As a young man I had a huge amount of privilege. White, male, tall, athletic, handsome, with ability to get along with others. There is privilege in every bit of that. As a result, I was given projects that were challenging and interesting, something that you don't always get when you are getting started. It was difficult and I was forgi…
As a young man I had a huge amount of privilege. White, male, tall, athletic, handsome, with ability to get along with others. There is privilege in every bit of that. As a result, I was given projects that were challenging and interesting, something that you don't always get when you are getting started. It was difficult and I was forgiven when I stumbled. More privilege. As a result, I developed.
As time went on, women and minorities started entering technical fields. As Chris pointed out, "a minority has to be superlative in the same role where a majority can be average."
They were often given projects and tasks that were beneath them, with less change to advance or shine. Not to toot my own horn, but this was a place where I could do something. My manager, a woman at that time, expressed low regard for a female engineer from another department in a meeting. I spoke up for her and explained that I had worked with her and there were things about her that she didn't have the visibility to that I had. It helped get her a bit of respect, and a chance to earn it.
I was known as a go to guy for technical help, but probably some of the most important help was not the technical stuff, but to help people who were not given respect as a starting point receive, earn and feel respect. One Vietnamese engineer told me that he almost quit his job but because of me he stayed. In an environment where some people try to boost themselves up by stepping on others, especially the ones easy to step on, it is much better to do the right things. In one case my help enabled someone to surpass me. He earned it and I have no regret. There were people who helped me along the way.
None of what I wrote above was to boast. It is given as examples of what an individual can do to help people in a less privileged demographic. Policies from above can get them in the door, but they can too easily be nudged out unless individuals do their share to give them a chance.
As a young man I had a huge amount of privilege. White, male, tall, athletic, handsome, with ability to get along with others. There is privilege in every bit of that. As a result, I was given projects that were challenging and interesting, something that you don't always get when you are getting started. It was difficult and I was forgiven when I stumbled. More privilege. As a result, I developed.
As time went on, women and minorities started entering technical fields. As Chris pointed out, "a minority has to be superlative in the same role where a majority can be average."
They were often given projects and tasks that were beneath them, with less change to advance or shine. Not to toot my own horn, but this was a place where I could do something. My manager, a woman at that time, expressed low regard for a female engineer from another department in a meeting. I spoke up for her and explained that I had worked with her and there were things about her that she didn't have the visibility to that I had. It helped get her a bit of respect, and a chance to earn it.
I was known as a go to guy for technical help, but probably some of the most important help was not the technical stuff, but to help people who were not given respect as a starting point receive, earn and feel respect. One Vietnamese engineer told me that he almost quit his job but because of me he stayed. In an environment where some people try to boost themselves up by stepping on others, especially the ones easy to step on, it is much better to do the right things. In one case my help enabled someone to surpass me. He earned it and I have no regret. There were people who helped me along the way.
None of what I wrote above was to boast. It is given as examples of what an individual can do to help people in a less privileged demographic. Policies from above can get them in the door, but they can too easily be nudged out unless individuals do their share to give them a chance.