From our first lines of code onward, we are bombarded with well-meaning advice on How To Tech Right. Often, this includes “owning your ignorance” and “squashing your ego” in order to embrace a learning mindset. But we also frequently tell people, particularly women and minorities in tech, to “own their expertise” and not be afraid to confidently stake their claim as a programmer. The fight between impostor & entitlement syndromes has left us with a confusing assortment of advice we dole out to beginners and vets alike: be humble but be confident, be a novice but an expert.
So what can we do with this incongruity? Is there a way to find balance? Or do we need to rethink our guidance model altogether? In this talk, I’ll examine the impact our advice has on disadvantaged groups in tech and explore ways in which we can move the onus of change from the impacted individuals onto the community very large.
23. @devdame
‣ How often have you been told to “own
your ignorance” or something similar?
‣ How often have you been told to “own
your expertise” or something similar?
‣ Where have you heard this?
‣ Do you think these pieces of advice are
helpful?
24. @devdame
WHO TOOK THE SURVEY?
‣ 217 responses
‣ 135 women
‣ 70 men
‣ 5 non-binary people
‣ 22 people of color
‣ 32 LGBTQA people
26. @devdame
HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD TO
“OWN YOUR IGNORANCE”?
0
10.5
21
31.5
42
Women & Non-Binary People
Never Once or twice Fairly often ALL THE TIME
0
6
12
18
24
Men
27. @devdame
PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED
“FAIRLY OFTEN” OR “ALL THE TIME”
Women: 46%
Men: 46%
Non-binary: 60%
People of Color: 50%
LGBTQA: 56%
28. @devdame
HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU BEEN TOLD TO
“OWN YOUR EXPERTISE”?
0
15
30
45
60
Women & Non-Binary People
Never Once or twice Fairly often ALL THE TIME
0
6.5
13
19.5
26
Men
29. @devdame
37% of men who responded
had never been told to own
their expertise…
…compared to 10% of women.
30. @devdame
PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS WHO REPORTED
“FAIRLY OFTEN” OR “ALL THE TIME”
Women: 53%
Men: 28%
Non-binary: 60%
People of Color: 55%
LGBTQA: 61%
31. @devdame
DID WOMEN & MINORITIES HEAR THIS IN
A DIVERSITY-FOCUSED ENVIRONMENT?
Ignorance: 25%
Expertise: 63%
This includes spaces/events focused
on women, people of color,
and/or LGBTQA people.
32. @devdame DO YOU FIND THESE PIECES
OF ADVICE HELPFUL?
I analyzed each open-ended response:
positive
language
negative
language
36. @devdame
“I would like for some of the men
I work with to hear that own your
ignorance bit.”
37. @devdame
“Sometimes I feel like they don't
understand what it is like to show
weakness when you are proving
yourself every day.”
38. @devdame
“I usually receive backlash for demonstrating
competence, even more so for actual expertise. I
usually do it anyway. Best case scenario is that
my suggestions are adopted but I don't get
credit for them.”
39. @devdame
“I have trouble enough as it is to "own my
expertise" when I am not listened to on topics that
I know well, and "owning my ignorance" would be
detrimental and cause many on my team to take me
even less seriously than they already do.”
46. @devdame
“I feel like both pieces of advice annoyingly put the
burden on the recipient, like your career is not going
well because you are doing something wrong. When often, I
think it is more likely that the person is not in a
supportive environment.”
47. @devdame
“There is an analogy here
to rape culture. The burden
shouldn't be on the victim.”
48. @devdame
THE GIST OF IT
‣ There likely is a correlation between
demographics and advice fatigue
‣ Regardless: people are pained and confused
by this advice
‣ We are putting the burden on them
49. @devdame
“It is easy to be confident in yourself and/or
expose your ignorance when you feel safe,
supported and encouraged. If it's hard to do that...
maybe there's a reason you need to protect
yourself.”
51. @devdame
VICARIOUS GOAL SATIATION
‣ Watching others achieve goals makes us
feel like WE achieved them
‣ So, we can relax! It’s done!
‣ We expect others will follow our advice
‣ So when we give advice, we follow it less
“Practice What You Preach? Advice-Giving and Vicarious Goal Progress“ classic.marshall.usc.edu/assets/146/24403.pdf
“Vicarious Goal Satiation” www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3630077/
56. @devdame
TWO COURSES OF ACTION
‣ Don’t scoff if someone doesn’t know
something
‣ Stop the language/framework/etc wars
‣ Be patient and trusting
2. Help change the culture