[FOSDEM] encouraging diversity

[Daniel Pocock]

On 01/11/15 16:37, Pieter Hintjens wrote:
> In which upper-middle class white males discuss how to create "diversity"...

It is not just discussing, I've met several women at conferences who
received travel grants from the Google program that I mentioned, so it
is actually happening.

I'm not suggesting we should aim for 50% representation of women at
FOSDEM.  However, 20% of computer science graduates are apparently
female and we are not even close to having that percentage represented
at FOSDEM.  That shortfall is not as much a loss for women as it is a
loss for open source.

Nobody is suggesting we create female developers, they are already out
there, we may just need to look at some of these funding opportunities
and see how we can use them in maximizing participation in FOSDEM.

One other point to remember: every extra female developer does not mean
one less male developer.  Increased participation from female developers
suggests a net gain in the number of man-hours (if you'll excuse the
terminology) spent designing, developing and testing free software, for
the benefit of everybody who uses it, both male and female.