Week 1:
Bryan Ngo
ASA 002
A01
It’s writings like Professor Valverde’s “Fight the Tower: A
Call to Action for Women of Color in Academia” that really shed light on
discrimination in “professional” work settings. Although Professor Valverde’s
writing focuses on academia, similar themes of discrimination can be found in
other work forces, like the tech industry. Over the past several months, tech
giants like Google and Uber have been put under investigation after individuals
holding positions of power have been found to be mistreating their employees,
especially women. This mistreatment ranges from being denied promotions,
despite having excellent performance reviews, to refusing to buy women sized
clothing for the team because it would “cost too much” (both experienced by Susan
J. Fowler, Ex. Uber engineer). Another point I want to emphasize is that many
of us have tunnel vision when it comes to topics like these, myself included.
The game plan in my head has always been to learn as much as you can in school,
do impactful side-projects, and then I would find my way into the tech world. I
realize day after day that it is not that easy for most people to think like this.
While my main concern is getting through the door, there are other individuals
who are more concerned with how they would be treated in the work environment,
and with completely good reason. We’re finally at a point in time where
discrimination is being illuminated by the public eye. There is still a long
way to go, but progress is being made.
Question:
I mentioned that I tend to have tunnel vision when it comes
to issues of diversity. How can we, the current generation, help education
everyone and shed greater light on the situation?
References:
Valverde, K., (2013) “Fight the Tower”: A Call to Action for
Women in Academia, 12(2), 367-419. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
Tech’s Diversity Problem: Can We Talk? (2015, July 15).
Retrieved September 30, 2017, from http://greenlining.org/blog/2015/techs-diversity-problem-can-we-talk/
Excellent reference to the women and the tech world. My colleagues and I have also made similar connections in light of news from the Silicon Valley. Keep it up.
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