![Cover image for [On-Demand Talk] Docs For Equity - Teaching Our Way Out Of Impostor Syndrome](https://community.codenewbie.org/images/zuUFmFTJbPPAkmSrLDZ6HE7hm8fYIjJImFZLEdD5t5c/rs:fill:1000:420/g:sm/mb:500000/ar:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb21t/dW5pdHkuY29kZW5l/d2JpZS5vcmcvcmVt/b3RlaW1hZ2VzL3Vw/bG9hZHMvYXJ0aWNs/ZXMvN2RjcGd1c2My/cThhMTVyZTc2ZTMu/cG5n)
About this talk
What we call "Imposter Syndrome" is often not really that at all - for many people, workplace anxiety and feelings of isolation and exclusion are the result of systemic bias and discrimination. These are problems for the industry and community to address, not individuals. I am suggesting one tool (though many are needed) to help build a more inclusive tech industry. As a former teacher, I apply the principles of Culturally Responsive Teaching to my technical writing, and in this talk, I explain why and how that works.
Takeaways
- The tech industry has an enormous diversity and inclusivity problem, but platitudes aren't helping us when the problems are so deep-seated.
- People's early experiences in the tech industry often include being told to "Read the docs!", only to find that the docs are implicitly and explicitly biased.
- We can do better, and the principles of Culturally Responsive Teaching provide a framework to create docs that better meet the needs of marginalized communities in tech.
Slides
>> Click here to download slides
🌈 Comment below and ask me questions — I might just answer them during my live speaker discussion!
About Julia Seidman
Julia is a believer in the careen, rather than the career. After studying anthropology and writing a senior thesis on the ethics of museum collections of human skeletal remains, she took the job she could get: fundraising for a hospital. From there, she became a financial analyst and employee educator for 401k plans. Then, after getting her Master's in education, she taught high school English and ESL for most of a decade. Now, she is a technical content marketing consultant and developer.
This on-demand talk is part of CodeLand 2021 — a virtual conference brought to you by CodeNewbie & DEV on September 23 & 24, 2021.
Latest comments (56)
In your video (starting at the 7:03 mark), you indirectly reference “Learn Python the Hard Way" by Zed Shaw and state "... i was blown away by blatant homophobia, transphobia and misogyny throughout the book." While I am not a fan of this style of teaching/learning, I have previously glanced through his book and don't recall seeing what you claim. Would you be so kind to point these out in his book?
Such a great talk, @juliaseid !
I agree that documentations have to be accessible for everyone and shouldn't caused imposter syndrome in any way.
Wow this was such an eye opener for me. Thank you for this talk!
Hi! Reminder that if you have any questions for @juliaseid to drop them here! We'll address these questions in the live speaker discussion. 📣
I will definitely be going back to rewatch this talk.
As a student I often felt confused by documentation and always thought that it was due to a lack of knowledge and understanding on my part. It was really frustrating and discouraging. But now, as a junior dev I work closely with senior devs and I sometimes see them frustrated and confused by docs and it's finally made me realize that sometimes the docs are just bad. It has nothing to do with my level of knowledge and understanding. And that has been encouraging.
Thank you, great talk!
Thanks for this talk, Julia! I appreciate the reminder that the main purpose is to help others with our docs, not build up our antihero image!
Thank you for this talk! This is such an important topic -- when I started working as a new developer, the lack of access to well-written docs further contributed to my impostor syndrome. It has since made me passionate to write docs that are easier to read and more accessible to all devs.
A must-read: opensource.com/business/15/5/write...
That is a fantastic resource! Thanks so much for sharing!
I'm so going to re-watch this. Thanks Julia!
Hi @juliaseid what advice do you have for other queer developers navigating the hetreo-normative tech company workplace?
Whoops, I thought I had replied to this before!
This is a link to the article about Employee Resource Groups that I mentioned during the panel: protocol.com/workplace/employee-re...
Basically, I think my advice is to find community, but find it outside your workplace. There are a lot of great organizations in the tech community (like Code Newbie or Virtual Coffee) that offer support and community.
In general, I've found it's much easier to be open about my identity and my family in this industry than in finance or public education, where I came from, but that's not at all the same as saying we're doing a good job. I also have the privilege of "passing" very easily - my queer family looks very hetero-normative - and that means I've always had the choice of whether to be open about it. I thus don't feel all that comfortable speaking for LGBTQ folks as a whole.
Still, I do think there are more opportunities to find support for queer folks in tech than you might expect, especially if you reach outside your workplace. And, as this article alludes to, relying on a company-sanctioned, company-supported group has some serious potential drawbacks.
Thanks for sending a link to the article and for replying! I worked for a large aerospace company in Iowa, and there were ERGs for different communities including one for LGBTQ folks. I'm always curious about people's experiences in the workplace, so I'm glad you elaborated on this!
Docs can be soooo overwhelming as a new developer. This talk definitely opened my eyes to realize it is common for everyone to feel this way. Also thank you for discussing inclusion. That was a great talk Julia! :)
That was really useful advice! Thanks @juliaseid
Thank you Julia for bringing your advocacy for documentation as a means of inclusion and equity.
This is an amazing perspective on writing documentation! I'm wondering if anyone has come across any examples of docs that are written in the inclusive, engaging, and respectful style that Julia describes here. I'd love to see (and use!) technologies that are making an effort in this area.
Thanks for a great talk! :)
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