The "Open Source Diversity" site[1] that Shane mentioned elsethread led me to the "Contributor Covenant" site[2] which also has a FAQ[3] which, in my limited experience, seems pretty good and is "CC BY 4.0 License" [4]
Niall [1] https://opensourcediversity.org/ [2] https://www.contributor-covenant.org/ <https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq> [3] https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq [4] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ On Mon, May 13, 2019 at 9:14 PM Patricia Shanahan <p...@acm.org> wrote: > The first and most important question is something along the lines of: > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > Q: Apache does everything by e-mail. I do not know or care about the > race, ethnicity, gender, age, weight, or any other personal > characteristics of other contributors. Why are diversity and inclusion > relevant issues for Apache? > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > Here are some elements that I think should be covered in the answer. At > this point, I am going for the big picture. Please suggest improvements > and fix errors. > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > 1. Subconscious bias: You know the name the contributor uses. In > addition, you may know their time zone and, from how quotes are > introduced, the language in which they do most of their e-mail interaction. > > Research indicates that merely changing the name on a resume can affect > the probability of a call back. Although the results could in theory be > explained by deliberate racism and sexism, they seem more likely to be > due to subconscious bias. > > 2. It is not all e-mail: Apache contributors meet at open source > conferences, specialty technical conferences, and local gatherings. Not > being able to participate without fearing discrimination would itself be > discouraging. > > 3. Unintentional insult through stereotypes: This is a bigger risk in > e-mail than in face-to-face interactions. > > I had someone on a mailing list use "try to explain X to someone's > aunt", where X was a difficult technical point, as an example of > futility. It invoked a stereotype of older women as lacking computer > science comprehension. As it happens, I already had two adult nephews > when I got my PhD in computer science. The writer would probably not > have said what they did in a live conversation including a grey-haired > woman. > > 4. Misuse of pronouns: If you know someone's preferred pronouns you know > something about their gender, and subconscious gender discrimination > becomes possible. If you don't, you may be making them cringe every time > you refer to them in an e-mail. > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: diversity-unsubscr...@apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: diversity-h...@apache.org > >
