces for women to connect with other women, and share their experiences and encouragement is…

> Why create something separate for women? Isn't that further separation? Segregation is not considered segregation if it has good intentions. The political term is "affirmative action" [1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action

Well segregation is segregation, with positive or negative overtones depending on the context like how we still to this day segregate restrooms by gender norms.

Affirmative action does not necessarily mean segregation either. The NFL's "Rooney Rule" requires a minority candidate to be interviewed for head coaching vacancies but doesn't require one be selected. We'd still call that affirmative action.

Rather it means merely that instead of just stopping the negative action applied against a minority and letting history take its course, that some positive action is taken to repair the damage done to the minority group, in order to actually have a chance at real equality in the future. This could include means such as segregated advocacy groups but encompasses much more.

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