Inclusiveness in Tech Spaces: Examples from Bio-IT

This talk was given at the InterMine Community Outreach Call on June 6th, 2019
Video: https://youtu.be/jXvZ7P9tjok?t=1560

Complete notes from the call: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VhfFbOwx95UZP-sRDVib8HNGPCXCfnpDVGh8VAbeI0c/edit

Transcript

1. Malvika Sharan Computational Biologist & Community Outreach Coordinator Inclusiveness in Open Science Community Outreach Call, 06.06.2019
2. Malvika Sharan Computational Biologist & Community Outreach Coordinator Inclusiveness in ‘Tech Spaces’ Community Outreach Call, 06.06.2019
3. About me • Computational biologist in European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) 1
4. About me • Computational biologist in European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) • PhD in bioinformatics (RNA and infection biology), Germany (2016) 1
5. About me • Computational biologist in European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) • PhD in bioinformatics (RNA and infection biology), Germany (2016) • 9 years in bioinformatics field 1
6. About me • Computational biologist in European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) • PhD in bioinformatics (RNA and infection biology), Germany (2016) • 9 years in bioinformatics field • 4 years in computational teaching and outreach 1
7. About me • Computational biologist in European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) • PhD in bioinformatics (RNA and infection biology), Germany (2016) • 9 years in bioinformatics field • 4 years in computational teaching and outreach • Currently working full time in community outreach and training 1
9. The Global Scientific Community 3
10. Lack of “global-ness” 4
11. Lack of “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering are more relevant globally than ever • the research focus around the world is different. 4 Adapted from: https://globalscience.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/global_engagement
12. Lack of “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering are more relevant globally than ever • the research focus around the world is different. • Technical exchange facilitates advancement of the technologies • inaccessible to those who lack resources. 4 Adapted from: https://globalscience.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/global_engagement
13. Lack of “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering are more relevant globally than ever • the research focus around the world is different. • Technical exchange facilitates advancement of the technologies • inaccessible to those who lack resources. • Inclusion of diverse skills, background and experiences impacts outcome • lack of inclusive technologies. 4 Adapted from: https://globalscience.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/global_engagement
14. Lack of “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering are more relevant globally than ever • the research focus around the world is different. • Technical exchange facilitates advancement of the technologies • inaccessible to those who lack resources. • Inclusion of diverse skills, background and experiences impacts outcome • lack of inclusive technology. • Training facilitates skill transfer and use of technologies • not everyone is benefitting from the technical solutions. 4 Adapted from: https://globalscience.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/global_engagement
15. Improving “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering • should address more problems. • Technical exchange • shouldn’t be limited by resources. • Inclusion of diversity • develop inclusive technologies. • Training opportunities • builds wider user-/learner-/contributor-base. 4
16. Found a compromise in Open Science “Make research resources available online without price barriers and without most permission barriers.” – Suber et. al., 2012 5
17. ‘Open Science is an umbrella term that involves various movements to remove barriers from sharing scientific resources at all stages of research’ (FOSTER Project, European Union) Image by @smile_97 on Unsplash 6
18. ‘Open Science is an umbrella term that involves various movements to remove barriers from sharing scientific resources at all stages of research’ (FOSTER Project, European Union) Open Access Open Source Citizen Science Education resources Scientific Networks Peer Review Notebooks Open Data … 6 Image by @smile_97 on Unsplash
19. What is inclusiveness? 7 https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/joining-hands
20. “…inclusion of individuals or groups who were previously excluded” Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Inclusiveness is.. 7 https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/joining-hands
21. “…inclusion of individuals or groups who were previously excluded” “...measured in terms of eligibility, opportunities, and involvement in decision- making and leadership” Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Inclusiveness is.. 7 https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/joining-hands
22. “…inclusion of individuals or groups who were previously excluded” “...measured in terms of eligibility, opportunities, and involvement in decision- making and leadership” “...achieved when members share and not compete for resources or power” Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Inclusiveness is.. 7 https://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/joining-hands
23. Image by @aaronburden on Unsplash Diversity, Inclusion & Inclusiveness 8
24. Image by @huuduong, on Unsplash 9 Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) go hand in hand
25. Image by @huuduong, on Unsplash 9 Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) go hand in hand Diversity is the about “attracting different people” of diverse skills, backgrounds, and experiences to work together
26. Image by @huuduong, on Unsplash 9 Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) go hand in hand Diversity is the about “attracting different people” of diverse skills, backgrounds, and experiences to work together Inclusion is about “empowering them” by providing an environment that brings the best of combined skills, backgrounds and experiences
27. Inclusion vs Inclusiveness 8 Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Image by @aaronburden on Unsplash
28. Inclusion • Process by which a community values, includes and involves diversity to improve its well-being Inclusion vs Inclusiveness 8 Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Image by @aaronburden on Unsplash
29. Inclusion • Process by which a community values, includes and involves diversity to improve its well-being Inclusion vs Inclusiveness 8 Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Inclusiveness • Outcomes of inclusive policies and actions undertaken in a diverse community to improve its well-being Image by @aaronburden on Unsplash
30. Inclusion • Process by which a community values, includes and involves diversity to improve its well-being • Aims towards providing access to community resources to achieve social equality Inclusion vs Inclusiveness 8 Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Inclusiveness • Outcomes of inclusive policies and actions undertaken in a diverse community to improve its well-being Image by @aaronburden on Unsplash
31. Inclusion • Process by which a community values, includes and involves diversity to improve its well-being • Aims towards providing access to community resources to achieve social equality Inclusion vs Inclusiveness 8 Ref: C. Talmage and R. C. Knopf, Springer International Publishing AG 2017, New Dimensions in Community Well-Being Inclusiveness • Outcomes of inclusive policies and actions undertaken in a diverse community to improve its well-being • Aims towards achieving diversity in community leadership and decision makers Image by @aaronburden on Unsplash
32. https://unsplash.com/photos/IM0GHpsjJic How are these affecting tech spaces? 10
33. 11 https://www.visualcapitalist.com/gender-diversity-bottom-line/ Why D&I?
34. 11 https://www.visualcapitalist.com/gender-diversity-bottom-line/ 2018 Statistics from big tech-companies with their employees working internationally. Efforts in Tech Industries Why D&I?
35. 12 Are (these) efforts making a difference? Perceived success of the current efforts
36. 12 Can we improve this? Perceived success of the current efforts Are (these) efforts making a difference?
37. https://unsplash.com/photos/nUBb39hjAYg Lack of individual efforts can affect overall inclusiveness 13
38. Open R&D efforts democratizes accessibility and engagement in research 14
39. Open R&D efforts democratizes accessibility and engagement in research but it can’t assure that it will happen. 14
40. Open R&D efforts democratizes accessibility and engagement in research but it can’t assure that it will happen. In fact it is inaccessible and unwelcoming to many 14
41. Open R&D efforts democratizes accessibility and engagement in research but it can’t assure that it will happen. In fact it is inaccessible and unwelcoming to many - both who experience it and who can change it. 14
42. Open R&D efforts democratizes accessibility and engagement in research but it can’t assure that it will happen. In fact it is inaccessible and unwelcoming to many - both who experience it and who can change it. 14
43. Improving “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering • should address more problems. • Technical exchange • shouldn’t be limited by resources. • Inclusion of diversity • develops inclusive technologies. • Training • builds wider user-/learner-/contributor-base. 15
44. Improving “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering • should address more problems. • Technical exchange • shouldn’t be limited by resources. • Inclusion of diversity • develop inclusive technologies. • Training opportunities • builds wider *-base. 15 Stuff you are awesome at
45. Improving “global-ness” in tech communities • Science and engineering • should address more problems. • Technical exchange • shouldn’t be limited by resources. • Inclusion of diversity • develop inclusive technologies. • Training opportunities • builds wider *-base. Stuff you are awesome at Stuff you can learn and use to make your work even better
46. A few examples from my work
47. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Image copyright: EMBL EMBL is a Flagship in Europe that serves as a model for organisational structure in other research institutions
48. Austria 1974 Denmark 1974 France 1974 Germany 1974 Israel 1974 Italy 1974 Netherlands 1974 Sweden 1974 Australia 2008 Argentina 2014 India 2018 Switzerland 1974 United Kingdom 1974 Finland 1984 Greece 1984 Norway 1985 Spain 1986 Belgium 1990 Portugal 1998 Member States 24 Associate Member States Ireland 2003 Iceland 2005 Croatia 2006 Luxembourg 2007 Czech Republic 2014 Malta 2016 Hungary 2017 Slovakia 2018 Poland 2014 Lithuania 2015 Prospect Member States EMBL Member States
49. Bio-IT – Bioinformatics community platform in EMBL Toby Hodges Project Manager
50. Bio-IT – Bioinformatics community platform in EMBL Image by: Toby Hodges, Bio-IT, EMBL Training Technical exchange Bioinformatics 1 research D&I efforts
51. Community Outreach & Training Deputy Training Coordinator of ELIXIR Germany • Provide training in computational skills and protein bioinformatics • Develop strategies for community engagements and equity • Cooperate with other computational and open source communities
52. Bio-IT – Training efforts Course Overview • Introductory courses for biologists to gain computational skills • Advanced courses for learners to improve their skills
53. Bio-IT – Training efforts Course Overview • Introductory courses for biologists to gain computational skills • Advanced courses for learners to improve their skills • Including external participants to connect with other researchers
54. Bio-IT – Inclusive efforts Course Overview • Introductory courses for biologists to gain computational skills • Advanced courses for learners to improve their skills • Including external participants to connect with other researchers • Opportunities for volunteers to teach and gain experience • Teaching in external institutes to improve visibility
55. Bio-IT – D&I efforts • Taskforce meeting with volunteers • Community Assessment to understand needs • Computational capacity assessment • Frequent social events (pizza & beer!) • Regular drop-in sessions • Coffee with individuals • Annual ‘Thank you BBQ’ • Hackathon!!!
56. Involving Local Community Beyond Bio-IT Informal open events on science and related topics
57. Bringing Global Perspective to Bio-IT Volunteer since 2015 Mozilla Open Leader 7 SSI Fellow 2019-20 Supporting since 2012
58. Basic lab skills for scientific computing Skills to work effectively with Open Access data Foundational coding and data science skills for researchers worldwide Adapted from the slides provided by Tracy Teal, Director of The Carpentries For Library Professionals International Computational Community
59. Data and images by Kari Jordan, Director of Assessment and Community Equity > 1500 instructors from 44 countries >37000 learners >1400 workshops
60. Co-organized the 1st CarpentryCon conference for 125 international members “Feeling of belonging!” “We are all nerds wanting to help each other.” Join us as trainer, mentor, mentee, developer, CoC… https://carpentries.org
61. Digital Storytelling for Shaping Culture • Creating more diverse opportunities • Understand the reward system for the community members • Create sustainable resources to facilitate participation
62. Developing accessible training strategies in smaller communities • Developing central learning resources to enable peer-to-peer learning • Reducing dependencies on training conducted by advanced researchers • Contributing to the community engagement and sustainability
64. 64 Brings isolated bioinformaticians together and creates space for them to feel welcomed and appreciated for their work and ideas!
65. X Image by @dtravisphd on Unsplash My notes on promoting inclusiveness
66. Design inclusive solutions by inviting diverse perspectives Image by @ktabori on unsplash
67. • Recruit diverse collaborators and employees. • Reach out to the members from external communities. • Understand your own limitations and list them out. • Be Genuine! https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/guide-web-content-accessibility/ What can we do to gain wider perspective? “[Aim to] give your users the best experience possible regardless of limitations or disabilities.”
68. Image by @illumire on unsplash Actively share your work with others
69. There are several ways! • Develop sustainable tools • Create accessible resources • Create learning materials • Teach a skill • Run a coding club • Learn about policy (specially about the different groups) • Support pro-open-research movements • …
70. Image by @rvignes on Unsplash Support, recommend, acknowledge, advertise, nominate and motivate each other. Be an Ally.
71. Valerie Aurora Ally Skills Teacher @frameshiftllc Slide source: Valerie’s talk: “Focus on Ally”
72. https://unsplash.com/photos/DoA2duXyzRM Shape the culture by engaging with your community 48
73. Shape policies 49
74. @malvikasharan Thank you. malvikasharan@gmail.com