Re: Diversity scholarship: Identifying under-represented groups

Sorry for the delayed reply. I think we get some value from implying
people should explain why they are a valid recipient, but I know
(from specific anecdote) that pre-identifying groups we thought were
valid recipients caused eventual recipients to question their eligibility  
when applying.

So I like the motivation for the proposal.

Reading through some of the material Deborah offered, I wonder if there is  
an approach we can take that tries to split the difference, something  
along the lines of the following (but better worded - I can see issues  
already here...):

[[[
The purpose of the scholarships are to increase diversity of perspectives  
offered in discussion, by supporting attendance from people who otherwise  
could not participate in the event. The selection criteria will focus on  
bringing new or under-represented individual perspectives rather than  
attempting to balance the presence of specific "groups" or communities.

To apply, you will be asked to provide a couple of sentences explaining  
the perspectives you bring, and the specific meetings you intend to  
participate in.

As typical for many US-headquartered technical organisations, there are  
many under-represented communities in W3C. Communities who are obviously  
who are under-represented include women, people from Africa, the Middle  
East, Central and South America, Central, South and South-East Asia,  
refugees and people providing support to refugees, and people with  
disabilities - especially those who need support for an assistant or carer.

The program is still experimental, and we encourage feedback on what works  
well and what needs improvement to help us achieve our goals. This is  
welcome either anonymously or as a public contribution.
]]]

cheers

Chaals

On Wed, 02 Jan 2019 10:24:47 +0100, Léonie Watson <tink@tink.uk> 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
>>
>


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Received on Wednesday, 2 January 2019 22:03:45 UTC