Dissection of Gophers - The Golang Community

In this talk we will start by exloring the Go community with statistics on rate of growth, language comparisons, and diversity. Many people say that technology today as a whole is not diverse, therefore of course you would expect a programming language’s diversity level would be low as well. We will explore the impact diversity has on innovation and creativity. Then looked at solutions other communities have proposed and take notes on what worked well for them and then see if we can implement similar solutions. Lastly we will talk about what Golang can do to become a more approachable, welcoming language as a whole. Let's scrutinize ourselves and see where we can make the most improvements to create a holistic message of inclusivity.

Transcript

1. Dissection of Gophers: The Golang Community ThCasse hhe Cassandra Salisbury
2. Let’s dig in: - Who am I? - What’s up in the world of Go? - Understanding diversity - Tangible solutions!
3. Who am I? @cassandraoid Head of Community + Communications
4. Who am I? @cassandraoid Main Organizer
5. Who am I? @cassandraoid Core team
6. Who am I? @cassandraoid Huge Oakland Raiders Fan
7. Why? Now you know who I am... - Why the interest? - Why this talk?
8. What’s up in the world of Go? @cassandraoid
9. Jan 2015: RedMonk ranks Go @cassandraoid
10. June 2016: RedMonk ranks Go 1.5 years later...
11. Interest over time: A 2 year snapshot @cassandraoid
12. Diversity…. ‘Cause that’s why I’m here right? @cassandraoid
13. What is the importance of diversity? @cassandraoid
14. What is the importance of diversity? - Diverse teams are smarter and more creative @cassandraoid
15. What is the importance of diversity? - Diverse teams are smarter and more creative - Harvard Business Review found compelling evidence that diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth @cassandraoid
16. What is the importance of diversity? - Diverse teams are smarter and more creative - Harvard Business Review found compelling evidence that diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth - Diverse companies can better serve a diverse user base @cassandraoid
17. What is the importance of diversity? - Diverse teams are smarter and more creative - Harvard Business Review found compelling evidence that diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth - Diverse companies can better serve a diverse user base - Diversity attracts talent @cassandraoid
18. What is the importance of diversity? - Diverse teams are smarter and more creative - Harvard Business Review found compelling evidence that diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth - Diverse companies can better serve a diverse user base - Diversity attracts talent - Failure to hire and retain employees from underrepresented backgrounds causes companies to miss out on great talent, and subsequently, innovation. @cassandraoid
19. ...plus, it just makes you feel good to do the right thing... @cassandraoid
20. Why does that matter to Golang? @cassandraoid We all want Golang to continue to progress, grow and thrive, We want to continue to be an innovative language. We want the best talent to participate, it doesn’t matter what that talent looks like.
21. With that said...
22. Where does Go stand in terms of diversity? @cassandraoid
23. But we do have a few stats on women in Tech: @cassandraoid https://www.toptal.com/open-source/is-o pen-source-open-to-women
24. and…. @cassandraoid https://www.toptal.com/open -source/is-open-source-open -to-women
25. And... that 25-30% tech workforce are … not 100% clear.... @cassandraoid https://www.toptal.com/ope n-source/is-open-source-op en-to-women
26. And… there’s things like this... @cassandraoid
27. @cassandraoid
28. http://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/diversity-millennials-boomers/
29. Let’s talk about solutions. We’ve gone over why... What can you do? How do you do it? @cassandraoid
30. What have other languages done?
31. THEY BUILT A BRIDGE @cassandraoid
32. Bridge Foundry Foundation www.bridgefoundry.org
33. Meet GoBridge - We build bridges to educate underrepresented communities to teach technical skills and to foster diversity in Go. @cassandraoid www.golangbridge.org
34. Meet GoBridge - We build bridges to educate underrepresented communities to teach technical skills and to foster diversity in Go. - Core mission: to enable minorities in tech to use Go as a tool to learn and teach programming and, ultimately, to empower underrepresented groups in tech to help increase diversity in the Go community. @cassandraoid www.golangbridge.org
35. Meet GoBridge - We build bridges to educate underrepresented communities to teach technical skills and to foster diversity in Go. - Core mission: to enable minorities in tech to use Go as a tool to learn and teach programming and, ultimately, to empower underrepresented groups in tech to help increase diversity in the Go community. - We believe that, as each individual the Go community strengthens, the collective Go community will, in turn, strengthen as well. @cassandraoid www.golangbridge.org
36. What does GoBridge do? - Facilitates chapters in local communities - Helps build workshop materials for locals to use in their own communities - Oversees the Go Forum - Serves as admins for Gopher slack ….and so much more... - @cassandraoid
37. What can you do? Minimal Commitment Mid-level Commitment Rockstar Commitment - @cassandraoid
38. Minimal commitment: (1-2 hrs/ month) 1. Get on Gophers Slack ….Go to channel “golang-newbies” and answer a couple questions. 2. Go to a Golang meetup, bring someone from an underrepresented group or talk to someone who is there. 3. Read a blog on diversity and educate yourself - then - advocate and distribute on social media. 4. Stand up for someone when you see a microaggression taking place, either in public or later with the aggressor. @cassandraoid
39. Medium commitment: (3-4 hrs/ month) 1. Volunteer with GoBridge as a teacher at a workshop 2. Write a blog post to help newbies with Go 3. Have a meeting with your team about diversity and what it means to them, where can you improve? 4. Encourage your company to sponsor a GoBridge event and reach out to local organizers or GoBridge core team. Or or donate to the cause! @cassandraoid
40. Rockstar commitment: (2 hrs/ week) 1. Start a GoBridge chapter in your community 2. Contribute to curriculum for learning Go 3. Organize a GoBridge workshop in your community @cassandraoid
41. @cassandraoid
42. Thank you! @cassandraoid Special thanks to my Netlify team for supporting the Go Community (and me!). To many of the women and under-represented people I asked to share personal experiences. To everyone who inspired me at Gophercon this past summer to develop this kind of talk. To Renee French for our amazing mascot! ...and of course to the organizers of GothamGo!
43. Questions? @cassandraoid