Re: Diversity scholarship: Identifying under-represented groups

On 02/01/2019 13:53, Jeff Jaffe wrote:
> I just want to make sure that I understand the proposal.
> 
> The proposal clearly states that when we ask for applications for 
> diversity scholarships we do not specify which groups are eligible.  It 
> is open to anyone who believes that they are from an under-represented 
> group.  And even after they are awarded, they do not need to identify 
> their group.
> 
> Does it also mean that applicants are not allowed to state what 
> under-represented group they are from?  Or the reason that they are 
> deserving of the limited number of scholarships?  I can imagine that 
> applicants might want to state their group as a method of indicating why 
> they might be awarded as opposed to other applicants.  If the only 
> information that applicants are providing is their name and the cost of 
> attending TPAC, then the selection process will be based only on either 
> name recognition or pure randomization.

The idea is that the description of the scholarship should not specify 
what is (or isn't) an under-represented group.

In 2018 we described the scholarship like this:

"Applicants must be from a traditionally underrepresented and/or 
marginalized group in the Web community, including but not limited to: 
persons identifying as LGBTQ, women, persons of color, and/or persons 
with disabilities; and be unable to attend without some financial 
assistance."

In doing so we risked using the wrong language. In the US "person of 
color" is widely accepted, whereas in Europe any mention of "colour" is 
often regarded as unacceptable. The upshot was that good intentions got 
tangled up in the very sensitive and culturally variable matter of language.

In 2019 we might use something like this instead:

"People applying for a W3C Diversity Scholarship must be from an 
under-represented group within the web community, and be unable to 
attend TPAC without financial assistance."

It also has the happy advantage of making it much easier (and more a

It shouldn't stop us from giving people the option to tell us more if 
they're comfortable doing that, but we should make it clear that not 
identifying will not harm their application in any way.



Léonie.
> 
> Jeff
> 
> On 1/2/2019 4:24 AM, Léonie Watson wrote:
>> Thanks Oana.
>>
>> I'd like to put this proposal to a Call For Consensus (CFC), but it 
>> would be good to get a sense of other people's thoughts on this idea 
>> first.
>>
>> Léonie.
>>
>>
>> On 19/12/2018 18:02, Oana Galbenu wrote:
>>> Sound good to me. And pretty elegant I would say.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Oana
>>>
>>> On Wed, 19 Dec 2018, 19:50 Léonie Watson <tink@tink.uk 
>>> <mailto:tink@tink.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>     I was talking about this with another person recently, and they
>>>     suggested that we may not need to identify individual 
>>> under-represented
>>>     groups, but could just make it clear that the diversity 
>>> scholarship is
>>>     open to anyone who believes they are from an under-represented 
>>> group.
>>>
>>>     It would mean that we don't have to be specific about which
>>>     under-represented groups are included (and which are not), and it
>>>     removes the risk of us excluding anyone because we accidentally left
>>>     their particular group off the list.
>>>
>>>     It would also mean that we don't need to ask people to identify 
>>> which
>>>     under-represented group they belong to.
>>>
>>>     It may mean that some people try to game the system, but W3 is a 
>>> small
>>>     enough community that I think anyone trying to do that would 
>>> quickly be
>>>     found-out.
>>>
>>>     It may also mean that we cannot guarantee diversity within the 
>>> group of
>>>     people selected to receive scholarships, but given the relatively 
>>> small
>>>     number of scholarships likely to be awarded, it may be enough that
>>>     we're
>>>     helping people from any under-represented groups.
>>>
>>>     Thoughts?
>>>
>>>     Léonie.
>>>
>>>
>>>     --     @LeonieWatson tink.uk <http://tink.uk> Carpe diem
>>>
>>
> 

-- 
@LeonieWatson tink.uk Carpe diem

Received on Wednesday, 2 January 2019 15:41:50 UTC