SID2023 Liz Collins Leon - Allyship in Tech: Owning Your Impact

While it is our duty as designers to empathise and advocate for our users, we have a similar role as advocates toward our peers. As we progress through our careers and blaze our own trails, we can pay it forward by creating opportunities for others and using our positions to open doors that would otherwise be closed.

Transcript

1. ALLYSHIP IN TECH
   Owning Your Impact
   Liz Collins León
   

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2. In trying to avoid a work culture that romanticizes
   work-life imbalance and glorifies ‘the struggle’,
   I freelanced my way into enterprise tech.
   G’day, y’all!
   

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3. Using your power, position, or privilege to uplift other people
   that are marginalised, disadvantaged, or subject to frequent
   and unfair treatment.
   Allyship creates Equity
   Gender
   Race
   Age
   Neurodivergence
   Sexuality
   

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4. People are finding success in higher education more than ever, especially
   women with their majority domestic enrolment over the last decade.
   More than just a pay gap
   Australian Bureau of Statistics (2020) & Australian Government Department of Education and Training (2020)
   93% 88%
   Women (20-24) vs Men have attained year 12 or higher
   48% 36%
   Women (24-29) vs Men have a Bachelor’s degree or more
   60%
   2022 University
   Female Enrolment
   

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5. Women are generally better educated, but less
   likely to win the full-time, higher paying jobs
   More than just a pay gap
   Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2021-2022
   Female Male
   Part-time
   Full-time
   Full-time
   

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6. •Remember: Systemic change comes a little at a time.
   •When breaking barriers, a small push can make a big
   impact when made as a collective.
   •Persistent and incremental efforts add up,
   building momentum.
   •Can be as simple as listening or as active as hosting
   forums and conferences.
   Breaking Barriers
   

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7. • My first boss sought Juniors because he valued adaptability
   over skill, and dedicated himself on providing a path for
   subordinates to learn.
   Managing meets mentorship
   • Another used his position of power to even the pay gap and
   promote women to leadership roles, resulting in process
   efficiency and improved team morale.
   • VP started a small lunch group to encourage discussions and
   create a safe space for female and non-binary teammates.
   

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8. Find where you can provide that extra support, and leave a
   positive impact regardless of whether it comes back to you.
   • Extra check-ins so remote teammates have more of a voice.
   • Weaknesses can become strengths with the right project.
   • If you can’t push the plateau, then you need a new
   environment – and maybe a new team.
   Creating opportunities
   

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9. Despite experts and elders advising that I’d need to adopt a
   cut-throat attitude to get anywhere in life, my first break was
   by doing the exact opposite.
   Career built on compassion
   My insistence of running things with a strong sense of
   hospitality and empathy won hearts, even after I’d sowed the
   first seeds.
   

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10. As a Peer:
    • Appreciate others openly and frequently to foster a safe space
    for transparent discussions and feedback.
    • Set up reoccurring events that create regular opportunities to
    share team’s work and achievements (more than stand-ups).
    Knowledge silos are bottlenecks just waiting to happen.
    • Buddy systems are a great way to share knowledge and
    resources to encourage and upskill each other.
    Dotry this at home
    

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11. As a Lead:
    • Find a platform where even the ‘quiet ones’ have a say.
    Company-wide showcases are a great way to amplify
    achievements, but might be too much attention for some.
    • Be on-call support for your team, especially if someone needs
    back-up in meetings to keep feedback objective and fair.
    • During performance review, discuss skill sets as well as
    career paths. Nurturing a new interest could become a
    new talent.
    Dotry this at home
    

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12. As Human Resources:
    • Increase awareness and understanding by facilitating
    sensitivity training with courses about marginalised groups
    that were authored by those same groups.
    • Guard against disparity with regular audits for gaps, such as
    pay, leadership, or race distribution.
    • Actively diversify by seeking talent specifically from
    communities that are underserved at your company.
    • Relying on automation creates gaps of missed potential.
    Dotry this at home
    

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13. 2021-2022 Workplace Data Explorer by
    Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA)
    https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer
    Guide to Allyship by Amélie Lamont
    https://guidetoallyship.com/
    How to Be an Ally by Camille Styles
    https://camillestyles.com/wellness/3-questions-to-turn-allyship-into-action/
    Sourcesand further reading
    

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14. Questions?
    

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