Skip to main content

Writing 03: Diversity, Codes of Conduct

           The past week of class has been enlightening, and not always in a positive way. It is easy for us, as students of progressive institution lauded for bringing together the best and the brightest, to assume that we are not ensnared in the same traps as the rest of American society. We are. The discussion in the past week has been filled with the same heated, bipolar rhetoric that has become a hallmark of American media. Presented with a simple fact, that computer science falls well short of diversity benchmarks, we could not have a discussion that would bring people together, but rather farther alienated members of our community. Those who felt affected by the lack of diversity shared their experiences only to be questioned at length and trivialized. Those who saw little problem with the issue were met with contempt and apparent judgment. The inability to communicate effectively and understand that dissenting opinions can lead to communal understanding and growth does nothing to heal the divide created by a lack of diversity, but rather strengthens it. Many classmates I talked to were afraid to speak in class or to have their responses read by Bui lest some in the class form opinions of them that could never be unmade.
               I do not know how to solve the diversity problem in CS, but I do know that fostering better communication is vital to discovering those solutions. Codes of Conduct are a part of this process of making communication better, but often as they are focused more on punishment and deterrence than growth and understanding. The consequences for verbally breaking a code of conduct should involve some amount of learning and understanding, so as not to further alienate the offended. Google could have taken the opportunity to educate both the offended and the company at large on the issue and how to properly communicate about it, rather than immediately firing the man. If he had continued to violate the code of conduct, then more drastic action should have been taken.
               The push towards diversity in computer science is full of growing pains. Certain over-represented demographics will eventually be properly represented, and that will not make every person happy. In the long run, however, the benefits gained by allowing for more representation across the board will more than outweigh the momentary discomfort change will bring.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Writing 09: Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property has become increasing relevant as society has shifted from away from smaller more agrarian communities towards larger, more technologically driven urban communities. In the past farming techniques did not need to be as closely guarded as the markets were relatively small and the need for cooperation high. The markets today are global and the corporations much larger, leading to a need for intellectual property protection along with a declining need for cooperation. Patents exist within these large markets to allegedly safeguard innovation. The inventor is allowed to profit off a patent for twenty years, either by producing it himself or licensing others to do. There is danger in protecting intellectual property this way. Under the current system a patent can be acquired without a product ever being manufactured, simply a broad idea is enough. This leads to patent trolling in which entities apply for a buy a large range of patents, many of which are not current...
Post a Comment
Read more

Writing 01: Identity

               I did not come to Computer Science early. I did not have a coding class in high school or start editing game code in my garage. In fact I avoided Computer Science as much as possible because it was something my brother did. Our relationship was often rocky in high school and I could not bear to start learning something he already knew so well; it would have been humiliating. Imagine my surprise when during my Intro to Engineering course I discovered that coding was something I enjoyed and was good at after all. This mindset originally caused me to stray away from the computing stereotypes I saw in my brother. I didn’t immediately switch to Linux and swear off Windows; I didn’t put all my time into passion projects. I let coding be a part of my school life, but kept it at a cautious distance.                This has changed. As muc...
Post a Comment
Read more