The lack of diversity in the innovative field of tech and startups is an issue that is being addressed more and more frequently. This absence of diversity ranges from gender, to race, to sexual orientation and beyond. This year’s SXSW Interactive programming features a theme specifically geared toward these issues, and will continue to influence the facilitation of this discussion in SXSW festivals for years to come. In the meantime, read on about the Top 5 panels we have to offer you that deal with addressing and rectifying diversity issues in the realm of new media development.
1. There’s No Ambition Gap: Truth About Women in Tech
When: Sunday, March 10, 5 – 6 p.m.
Where: Austin Convention Center, Room 10AB
Hashtag: #techwomen
A common misconception about the lack of female representation in the tech industry is rooted in the belief that women aren’t “ambitious” enough to pursue this line of work. This misconception tends to find its start in the initial education setting of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) focus. Panelist Jessica Lawrence hopes to expunge that belief with her Interactive discussion at this year’s festival. According to Lawrence, women are unable to get footing and/or funding for their endeavors because of constant attempts at diverting attention from themselves simply because of their possession of a certain type of reproductive organ.
Lawrence, who has past experience leading NY Tech Meetup, the largest Meetup in the world, as well as leading a Girl Scout council supporting 15,000 girls, hopes to address and challenge these roadblocks with her panel, and mobilize a change in the way women are seen and supported in the tech industry.
2. Leveraging Diversity for Your Business Portfolio
When: Sunday, March 10, 5 – 6 p.m.
Where: Austin Convention Center, Room 6AB
Hashtag: #futurebiz
According to the description of this panel, “in the words of acclaimed journalist Robert C. Maynard, the fault lines of race, class, gender, generation and geography are the most enduring forces shaping lives, experiences and social tension. For entrepreneurs, content producers and innovative businesses, understanding how to navigate those fault lines will be a critical component of making money in an increasingly diverse and global economy.”
As unconventional as our country and workscape are becoming, diverse individuals within it still find themselves unsure of how to navigate and adapt to the environments necessary for success.
Dori Maynard and Joshunda Sanders of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education will be bringing the innovative diversity training workshop model employed by the Maynard Institute to SXSW Interactive for entrepreneurs, journalists, web-content producers, consultants, marketers and all the in-between to engage in and learn from. Maynard and Sanders will also provide real-time tips that will assist attendees with adapting practices for profitably navigating racial, economic and gender diversity in unique, lucrative and comfortable ways.
3. Cultivating The New Minority Entrepreneur
When: Sunday, March 10, 3:30 – 4:30pm
Where: Austin Convention Center, Room 6AB
Hashtag: #newGenY
As time progresses, Blacks and Latinos are having a higher and higher inclination toward entrepreneurship, currently comprising of roughly 40% of Generation Y.
John Butler of UT, Laura Weidman Powers of Code 2040, Marcus Mayo of Incubate NYC, and Natalia Oberti Noguera of Pipeline Fellowship aim to utilize this panel to discuss the overwhelmingly dominant aspirations that young minorities possess when it comes to business goals.
According to the panel description, “Blacks and Latinos have a disproportionate inclination toward entrepreneurship. A Kaufmann Foundation policy brief, Young Invincibles, found that 65% of Latinos and 64% of Blacks aged 18 – 34 wanted to start a business vs. 45% of whites.”
Minorities are continuously ramping up their business ventures and this panel will explore how the Gen Y minority entrepreneurship group can, and potentially will, affect the tech industry as a whole.
4. Call of Duty: How STEM Can Change the Battlefield
When: Saturday, March 9, 3:45 – 4 p.m.
Where: Hilton Austin Downtown, Room 615AB
Hashtag: #STEMbattle
In this brief, but sure to be impactful panel discussion, Chief Information Officer & Senior Vice President of BAE Systems Michael Bennett hopes to address how STEM skills are becoming increasingly necessary for those who serve our country in the military today. The heightened digitized and media-based nature of certain skills necessary to the military’s safety features are currently being seen as greater and greater improved through the gaming interface. According to Bennett, these skills are no longer just applicable to basic virtual reality settings, but are now necessary critical engineering skills in the defensive sense.
Bennett, who utilizes social media to draw defense employees from traditional digital companies, will focus on the considerable lack of female and minority representation that currently inhabits this field, and discuss the avenues possible to adjust this underrepresentation.
5. Make Your Brain Twerk: Using Creativity, Humor and Tech
When: Saturday, March 9, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Colorado Room
Hashtag: n/a
As we become more and more involved in the realm of social media engagement, we may find ourselves wishing we were just a tad bit more comical or engaging in order to attract more readers, subscribers, retweeters, etc. for the purpose of furthering our brands. But how do we make those decisions? How do we know how far we can push the limits without offending our followers?
Comedian Will Hatcher, social media strategist Luvvie Ajayi, and writer Kevin Avery plan to utilize their panel to advise attendees about scientifically proven strategies and techniques that the average person can use to tap into their creativity and master the intersection between comedy and tech.