gendered language and anti-jerk template

[99]

Hi,

As a follow-up to the gendered language problem I was having the other
day, here's a comment that I submitted with my course evaluation, and
forwarded to the training coordinator at work who set up the class. I
wanted to share it in case you ever need a template for a strongly
worded reaction to similarly exclusionary behavior in an IT context.
Thanks to all for your input.

Side note: Don't piss off The Steph.

<Commercial software company> absolutely must review its inclusion
policies. Both the instructor and the learning materials overwhelmingly
referred to technical people as male. In the courseware, men's names
are used almost exclusively where usernames are needed. The
instructor's lack of inclusion was absolutely inexcusable. I mentioned
this in a casual way early in the class in an attempt to defuse the
situation early in a personal, friendly way, and he did acknowledge the
error and apologize, but subsequently there was no change. He
persistently referred to admins as "Windows guys", "Linux guys", and
even "the SAN dude".

This kind of anachronistic, gendered language is as irritating,
dismissive, and inaccurate as it is unprofessional. It was so
distracting that I found it difficult to concentrate on the material.
After a day or two, it started to sound actively antagonistic, which is
bad for customer relations. Be sure I will make this known to other
potential students. With over a decade in the computer industry, I have
had more than enough of this locker room mentality. Note that this is
not only a women's issue--this irritates men as well, and sets a hostile
tone in a field that already struggles to attract diverse talent. I
urge <software company> in the strongest terms to review these issues in
trainer training and throughout the organization.

To help transition to better, more accurate, and more inclusive
language, here are some easy substitutions:
"Folks" instead of "guys" -- "How many folks (not guys) are running
version 3.5?"
"You" instead of "you guys" -- "Make sure to check this setting before
you (not you guys) start the server."
"People" instead of "guys" -- "This should be familiar to your Linux
people (not Linux guys)."
"Admins" instead of "dudes" -- "When you're setting up the storage, you
might have to coordinate with your SAN admin (not SAN dude)."

As you can see, these changes are trivial to make, easy to get used to,
do not make speech sound stilted or awkward, and make a huge difference
in creating a relaxed but inclusive and professional setting in which
all students can learn more effectively. I'll conclude with this
classic from XKCD which encapsulates the problem with exclusion in the
IT community:
http://xkcd.com/322/

A copy of this comment has been sent to the coordinator of Technology
Training Services at the <employer>.

[Julia R. Pellicciaro]

Well said, Steph! And nice touch by closing with a bit of classic XKCD
humor.

// Julia


Julia Pellicciaro
{ passion:purpose:integrity
tweet :: twitter.com/juropel
blog :: interfaceinyerface.com
}

Sent from my iPhone—Please excuse any brevity or typos.
484/680.0226

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