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[MUSIC]

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Hello, everyone.

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My name is Ryan Carson.

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I'm the co-founder and CEO of Treehouse.

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It is lovely to see you
all at this online event.

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I have a pleasure of welcoming up our
next speaker, which I'm so excited about.

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Valerie Osei is a Front End Software
Engineer based in Toronto Ontario.

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She enjoys building the web and
bringing building big ideas, and

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bringing them to life through technology.

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She has a passion for solving problems and

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using technology to make
people’s lives better.

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She is always eager to talk about
the latest trends in software development.

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And as a dedicated lifelong learner,
please welcome Valerie.

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>> Hi everyone,
I hope you guys can hear me,

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I'm just gonna share my
screen with all of you.

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Okay, so as Ryan was saying,
my name is Valerie Osei.

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And before I start, I just wanna
thank all of you for coming on with

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me today to listen to me speak where
I can share some knowledge with you.

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And hopefully shed some light on
Unconscious Bias in the Tech Industry.

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Okay, so Ryan kinda did a really
good job of introducing me.

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So I won't spend too much time on this.

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But I work as
a Front End Software Developer.

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Initially started coding on my own and
I also took

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a computer science course in high
school that kind of picked my interest.

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And then from there, I kind of
decided to make a career transition.

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After I completed my undergraduate at uft,
I thought,

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I'm more into this coding stuff,
let me see what I can do with it.

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And my reason for

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being here today is because I love
to share knowledge with people.

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And I also really love giving
back to this Tech Community.

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Because it's constantly growing it's so
huge and it's just got so much for

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all of us to learn.

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So, today I'm gonna be sharing some
insights with you all on Unconscious Bias

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in the Tech Industry.

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And I'll be shedding some light on how
we can frame our questions when we're

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approached with situations where we feel
we've either been impacted by unconscious

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bias, or we've projected our own
unconscious bias sees onto others.

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So first off, what is unconscious bias?

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Many of us have likely heard
this term used in one way or

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another to describe a certain situation or
micro aggression of some kind.

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And it's often used interchangeably
with cognitive bias.

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Which basically refers to how we as human
beings create shortcuts in our minds

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to process information.

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So I have just a quick quote here from
Warren Buffett, which states that,

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what the human being is best at doing
is interpreting all new information so

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that their prior
conclusions remain intact.

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So I think we can all
kind of safely attest to

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this where we have our
preconceived notions and

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we use those as points of reference
to consume new information.

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So, essentially what we're dealing with
is, and I'm sure most of us are aware

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of this at this point is that, the tech
industry has seen years and years of bias.

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And this has often been attributed
to the socio economic and

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historical contexts where certain
roles were gaining popularity.

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And now, the legacy of that is that we're
dealing with a lot of roles that aren't

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being filled with diverse
with diverse candidates.

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And as a result, we're dealing with a
problem that has been swept under the rug,

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but is having very clear and
adverse effects.

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So I wanted to take some time to kind
of highlight a few of the types of

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Unconscious Bias that exists.

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These aren't the only types but I thought
they were relevant for today's talk.

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The first one that I have
is called the Halo Effect.

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And basically, it refers to when we place
someone on a pedestal after learning

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something impressive about them.

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So if you can think of a time or

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maybe you heard that someone graduated
from Harvard Law or so and so

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is going to medical school,
immediately we get this reaction.

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Where we think of that person
as being superior in skill and

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intelligence without actually
diving deeply into what those

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skills are whether or
not that person actually can perform.

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And then the next one I have here is what
is called the Availability Heuristic.

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And this is where we find that
we're favoring ideas that

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come most easily to mind.

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So this is often based on the frequency of
occurrence of certain events in our life.

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Or perhaps, if there's a particular
situation that happened and

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it left an indelible mark on us or
a very impactful impression on us.

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We often reference these
experiences when we're

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faced with new information as
a way to process that information.

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And then I have here as well
Confirmation or Implicit Bias.

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So these terms are often used
interchangeably with unconscious bias.

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And can also be used as sort
of an umbrella to classify or

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under which the other types
of biases can be classified.

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So this is where we're looking to confirm
what we already think or believe.

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And, we can safely say that all
of us have certain beliefs or

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certain ways that we live our lives,
certain viewpoints that we hold that

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inform how we process
the information around us.

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So we take the time to dissect
Unconscious Bias real briefly,

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we can identify a couple of PROS.

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For one, Unconscious Bias does allow us
to process a bulk of information quickly,

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and there are situations where
this would be beneficial.

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Sometimes we don't need all the details.

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We don't need to know a situation
at the granular level.

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Sometimes we just need the little pieces
we need to make an informed decision.

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But of course, there are situations
where this can have a negative impact.

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If we take the year 2020 as an example,

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we've been presented with an unprecedented
time and constant new information

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that's being presented to us and
then relied and then re presented to us.

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So we're being given so
much new information that if we rely on

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unconscious bias to
process this information,

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we're likely going to be filtering
out a lot of essential detail.

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And this essentially,

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prevents us from thoroughly evaluating
the evidence that is presented to us.

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And will inevitably lead
to huge errors in judgement

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when we're making complex decisions.

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So and this is why it is a huge problem
that we need to start facing more

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directly.

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So with Unconscious Bias,
comes this dilemma of diversity where,

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if we kind of pretend that it doesn't
exist, we're inevitably gonna be

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facing the elephant in the room which
is the fact that we are dealing with

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a lot of tech teams and tech
workspaces that aren't diverse enough.

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And you're also dealing with a lot of
large tech companies that prefer to sweep

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the problem under the rug or

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just not disclose numbers that pertain to
their diversity and inclusion efforts.

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And then this is where of course we
can think to the mostly white and

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mostly male majority that is
affecting a lot of tech workspaces.

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And unfortunately, what this ends up
doing is it excludes other groups from

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having a seat at the table.

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And this, of course also prevents
companies from tapping into

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diverse markets.

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If you can think about the fact that we
have teams that are making decisions on

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products, on various types of software,

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if those teams do not comprise diverse
members, then you're going to end up in

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a situation where they feel like
they've covered all their bases.

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But they're actively excluding others
who fit a different narrative.

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And of course, this causes minorities
to feel like they do not belong.

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I myself can attest to this and

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I'm sure many of you listening
right now can attest to this.

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We're facing being in a role where we
don't see enough people that look like us,

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and sometimes we question like,
should I be here?

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Do I belong here?

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Is this a place that can
be beneficial to me?

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So, I also want to take
some time to share results

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from a report that was
conducted by trust radius.

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This report was disseminated back
in September of this year, so

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some pretty recent results which
basically break down the experiences of

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marginalized individuals
within the tech industry.

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And what it did was it surveyed
about 1200 people globally,

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6% of which were Canadian.

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And it kind of went over questions
that pertain to what they may be

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experiencing in the tech industry.

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65% of respondents of colour overall,
they do see an increase

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in diversity in the tech industry
compared to 58% of white respondents.

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And then, generally, there has been an
increase in Canadian initiatives focused

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on diversity and
inclusion in the tech space.

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And these initiatives have been
pointed towards combating racism and

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breaking down barriers as a way to close
the gap between certain groups and

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access to the tech industry overall.

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There also has been a general
increase in funding to support

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black Canadian entrepreneurs.

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And this has actually been a huge leap,

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which has allowed the greater population
to support black owned business.

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And it's also Given rise to
access that black Canadian

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entrepreneurs have where otherwise
they may have been excluded.

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Now, resources are being reallocated so
the playing field can be leveled.

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And of course, this is wonderful progress
overall, but there is still a lot of

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concern over the lack of diversity in
various areas of the tech industry.

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Even though we are seeing
an acknowledgement of a need to reallocate

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resources so that other minority
groups can feel included,

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we're also still seeing that
roles are generally being filled

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by certain groups and
not being filled by others.

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67% of respondents also reported
that less than a quarter of their

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leadership is made up of people of color.

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So this, of course, is a problem.

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We've got people at higher levels of
a company who have a huge impact on

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decision-making, but unfortunately,

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they're making decisions based
on their own experiences.

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And inevitably,

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the experiences of people of color
get left out of that conversation.

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Less than half also reported that they
have a dedicated department that is

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focused on diversity and
inclusion efforts.

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Trust rate is to take into
account that this could

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be naturally attributed to the fact
that smaller companies may not have

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as many resources as larger
companies do when it comes to this.

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So of course, this brings into question
some other ideas where maybe we need to

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find alternatives to allow smaller
companies to have the resources to

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implement diversity and inclusion efforts
the same way a larger company might.

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So we kinda wanna start thinking
about how we can avoid this dilemma.

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So there are a few ways.

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For one, being objective in how we explain
occupational requirements in job ads and

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job descriptions and focusing on them as
being genuine requirements to perform

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the actual job rather than getting hung
up on where someone went to school or

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whether or not they have a degree.

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In addition to that,

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we want to start thinking about the use
of language in job descriptions.

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So stop using words that skew a job
ad to only one group of applicants.

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This one's a bit tricky because,
of course,

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it does play into human psychology a bit,
and that's not an area that I'm versed in.

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But it is something that is important for

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us to think about because
perhaps without knowing it,

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we've used language to describe
a candidate that is inherently biased.

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And then I also have here,

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we wanna be able to incorporate technology
into workflows with diversity in mind.

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This is gaining popularity now especially
because we are in a technological age and

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more so because most of us
are working virtually at this point.

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And the virtual world is gaining much more
prevalence given the times that we're in.

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So you have more companies that are
starting to consider ways in which they

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can fill the gaps and technology has
stepped in to sort of play that role.

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So speaking about tech,
I kind of figured I'd cite a few examples

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of technology solutions that
are attempting to attack the problem.

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So we have a few here and
basically the focus is,

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could be anywhere from educating employees
on the experiences of diverse individuals

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that are outside of themselves,
fully integrated anti-racism tools.

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And also in some cases,
collecting data from your specific team or

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company that can be used in an analytical
way to develop a customized action plan.

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So you can directly address issues of
unconscious bias that may be taking place

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within your own four walls.

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And then of course,
the last one down here,

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we have Diverst which is basically
they run on the premise that employees

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who feel included are more likely
to deliver with greater quality.

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So this doesn't just benefit
the affected groups.

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This benefits everyone and that's why
it's such an important thing to consider.

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Even if you've never thought
about it previously, you wanna

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start looking at ways that you can make
everyone feel like they have a place.

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Of course,
how can we start a conversation and

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what types of questions can we ask when
we're thinking about unconscious bias?

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First off, before we do get
into our line of questioning,

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it's important that we hold
our own selves accountable.

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It's likely that we've already
made assumptions about a person or

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a situation at a given time
without even realizing it.

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And this is where in order for
us to start asking questions,

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we need to know what we we're
asking questions about.

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And these assumptions can often be
based on a person's style of dress,

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their skin color, their accent,
whether or not they speak with

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an accent according to you, and
also whether or not they have a family or

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kids or their marital status,
etc, etc, etc, the list goes on.

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And essentially, we in many ways
are defaulted to reacting to a person or

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to feeling comfortable around a person,

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depending on how closely they
resemble what we're comfortable with.

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So if we hear someone speaking with
an accent that's unfamiliar to us,

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that can inherently have an impact on how
we process that person's way of speaking,

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the assumptions we make about their
intelligence, their fluency in English.

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We could literally just talk about
this particular thing all day, but

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it does have a negative impact because
we are actively either including certain

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people arbitrarily or excluding others
without really knowing who they are.

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So we want to look within ourselves and
start thinking all I know about this

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00:15:44,742 --> 00:15:48,650
person is what I know about
this particular person.

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Be objective in how you process
meeting someone for the first time.

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And start to ask yourself,
what do I really know about this person or

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situation?

239
00:16:00,190 --> 00:16:04,802
Look at the facts, rather than
filling in your gaps of knowledge with

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assumptions that you made based on
what color the sky was that day.

241
00:16:10,650 --> 00:16:14,844
And you also wanna make sure that if
there are assumptions you've made,

242
00:16:14,844 --> 00:16:18,090
be intentional about
identifying those assumptions.

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00:16:18,090 --> 00:16:21,638
Sometimes that can be difficult because
the way the human brain works and

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00:16:21,638 --> 00:16:24,546
the way we've had to adapt to
processing new information,

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00:16:24,546 --> 00:16:27,655
we're constantly making assumptions
to get through the day.

246
00:16:27,655 --> 00:16:28,865
And that's just how it works.

247
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We have to save time.

248
00:16:31,980 --> 00:16:34,039
So when framing your questions,

249
00:16:34,039 --> 00:16:37,867
you wanna build a solid foundation
starting with facts only.

250
00:16:38,913 --> 00:16:42,085
And then think about what
your motivation might be.

251
00:16:42,085 --> 00:16:44,330
Why is this important to you?

252
00:16:44,330 --> 00:16:45,330
What are you trying to achieve?

253
00:16:46,910 --> 00:16:52,270
And then be clear and specific about who
or what your question is directed to.

254
00:16:52,270 --> 00:16:55,872
If you faced a situation where someone
made an offensive comment at work,

255
00:16:55,872 --> 00:16:58,092
perhaps you've been microaggressed upon.

256
00:16:58,092 --> 00:17:00,935
You wanna start thinking okay,
who am I gonna address about this issue?

257
00:17:00,935 --> 00:17:03,110
Do I wanna go to my colleague
directly who offended me?

258
00:17:03,110 --> 00:17:05,425
Do I wanna talk to my reporting manager?

259
00:17:05,425 --> 00:17:06,865
Do I wanna go to HR?

260
00:17:06,865 --> 00:17:09,469
And that will help you to
form sort of a paradigm for

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00:17:09,469 --> 00:17:12,015
how you go about this line of questioning.

262
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It's not easy and by no means am I
implying that it is, but this is where you

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00:17:15,654 --> 00:17:19,211
start to build a foundation for
how you're going to address the issue.

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00:17:22,411 --> 00:17:25,490
So of course, we have the idea
of interviews that come to mind.

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Many of us are either in the interviewing
process, we aspire to be in

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the interviewing process for
a certain role in the tech industry.

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Or we've been in
the interviewing process and

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00:17:34,972 --> 00:17:38,410
have reflected on how those interviews
went, whether that was good or bad.

269
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And one thing that often comes up is the
opportunity to ask questions at the end of

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00:17:43,353 --> 00:17:44,860
an interview.

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So be on the lookout for questions during
your interview that center on company

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00:17:49,202 --> 00:17:52,470
culture or
the type of dynamic that you work best in.

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Even if this isn't touched
upon during the interview,

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it may be in the job description for
the role you're going for.

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And you can zero in on that and
take the opportunity to clarify or

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to ask questions to the interview
regarding what their company culture

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00:18:06,985 --> 00:18:11,140
actually is, and
what a culture fit actually means.

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And from there, you can kind of assess.

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Is this a situation
you're comfortable with?

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00:18:15,528 --> 00:18:20,111
>> This is essentially an opportunity for
you to express how important it is that

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00:18:20,111 --> 00:18:24,622
you work for a company that concerns
itself with diversity and also actively

282
00:18:24,622 --> 00:18:29,580
seeks to bring up difficult conversations
in order to create a safe space.

283
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Is your company or your team or

284
00:18:30,955 --> 00:18:34,860
your management willing to put themselves
on the line so that you can feel included?

285
00:18:38,430 --> 00:18:41,423
And when we think about
fighting unconscious bias and

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00:18:41,423 --> 00:18:46,214
participating in this concerted effort, we
wanna look at the removal of educational

287
00:18:46,214 --> 00:18:48,290
backgrounds from the hiring model.

288
00:18:48,290 --> 00:18:50,580
And some companies have already
committed to doing this.

289
00:18:52,820 --> 00:18:56,405
We also wanna look into the use of gender
neutral language in job descriptions.

290
00:18:56,405 --> 00:19:00,980
Again, this kind of plays more on
human psychology where we find certain

291
00:19:00,980 --> 00:19:05,415
groups are more prone to certain
types of language over other groups.

292
00:19:06,475 --> 00:19:10,623
And without going too deeply into that,
it's essentially a situation where you

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00:19:10,623 --> 00:19:14,842
want to make sure that you acknowledging
that in 2020, gender is not binary.

294
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It's not a binary concept.

295
00:19:16,042 --> 00:19:20,546
It is a spectrum and we want to make sure
that regardless of where one falls on that

296
00:19:20,546 --> 00:19:22,498
spectrum, they feel included and

297
00:19:22,498 --> 00:19:27,092
they feel like they are being given access
to an area that they want to be a part of.

298
00:19:29,310 --> 00:19:30,588
In addition to that,

299
00:19:30,588 --> 00:19:35,700
we have the use of blind AI technology
to source candidates without bias.

300
00:19:35,700 --> 00:19:36,901
Now, this of course,

301
00:19:36,901 --> 00:19:41,270
comes with the fact that it all depends
on who's building this technology.

302
00:19:41,270 --> 00:19:44,840
Technology is only good as good
as the human minds behind it.

303
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:48,482
If we have tech teams and
companies that lack diversity and

304
00:19:48,482 --> 00:19:51,751
that are building this technology,
at some point,

305
00:19:51,751 --> 00:19:56,508
it's going to be discovered that certain
groups are being left out of having

306
00:19:56,508 --> 00:20:00,800
access to that technology in
a way that it can Benefit them.

307
00:20:03,130 --> 00:20:07,174
And then of course, we wanna be able to
use our conscious knowledge to override

308
00:20:07,174 --> 00:20:09,087
our unconscious default settings.

309
00:20:09,087 --> 00:20:13,653
So rather than relying on past
experiences 100% of the time,

310
00:20:13,653 --> 00:20:17,316
we can rely on our past
experiences some of the time.

311
00:20:17,316 --> 00:20:21,936
But also make room for new information to
override some of that arbitrary knowledge

312
00:20:21,936 --> 00:20:24,910
that we've gathered based
on our own personal bias.

313
00:20:28,947 --> 00:20:32,697
So when we think about setting ourselves
up for success, this is where we start to

314
00:20:32,697 --> 00:20:35,990
think about ways in which we
can hold ourselves accountable.

315
00:20:35,990 --> 00:20:40,123
How we participated in situations where
we projected unconscious biases unto

316
00:20:40,123 --> 00:20:42,270
a certain group of people.

317
00:20:42,270 --> 00:20:46,254
Have we kept quiet in situations where we
could have spoken up about unconscious

318
00:20:46,254 --> 00:20:48,660
biases that have affected other people.

319
00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:51,505
We all have a role to play in this,
and it's important for

320
00:20:51,505 --> 00:20:53,360
us to be as self-aware as possible.

321
00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:57,773
And we also wanna understand that
unconscious bias exists everywhere and

322
00:20:57,773 --> 00:21:00,490
it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

323
00:21:00,490 --> 00:21:03,007
It's a symptom of how
the human mind works and

324
00:21:03,007 --> 00:21:05,400
the world that we're living in right now.

325
00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:11,304
This point here is a tough one,
I do not touch on this one lightly.

326
00:21:11,304 --> 00:21:15,287
But of course, don't be afraid to bring up
diversity in your next job interview or

327
00:21:15,287 --> 00:21:18,578
your next meeting, provided you
have the opportunity to do so, and

328
00:21:18,578 --> 00:21:21,365
provided that you are in
the mental states to do so.

329
00:21:21,365 --> 00:21:26,095
This isn't easy for all us, sometimes
we have traumatic experiences that

330
00:21:26,095 --> 00:21:29,105
would get unveiled
through this engagement.

331
00:21:29,105 --> 00:21:31,095
So it's not easy for us to do it.

332
00:21:31,095 --> 00:21:33,164
But if you feel like it's
something you can do,

333
00:21:33,164 --> 00:21:34,785
I definitely encourage you to do so.

334
00:21:36,776 --> 00:21:40,809
Of course, it is gonna be uncomfortable,
and that's okay, because it's normal,

335
00:21:40,809 --> 00:21:41,659
it's by design.

336
00:21:43,619 --> 00:21:46,786
And if the thought of discussing
diversity is uncomfortable for you,

337
00:21:46,786 --> 00:21:48,190
there may be a reason as to why.

338
00:21:50,070 --> 00:21:53,740
You wanna think to yourself,
does your company provide a safe space for

339
00:21:53,740 --> 00:21:55,850
these conversations to be had?

340
00:21:55,850 --> 00:21:59,729
And is there someone in particular that
you can go to if you have a grievance or

341
00:21:59,729 --> 00:22:01,801
an issue, and that you want addressed?

342
00:22:04,618 --> 00:22:08,540
Well, just a few Canadian companies
I wanted to cite briefly.

343
00:22:08,540 --> 00:22:13,218
Scotiabank has confessed
that they are committed to

344
00:22:13,218 --> 00:22:17,640
removing education from the hiring model.

345
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:18,387
And instead,

346
00:22:18,387 --> 00:22:22,570
what they wanna do is start relying on
the job experiences of their candidates.

347
00:22:23,660 --> 00:22:25,590
We also have is Hispanotech.ca.

348
00:22:25,590 --> 00:22:27,503
And through the use of technology,

349
00:22:27,503 --> 00:22:31,790
they're looking to address unconscious
bias in their recruiting practices.

350
00:22:33,610 --> 00:22:38,776
And then we have Hubba, who as of 2017,
conducted its first diversity survey,

351
00:22:38,776 --> 00:22:43,260
and from there they planned on
providing progress reports.

352
00:22:43,260 --> 00:22:45,934
And they've also released
an open-source framework,

353
00:22:45,934 --> 00:22:49,050
which will help other companies
to hopefully do the same.

354
00:22:49,050 --> 00:22:54,031
The URL I posted here is where you can
find that article that is linked to that

355
00:22:54,031 --> 00:22:55,863
open-source framework.

356
00:22:59,391 --> 00:23:01,488
And just as I wrap up today,

357
00:23:01,488 --> 00:23:06,740
there's just a few takeaways
I wanted to cite real quick.

358
00:23:06,740 --> 00:23:09,557
So first thing, we wanna make sure
we understand unconscious bias and

359
00:23:09,557 --> 00:23:10,270
its impact.

360
00:23:10,270 --> 00:23:11,826
Whether negative or positive,

361
00:23:11,826 --> 00:23:14,600
we wanna be very clear on
the depths of unconscious bias.

362
00:23:15,790 --> 00:23:19,684
We also wanna make sure that we're being
intentional about uncovering our own

363
00:23:19,684 --> 00:23:20,807
unconscious biases.

364
00:23:20,807 --> 00:23:23,930
Because a lot of the times our
questions can be rooted in bias.

365
00:23:23,930 --> 00:23:27,572
Naturally, we are coming from experiences
that have taught us and have informed our

366
00:23:27,572 --> 00:23:31,180
future experiences, but it is important
to critically think about those as well.

367
00:23:33,170 --> 00:23:36,706
You also wanna be able to take advantage
of opportunities to challenge unconscious

368
00:23:36,706 --> 00:23:40,138
biases around you, whether this be within
your professional working space, or

369
00:23:40,138 --> 00:23:41,310
your social environment.

370
00:23:43,470 --> 00:23:47,846
And then concern yourself with unconscious
biases even if they benefit you or

371
00:23:47,846 --> 00:23:49,530
do not affect you at all.

372
00:23:49,530 --> 00:23:51,650
This is where the shift
really takes place.

373
00:23:51,650 --> 00:23:56,175
If we can all look at unconscious bias
as affecting us all the same way,

374
00:23:56,175 --> 00:23:59,569
then we can kind of look to
it as more of a team effort.

375
00:23:59,569 --> 00:24:02,323
Rather than leaving it to those
who are being marginalized or

376
00:24:02,323 --> 00:24:05,190
affected by unconscious bias to
handle the issue on their own.

377
00:24:08,093 --> 00:24:12,127
So with that, I just wanna say thank
you to Liz for coordinating this, and

378
00:24:12,127 --> 00:24:13,250
Ryan as well.

379
00:24:13,250 --> 00:24:16,630
And also Team Treehouse, Treehouse
festival for having me speak today.

380
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:23,076
And for anyone who does wanna connect with
me, I'm on LinkedIn under Valerie Osei,

381
00:24:23,076 --> 00:24:27,111
and I'm happy to take questions
if anybody has any questions.

382
00:24:27,111 --> 00:24:29,243
I actually gonna switch screens.

383
00:24:29,243 --> 00:24:34,222
Okay, so we have, okay, how would you
recommend approaching a company that

384
00:24:34,222 --> 00:24:39,065
only has white sis people on their
boards and in managerial positions?

385
00:24:39,065 --> 00:24:42,503
Do we stay and try and change these
systems internally or leave and

386
00:24:42,503 --> 00:24:44,765
try to support these changes externally?

387
00:24:44,765 --> 00:24:47,746
That's a very, very good question, and

388
00:24:47,746 --> 00:24:51,770
that's also a very tough
thing to think about.

389
00:24:51,770 --> 00:24:56,326
What I'll say is that sometimes, and
unfortunately, very unfortunately and

390
00:24:56,326 --> 00:25:01,222
may not be worth exerting energy on trying
to change a system that is deeply, deeply,

391
00:25:01,222 --> 00:25:03,740
deeply rooted in white supremacy.

392
00:25:03,740 --> 00:25:07,910
And just refusing to acknowledge
the experiences of minority groups,

393
00:25:07,910 --> 00:25:11,452
a lot of the time you try to tell
someone there's a problem and

394
00:25:11,452 --> 00:25:14,880
they'll tell you that you're
the one with the problem.

395
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,826
So this is where you wanna make
sure to assess the situation.

396
00:25:18,826 --> 00:25:22,311
If you feel like the energy or
exerting in this situation is too much for

397
00:25:22,311 --> 00:25:24,749
your mental health and
too much for you overall.

398
00:25:24,749 --> 00:25:29,271
Then I would say that it is okay
to exit from that situation and

399
00:25:29,271 --> 00:25:31,406
change it from the outside.

400
00:25:31,406 --> 00:25:35,762
Speak about it more, be vocal about it,
and challenge the institutions that

401
00:25:35,762 --> 00:25:40,530
support it, rather than feeling like you
have to carry the world on your shoulders.

402
00:25:42,010 --> 00:25:45,646
We have another one, what is the best
way to be an ally while at the same

403
00:25:45,646 --> 00:25:49,570
time competing for
jobs with those that I want equality for?

404
00:25:49,570 --> 00:25:53,348
Okay, yeah, so being an ally
means listening to those of us

405
00:25:53,348 --> 00:25:57,809
who are recounting experiences that
we may have had in the workplace or

406
00:25:57,809 --> 00:26:00,020
in our social environments.

407
00:26:00,020 --> 00:26:04,168
And in particular, if someone is
holding you accountable, listen.

408
00:26:04,168 --> 00:26:06,620
I think the best thing to do is
just open your ears, listen.

409
00:26:06,620 --> 00:26:11,158
Even if you feel like you don't think
you've done that or you don't think you've

410
00:26:11,158 --> 00:26:15,380
engaged in offensive behavior,
just listen to what that person is saying.

411
00:26:15,380 --> 00:26:20,436
Because they're citing experiences
that you likely don't have privy to or

412
00:26:20,436 --> 00:26:24,020
you're not able to relate
to those experiences.

413
00:26:24,020 --> 00:26:26,990
So being a good listener is a big one.

414
00:26:26,990 --> 00:26:31,674
And then, competing for jobs with
those that you want equality for,

415
00:26:31,674 --> 00:26:35,950
this is where you can also hold
hiring managers accountable.

416
00:26:35,950 --> 00:26:38,963
If you're going for a job and
you're in an interview,

417
00:26:38,963 --> 00:26:43,422
it goes back to being unafraid to speak
up about possible unconscious biases that

418
00:26:43,422 --> 00:26:45,730
are taking place during your interview.

419
00:26:45,730 --> 00:26:49,406
Sometimes, the assumption that
you're willing to participate

420
00:26:49,406 --> 00:26:54,228
in beer O'clock Fridays as an example, so
drinking beer with the buddies on Friday.

421
00:26:54,228 --> 00:26:56,430
That assumption alone is rooted in bias.

422
00:26:56,430 --> 00:26:58,157
You can address that too, and

423
00:26:58,157 --> 00:27:02,447
also let the hiring managers know that
they need to look at candidates with

424
00:27:02,447 --> 00:27:06,750
a lens that's not rooted in favouring
certain groups over other groups.

425
00:27:06,750 --> 00:27:11,360
How do we approach companies that are
performative, for example LGBT support to

426
00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:15,734
make sales and attract talent, but
internally they don't support def?

427
00:27:15,734 --> 00:27:17,835
Yeah, okay, that's a big one.

428
00:27:17,835 --> 00:27:20,196
So I'm approaching companies
that are performative.

429
00:27:20,196 --> 00:27:23,586
Yes, so when it comes to companies
that are performative, again,

430
00:27:23,586 --> 00:27:26,502
if you're feeling like this
is something you can take on,

431
00:27:26,502 --> 00:27:29,729
speaking out against this,
there's nothing wrong with that.

432
00:27:29,729 --> 00:27:32,300
You can cite these companies if
you feel comfortable to do so.

433
00:27:32,300 --> 00:27:39,120
Now, if you're employed by this company,
obviously,, it's gonna look different.

434
00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:42,801
But if you feel like within
the company you're working for,

435
00:27:42,801 --> 00:27:47,059
there's a level of performative
activism going on, you wanna try and

436
00:27:47,059 --> 00:27:52,230
see if there's a channel for communication
to address the issue directly.

437
00:27:52,230 --> 00:27:54,160
And this does come with consequences.

438
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,731
It's hard to predict what these
consequences will be because every company

439
00:27:57,731 --> 00:28:02,330
is different and every manager is gonna
have a different ear to this issue, right?

440
00:28:02,330 --> 00:28:05,578
So what I'd say is don't
be afraid to speak up and

441
00:28:05,578 --> 00:28:10,570
in a sense, be willing to sacrifice
a part of yourself for the cause.

442
00:28:10,570 --> 00:28:13,313
Cuz unfortunately,
that's what we do when we open our mouth,

443
00:28:13,313 --> 00:28:15,300
we accept the consequences
of the backlash.

444
00:28:16,330 --> 00:28:19,441
And we have here,
how do we approach companies?

445
00:28:19,441 --> 00:28:22,207
I think that was Peter's question.

446
00:28:22,207 --> 00:28:24,560
Perfect, okay, so
that's the end of the questions.

447
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,821
So I just wanted to also say a huge thank
you to all of you for the questions and

448
00:28:28,821 --> 00:28:33,220
hoping that I've been able to share
some useful information today.

449
00:28:33,220 --> 00:28:36,710
And thanks so much,
hope you guys enjoy the rest of your day.