{"id":688,"date":"2014-11-06T12:11:21","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T20:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3.209.169.194\/blogs\/erin\/?p=688"},"modified":"2017-04-13T09:19:25","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T16:19:25","slug":"pass-summit-2014-wit-lunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/erin\/pass-summit-2014-wit-lunch\/","title":{"rendered":"PASS Summit 2014: WIT Lunch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two posts from me in one day?\u00a0 What’s up with that?!\u00a0 Well, today at the PASS Summit we also have the WIT luncheon<\/a>, where Kimberly Bryant, who is the founder of Black Girls CODE, will be speaking.\u00a0 I am live-blogging this event as well, so watch this post for updates starting around 12:15PM EST.\u00a0 If you want to learn more about Black Girls CODE, check out this MSNBC interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

12:15PM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Denise McInerney is introduced first – she asks how many people were at the first WIT lunch, back in 2002 (I am pretty sure Denise has been a part of WIT since its inception – a long-time leader within the community).\u00a0 The WIT luncheon has grown a lot in the past 10+ years – today’s lunch has over 900 attendees.\u00a0 Denise brings out Kimberly Bryant – such a different setting this year, just Denise and Kimberly on stage.\u00a0 Denise is going to ask a few questions, then open it up to the audience and people watching on PASStv – you can tweet your questions and include the #passwit hash tag.<\/p>\n

Black Girls CODE is a non-profit organization started in the Bay Area in 2011.\u00a0 What really drove Kimberly to make a change when she recognized that her daughter, who was 12 at the time, might be following in her footsteps.\u00a0 Never thought her daughter was an engineer.\u00a0 But she was a heavy gamer (World of Warcraft, D&D) and spent a lot of time on the computer.\u00a0 Her daughter was at the age where she could learn and create with a computer – and that was a life-changing moment for her.\u00a0 Her daughter first wanted to grow up and be a game tester \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 Once she went up to a programming camp, she saw that the environment actually allowed her to create, not just be a participant.\u00a0 As a parent, Kimberly noticed that she was only one of three girls at the summer camp, and the only person of color at the camp (out of about 40 campers total).\u00a0 At that point, Kimberly knew she had to make a difference, not just for her daughter, but for other daughters.<\/p>\n

Question from Denise: “Why is still so hard to get girls and young women interested in technology?”\u00a0 Kimberly cites a Girl Scout study that showed tha tif you surveyed girls BEFORE they get to middle school, over half the girls show an interest in STEM, but by the time they get to high school it’s less than 5%.\u00a0 In some cases, girls don’t have support from parents and teachers.\u00a0 There are fewer opportunities for girls to flex the STEM skills.\u00a0 Kimberly says she hates the pink aisle.\u00a0 Do Legos need to be pink?\u00a0 (ES: They don’t, I grew up without pink or purple Legos and played with them all the time.)<\/em><\/p>\n

What type of programs does Black Girls CODE run?\u00a0 The secret sauce is the environment of girls in the environment to do coding and engineering and they have relatable leadership – the women that come in to teach the programs.\u00a0 Over 75-80% of the instructors are women.\u00a0 They are reflections of what the girls can become, and that gives the girls the ability to see the possibility.\u00a0 Kimberly had a counselor who said, ‘You’re good in math and science, you should go into engineering.”\u00a0 Kimberly didn’t know what that looked like – what does an engineer do, what do they look like?\u00a0 But if you’re able to actually see that, suddenly you have an idea of what you can really do.<\/p>\n

Denise asked what languages are taught via Black Girls CODE?\u00a0 Kimberly explained that in the beginning they didn’t know what the girls would be willing to learn, so it was open in the beginning.\u00a0 The goal was to always teach them Ruby – and Kimberly had a core team that knew Ruby.\u00a0 Also did some testing with Python, but do a lot with open source learning.\u00a0 Have also started to talk to organizations about coding – she has talked with Lynn Langit, and Lynn’s program (Teaching Kids Programmin<\/a>g) teaches Java.<\/p>\n

Question from Denise: How can people who want to bring STEM education to kids get started doing that?\u00a0 There are so many opportunities for technology professionals.\u00a0 We are at the beginning of this code movement – but we are lacking in teachers that can teach these skills.\u00a0 Look for opportunities to give back in the school district where your kids are.\u00a0 We need more than after-school programs and camps.\u00a0 Black Girls CODE has over 2000 volunteers across the US, there are multiple chapters.\u00a0 There is a need to talk to students and parents about what we (as women) do in our careers.\u00a0 (ES: I find it interesting that she mentioned that parents need to hear that discussion as well.)<\/p>\n

Kimberly believes that kids can start learning about technology at grade 1.\u00a0 (ES: I agree – my kids have had a tech class since kindergarten.\u00a0 Last year, as a 3rd grader, my son put together a PowerPoint presentation.)<\/em>\u00a0 Starting to introduce technology in high school is too late.\u00a0 We need computer science to be counted as a high school credit – it shouldn’t take the place of math or science, it’s in addition.<\/p>\n

Denise: Many companies have released diversity statistics.\u00a0 Does Kimberly talk to attendees about the culture of tech and what it might be like to have a career in tech.\u00a0 Kimberly states that they do – they try to prepare students to be active participants, and also prepare them for what challenges they might face within the data environment.\u00a0 Changing the community is not quick thing – it’s a continual effort and requires some difficult conversations (then followed by action).<\/p>\n

Over half of the women who enter tech fields drop out at the half way point.\u00a0 Kimberly says she can relate to this personally.\u00a0 She understands what it’s like to get in to the career and then see the glass ceiling.\u00a0 Often, women don’t have the support network to break through that glass ceiling.\u00a0 The role of mentors, sponsors, and advocates is so<\/strong> important.\u00a0 On average, most women CEOs come to one company and stay there for 20+ years – that’s how the majority of women CEOs get there.\u00a0 Women need to stay in the pipeline longer in order to get to the top – but a welcoming and positive environment will help.\u00a0 Advocates and sponsors for women, within those communities, are needed.\u00a0 Need more male advocates and mentors to help women get to the next level.\u00a0 Also, women need to be willing to take the risk to get to that next level.<\/p>\n

Denise opens up the discussion for questions from the audience.\u00a0 It’s mentioned that only 15% of attendees here at PASS Summit are women.\u00a0 (ES: Really?\u00a0 15%?)<\/em><\/p>\n

One of themes from today and Kimberly’s message: mentors are needed.\u00a0 Both and male and female.\u00a0 Kids need role models, college students need them, women in technology need them.\u00a0 (ES: I’d argue that everyone needs a mentor.\u00a0 Ask yourself: can you be a mentor to someone?\u00a0 I bet you can.\u00a0 And don’t be afraid to go ask for – seek out – a mentor for yourself.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Work culture cited as a top reason that women leave technology.\u00a0 How do we change that?\u00a0 Kimberly says to hire more women.\u00a0 If there’s a company with its heart in diversity, and there’s isolation in the company still, need to change it from the ground up and from the top down, and to do that, need to get more women into the organization.\u00a0 (ES: That’s not a complete answer, in my opinion, I think it’s more than just getting more women into a company.\u00a0 You have to understand what the barrier is – what’s the resistance?\u00a0 Then, you need to figure out how to change that.\u00a0 And I don’t know if it’s a one-size-fits-all in terms of the barrier – there might be a huge variety of barriers.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Input from an attendee: go to local school career fairs and talk about IT.\u00a0 The issue isn’t having to choose between two candidates, it’s trying to get one qualified candidate.<\/p>\n

Jes asks how we can get kids to understand that technology skills are important – they’re not just a degree.\u00a0 Kimberly – we agree, technology skills provide just one tool in a person’s toolkit.\u00a0 This is why it’s important to get computer science into school, so then it becomes a tool that they can use as they’re learning science, math, and even in non-science courses.<\/p>\n

As women we need to be advocates for each other.\u00a0 (ES: Agreed, we do.)<\/p>\n

Kalen has a challenge to parents: talk to your boys about smart women and how they’re not someone to fear.<\/p>\n

One of my mentors, Allen White, stands up to ask a question.\u00a0 Allen has been in IT for 40 years.\u00a0 He asks, “What can I focus on so I don’t make “bad” choices, since I am not a female, nor a person of color?”\u00a0 Kimberly tells him to be cognizant, make his company inclusive, to help someone who’s “different” from him.\u00a0 He’s done all that \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two posts from me in one day?\u00a0 What’s up with that?!\u00a0 Well, today at the PASS Summit we also have the WIT luncheon, where Kimberly Bryant, who is the founder of Black Girls CODE, will be speaking.\u00a0 I am live-blogging this event as well, so watch this post for updates starting around 12:15PM EST.\u00a0 If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPASS Summit 2014: WIT Lunch - Erin Stellato<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At the 2014 PASS Summit, attendees of the WIT luncheon have the privilege of hearing Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls CODE, speak.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sqlskills.com\/blogs\/erin\/pass-summit-2014-wit-lunch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PASS Summit 2014: WIT Lunch - 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