FAQs

Welcome to the Ansible Diversity Community Wiki! Here are answers to some common questions you might have, and resources you can use to learn more.

Why is there so little diversity in technology?

There are a number of reasons that there is so little diversity in technology. There is also the need to step back and examine the question itself. Representation of diverse communities will vary by country or region so there's not one answer. For example, there may be better representation of women or people of color in tech in other countries (for example, China or India). That being said, that does not mean other countries are not without their own local diversity issues.

As to why there are fewer women and minorities in tech roles in the US specifically, it is a combination of multiple factors. The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) produces a report (pdf link) that examines these trends.

Further, 56% of women will leave the industry by mid-career. Reasons for this include hitting a glass ceiling, harassment, bias, and discrimination.

A reason that many Black and Latinx folx struggle to make it in technology include systemic racism within recruiting and education, systemic socioeconomic inequity within U.S. society, harassment, bias, and discrimination. A good resource that begins to scratch the surface of this issue can be found here: http://www.code2040.org/faq

Our goal is to understand the impact and importance of diversity in our own organizations as it relates to our global community.

What do all the letters in LGBTQIA+ mean and why are there so many letters?

There isn’t really one standard response but a common definition includes: Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Queer/Questioning Intersex Asexual (Ace)

Some folks may be more familiar with the abbreviation LGBT. So why has this acronym grown?

Additions to the initialism are inclusive of other gender minorities and sexual orientations that are not specifically Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and/or Transgender. As language has evolved to enable these individuals to better express themselves and their identities, new terms have been added. This evolution is recent (within a generation or so) and ongoing, and we will likely see it continue to evolve.

What are pronouns and why do they matter? How do I use them?

Merriam-Webster defines Pronouns as: any of a small set of words in a language that are used as substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and whose referents are named or understood in the context

As the HRC states: Nothing may be more personal than the way in which people refer to us through our name and pronouns. Using a person’s chosen name and desired pronouns is a form of mutual respect and basic courtesy. Everyone deserves to have their self-ascribed name and pronouns respected in the workplace.

Examples of English-language personal pronouns include: she/her/hers, he/him/his, and they/them/theirs. When a person provides you with their pronouns you should use them whenever referring to that individual.

I talked to Alice about that bug, she is working on a patch already so I’m going to wait for her to open a pull request. Bob reported the issue, so I’ll ask him to test the patch and see if he can still reproduce the bug. Jamie said that they will have time to look at the pull request tomorrow, it’s already in their review queue.