All Ages: How to Build a Movement

Deb Nicholson & Molly de Blanc

#allagesfoss@baconandcoconut

@mmillions

tl;drWe believe that, in order to be successful, the

FOSS movement needs to be diverse and inclusive, bringing together a spectrum of people

from different backgrounds and experiences.

What we’re going to coverWhy we care

What’s going on with age?Solutions we like

Why We Care

Fair Use from The Force Awakens, Copyright Disney

Movement vs Tools

Philosophy vs Development model

GFDL by Ildar Sagdejev from Wikipedia 2009-03-21, Beer brewing bubbles

CC.BY “Zombie Run” by mebrett on Flickr

Diversity & Inclusivity

“Diversity jolts us into cognitive action in ways that homogeneity

simply does not.”

From Scientific American, “How Diversity Makes Us Smarter” by Katherine W. Phillips on October 1st, 2014

“To neutralize exclusion, leaders need to proactively review the access of all groups of

employees to training, professional development, networks, important

committees, nominations for honors, and other opportunities. ”

From Harvard Business Review, “Diversity is Useless Without Inclusivity” by Christine M. Riordan on June 5th, 2014

CC.BY_With Arms Wide Open by Gregg O'Connell

CC.BY.SA by Peretz Partensky, Power Strip on Flickr

What is intersectionality?

Minorities in Techor

Who is a minority in tech?In the US: Everyone who is not a heteronormative, white, man.

In the rest of the world: I don’t know.

Who is a minority in tech?An incomplete list

Gender Race/Ethnicity Background

● women● trans● gender queer● non-binary

● People of Color (POC)● First, Indigenous,

Native People*● Latinx

● people with disabilities● non-college graduates● non-technical education

or skills● people over age 35● working class

IntersectionalityThe mindsets, institutional policies, and behaviors that marginalize one group frequently are or are connected to mindsets, institutional policies that marginalize other groups.

IntersectionalityOppressive institutions are interconnected.

But!

We still need to talk about things separately sometimes.

What’s going on with age?

Tech has an age problem“I want to stress the importance of being young and technical. Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30? I don't know. Young people just have simpler lives. We may not own a car. We may not have family. Simplicity in life allows you to focus on what's important. “

-Mark Zuckerberg, 2007, age 22/23

Tech has an age problem“People under 35 are the people who make change happen, and older entrepreneurs fail to innovate because they are falling back on old habits.”

-Vinod Khosla, 2011, age 56

Tech has an age problemIn 2011, Google reached a multi-million dollar settlement...with Brian Reid... Reid claimed that Google employees made derogatory comments about his age, telling him he was ‘obsolete,’ ‘sluggish,’ and an ‘old fuddy-duddy’ whose ideas were ‘too old to matter.’ Other companies...have gotten themselves in hot water by posting job listings with ‘new grad‘ in the description. In 2013, Facebook settled a case...over a job listing for an attorney that noted ‘Class of 2007 or 2008 preferred.'”

Griswold, Alice. “Former Twitter Employee Sues the Company for Age Discrimination.” Slate.com. (2014)

Tech has an age problemMedian employee age (2012)

Facebook: 26 IBM: 37

Google: 29 Oracle: 38

Apple, Nvidia: 31 HP: 39

payscale.com

The Young (Ones)

Fair Use from The Young Ones, Copyright BBC

The Young (Ones)

Fair use, Koolaid logo

The Young (Ones)

CC.BY.SA, Jade sleeps on the Dell, by Christopher Browns on flickr

The Young (Ones)

CC.BY.SA Birthday Cake by CJ Sorg, from Flickr.com

The Young (Ones)

Fair Use, Wesley Crusher from Star Trek, Copyright Gene Rodenberry

The Young (Ones)

Fair Use from Harry Potter, Copyright Warner Brothers Pictures

The Young (Ones)

Fair use from Hackers United Artists

The Young (Ones)

Some solutions we like

The Olds

Fair Use from The Golden Girls, Copyright AP Photos

Some solutions we like

The Olds"Discriminating against older workers, men and women,

is the one kind of discrimination that seems to be socially acceptable, especially in tech. You have to work

hard to not hire anyone over 30 but just about every startup in Silicon Valley manages to do it."

From a 2015 interview I conducted with 57 year-old woman who works as a systems administrator

Some solutions we like

“I’m too old for this shit.”

Fair Use, Danny Glover as Sgt. Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon

Some solutions we like

The Olds

"Now it is all about how can I use my experience to help

other people work on their big important projects… It is

like my only use is to train people to replace me.”

From a 2015 interview I conducted with 50 year-old woman who works as a software engineer at big data company

VolunteeringFree software is powered by volunteers.

VolunteeringPhoto courtesy of Virginia State Parks. CC-BY

VolunteeringYouths

55% ages 12-18

29 hours per year

64% in youth or religious organizations

250 volunteer hours (over high school) is “not impressive, but laudable.”

Corporation for National and Community Service; Collegeconfidential.com

VolunteeringRetirees

42% aged 65+

96 hours / per year

Many in religious orgs

10% of elderly volunteers accrue >500 hours /per year

Serviceleader.org

Volunteering

VolunteeringYounger people and older people like to use their time to do good.

Some solutions we like

Fair Use from The Force Awakens, Copyright Disney

Some great stuff happening to get young people involved

● Penn Manor● OSU’s Open Source Lab & DevOps bootcamps● Maker Days● Scratch, Minecraft, ???● Kids’ Days at big FOSS conferences

Some great stuff happening to get older people involved

● Outreachy● Opensource.com● edX & Code Academy (& similar programs)● Volunteering with community run conferences

Some stuff that isn’t necessarily age-specific

● Boot Camps● Online Learning● Meet-ups● FOSS conferences

Some stuff that we’d like to see happening

● Ways for kids to do non-code stuff● More places for older people to do non-code stuff;

writing, accounting, event work● More support for Moms returning to the work

force● Youth/Junior affinity groups within communities● All ages social events at FOSS conferences

This is the Important Part

Call to Actionor

Fair Use from Doctor Who, Copyright BBC

Fair Use from Fringe, Copyright Fox

#allagesfoss@mmillions

@baconandcoconut

Questions?

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat