Eastercon and diversity

[nanila]

lapswood was kind enough to send me a few photos he took at Eastercon last month. I thought this one made a nice illustration of some points that were made about PoCs and the (lack of) diversity at science fiction conventions.

This is from the panel I was on. Myself, the gentleman next to me and the man on the opposite end from me are all working scientists. The other man is the moderator - I'm not sure whether or not he is a scientist.



When I look at this picture, the first thing that pops into my head is the Sesame Street song: "One of these things is not like the others/One of these things just doesn't belong."

Visually, the thing that doesn't belong is me. And that makes me sad. What does it make you think?

Comments

[clanwilliam]

What, because you look more poised and together than anyone else on the panel? You look like the one with authority there, if that's any help.

Although I do have to query your use of "gentleman" to describe Dave.

[nanila]

This may have been because I was the one not drinking beer. Also, I was probably the only panel member who actually was nervous, given that it was the first time I'd done such a thing and I was anxious to contribute well.

When is Dave not a gentleman? I have yet to witness this phenomenon.

[soliano]

You are the only one that doesn't look goofy.

[nanila]

Maybe I should wear my Abby Sciuto getup next time, so I fit in better.

[miss_s_b]

The one that looks out of place to me is the moderator, possibly just because of the pose and the moment that the picture has been taken, but he looks like a serial killer contemplating his next murder, and totally separate from the rest of you.

But yes, agreeing with the other commenter; you look like you are alert and engaged and authoritative, not like you don't belong. I'm still going to have that song in my head all day, though.

[magister]

Agreed. You look like you're in control and comfortable being in front of an audience. The others look nervous, particularly the one at the far end from you.

[qian]

Well, I think you look like you don't belong because you're the only Asian woman and the others are all white guys. Seems pretty obvious to me!

Flippancy aside, my first two thoughts were:

a) ayup, never going to Eastercon

b) I wonder if you'd have better gender balance at a science panel at an Asian convention. I'm inclined to think so because I haven't observed the same focused funnelling of women into the arts and men into the sciences in the Asian cultures I'm familiar with as there is in the UK/US. But, y'know, anecdata.

[clanwilliam]

In fairness to the organiser of the science thread - Nanila's colleague - he had it landed on him at fairly late notice and did his best with what he had. In fact, I signed up for the full convention because he asked me to be on a panel too. Had he been able to start earlier, he would almost certainly have achieved closer panel parity, because I do know he was disappointed with what he did manage. He had wanted it to be much more equitable.

[nanila]

Also, I am not wearing glasses. </solemnface>

It's a shame I didn't have a shot of the audience to counterpoint this one, as it was much better balanced in terms of gender (though not race). Which would seem to indicate that "hard science" fiction writers and fans have achieved more parity than actual scientists in the UK. Although, as you say, this is a single instance and hence anecdata.

[holyschist]

I wonder if you'd have better gender balance at a science panel at an Asian convention. I'm inclined to think so because I haven't observed the same focused funnelling of women into the arts and men into the sciences in the Asian cultures I'm familiar with as there is in the UK/US. But, y'know, anecdata.

Anecdotally, the first (so far only) con I went to, zixi and I went to a discussion about science and science fiction (a woman who I think was some kind of social scientist type collecting data for her thesis), and while the room was fairly gender-balanced, it was also a) very white (also true of the con overall, I think), and b) I think we were the only women in the room with science backgrounds and science jobs.

So yeah, I wonder. Although I think the connection between science and SF probably affects it also, and I'm not even sure I understand that in the US, so I wouldn't begin to speculate about other countries.

[capri]

I wonder if you'd have better gender balance at a science panel at an Asian convention.

Also anecdata, but my experience of science conferences/anything in Singapore has also been dominated by white men. But it might just be a S'pore thing, given how much we spend on bringing migrant talents in.

Also racism. That.

I agree with the less gendered funnelling of people into the arts/sciences. That being said, I think the disparity round these parts (as in home parts) shows up more clearly at the top than it does in the UK/US, because we are so bad at supporting female leadership/scholarship.

[dandelion_salad]

"One of these people I think I could relate to/One of these people is a breath of fresh air"

[nanila]

See, this is why I'm finding it hard to stop doing outreach even though it's exhausting me during pregnancy. I have this firm conviction that it's just so, so important for people - especially young people - to see that it's not just balding white dudes with glasses who do science and engineering. It's one thing for them to be told percentages. It's another to have a living, breathing example in front of you. I have some very poignant memories - girls coming up after my talks to hug me or tell me their hopes and plans - that assure me this is right.

[alwayswondered]

+1

I would be really glad to see a young woman on a panel about science-related things. Of course I'd be gladder to see more women and more diversity in general but, the current climate being what it is, I would probably walk in expecting to see four ageing white guys. I'd be pleasantly surprised and encouraged to see that it's possible to succeed in the field without 'fitting in'.

[innerbrat]

You and the moderator are the only people looking in the same direction, and from body language I infer the only people paying attention to the topic as hand. The gentleman next to you looks more interested in the contents of his hand, and the gentleman on the far end looks like someone in the front row just flashed him.

[nanila]

It was my first such panel, so I was feeling pretty anxious about contributing appropriately and well. I think the chap next to me may have betrayed a fleeting interest in his beer...

[ajnabieh]

You know, I think I agree with everybody--you look fabulous and very together, moreso than the other panelists--but it's also glaring that there's an issue with diversity in the sciences.

Also, dude next to you is wearing a faaaaaaabulous vest. (Er, waistcoat? Vest means something else in BrEng, I seem to recall.)

[sfred]

Yes. It makes me sad too, although I also agree that you (Nanila) look as though you're interested and involved, more than some of the others do.
(And yes, vest here = your undershirt, I believe.)

[nanila]

I feel like I should be wearing a sign that says, "Hi! I'm the box-ticker for both Race and Gender. Go me!" Meh.

Waistcoat is the correct British English word.

[holyschist]

Flippantly, I was actually thinking it's the vest on the guy next to you. That is a heck of a vest. O_o

But...I am glad you are there, and even more glad for the outreach you do and the little girls who want to grow up to be Nanilas. I mean, I honestly don't know what I would have done with my life if I'd thought when I was a kind that scientists were all old white dudes. So, it sucks that panels still look like that a lot of the time, and it sucks that it takes a special effort to make panels more diverse, but you absolutely belong.

[nanila]

He does have an eye-catching collection of waistcoats. :D

I know it made a difference to me that my physics teacher in high school was a woman. And that my undergraduate research supervisor was, too. And earlier than that, my mum would bring home biographies of famous female scientists. I'm not sure I would have realised it at the time, but in hindsight I can see how important it was.

[shirou]

I disagree with you: you absolutely look like you belong there. You don't look like the token female or Asian because scientists don't create token positions. I think science is pretty gender-blind and color-blind. On the downside, that means that a lot of (white, male) scientists don't recognize that the under-representation of women and minorities is a problem; but on the upside, it means that your audience will accept you and give you their respect and attention as long as you know what you're talking about. And you look like you know what you're talking about. You're definitely not there to be a box ticker.

By the way, are Asian scientists under-represented in the UK? I just ask out of curiosity. In the US, Asians make up nearly half of young physicists and are growing in number in the senior ranks. I'll admit we don't have many Filipinos, but we have lots of Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Indians and especially Chinese. When I got my PhD, I was the only one of the four grad students in my group who wasn't Chinese. I would never think of an Asian as a box ticker for race because here, Asians are the new majority.

[capri]

I'll admit we don't have many Filipinos, but we have lots of Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Indians and especially Chinese.

Aha, this is a thing even in Asia. Non-Indian brown-skinned people (like me) are nowhere to be found in the upper echelons of science/higher education/management/etc., and we're not the people people think about when they see the word "Asian."

[holyschist]

I think science is pretty gender-blind and color-blind.

I think science likes to think it is pretty gender-blind and color-blind, but I've got a growing collection of anecdata to the contrary. It's not that people have bad intentions, but scientists are just as prone to unexamined assumptions as anyone else, and possibly more prone to thinking we don't have them because we are so Rational and Scientific and Logical, we must be beyond all that.

I did my graduate work in a lab that was at most points about half women of color, and almost all women, and pretty much everyone had a long list of Stories. And I've read a lot of the studies on retention of women and minorities in physics and the geosciences, and I just don't think the numbers would be so bad if the field were doing so great already.

Science probably isn't the worst area to work in, but there's still a lot of room for improvement.

[surexit]

It makes me think that we need to DESTROY SOCIETY and REBUILD IT FROM THE GROUND UP. *starts building survival hut in garden*

Also it makes me sadface, but hopeful that things have at least changed a bit in the last fifty years or whatever, and hopefully they will keep grinding along bit by bit until someday we get where we want to go.

♥

[nanila]

It makes me think that we need to DESTROY SOCIETY and REBUILD IT FROM THE GROUND UP.

The news from the past week - in which the current government apparently plans to make things even harder for poor people by taking away their benefits and not letting them marry non-EU citizens unless they wish to give up their UK residency - is making me think you are right.