Month: September 2019

I think the computing and technology communities need to improve their diversity. Diversity includes racial, gender, socioeconomic diversity but also diversity in perspective which comes from diversity of experiences. So, this can mean people who had siblings, played sports, were religious, etc. because all of these people had different experiences and have different perspectives. Diversity like this, pulling people from all different walks of life considering different categories, creates a much more creative environment due to the wide variety of perspectives. People who are different not only create an innovative environment but also open each others minds to new ways of thinking which can have deeper, positive impacts on society. Exposing people to others who are not like them or who disagree with them forces them to see other perspectives and even can make them more empathetic to other opinions and experiences. At the same time, I think it is important to have groups represented in more than just one person. Having people who are part of the same “group” as you can be important to your success. Whether you identify most with people of the same race or gender or who are interested in the same video games as you, having people you can relate to and feel are “like” you is essential. No one wants to feel alone or like they don’t have anyone like them so it is important to have decent representation from many groups. You like people who are like you in some way and that can vary by person depending on which part of their identity they identify most with.

I haven’t directly felt excluded from the computing industry. For me, it is extremely intimidating as an industry to be in mainly because there are not many women and because many CS students and professionals eat, sleep, and breath CS/tech so are doing it during their free time and know a lot more than I do. I identify with people of the same gender as me and who have a similar level of knowledge. I wouldn’t have noticed this if it weren’t for these feelings of being out of place and trying to find a group. I noticed, since I’ve found CS to be very difficult, that I tend to surround myself with students who are female and who struggle as much as I do (usually meeting them in office hours even when the homework “isn’t hard”). I personally haven’t felt excluded from being in this major. I think just the fact that there aren’t as many girls in the major and I have found that I tend to prefer to do homework with other girls, has made me aware of the lack of female presence. 

I think in professional settings there should be Codes of Conduct and rules about what people can and cannot say. Employees should be expected to self-censor since without it, employees become unprofessional and create uncomfortable or hostile environments that kill productivity and can be harmful to people. While we have a right to free speech, I think a company has a right to limit what you can discuss while at work in the benefit of the company and health/safety of other employees. I have worked with other employees who discussed sex and rated other employees on a hottness scale and I found these conversations to be very uncomfortable especially worrying me about who would hear. I think it is difficult to censor especially if you are friends with coworkers and especially as college students or interns. This censorship is not oppressive but instead promotes a healthier work environment fostering creativity and comfort.

I think the hiring process in technology is broken. The techniques most companies use to test applicants are ineffective or rigged against some candidates. Things like asking for references or looking at a student’s GPA while also looking for projects done outside of the classroom are not reasonable ways to demonstrate how someone will perform in a job since people would only give people who will speak highly of them and student’s GPAs can suffer if they focus more on outside projects. Many techniques also require luck or having a good day. I appreciated the article we read, “Hiring is Broken and Yours is Too”, that called out all of the techniques companies use because I have found a lot of these things to be hard for me to succeed in and it seems impossible to be good at everything since a lot depends on luck. I think it is very hard to do projects on the side and keep up with my school work and retain everything I’ve learned in class. I have also found a lot of companies looking for candidates with experience with specific technologies which is difficult to have already since we do not learn every technology in school and most things people will be doing at work are learned on the job or in training. So, I think companies should be looking more for people who can think and learn well not who have specific skills/experiences.

I have found it difficult to prepare for the hiring process and hard to easily find resources to help me prepare. I know a lot of my friends in Mendoza have clubs and mentors to teach them how to network/what to say to a recruiter and how to succeed in the different interviews or tests they could have. I have also found the resources that CS majors have access to, like the technology representative in the Career Center, to not hold up to the same standards as the business resources. I haven’t felt like I receive enough or the right quality support in my job search here so I tend to rely on friends or family for help.

As we discussed in class, non-competes prevent workers from salary negotiations since someone couldn’t go to a competitor and use a job offer as a negotiation point. They also limit job mobility and could warn/prevent workers from becoming experts in one field since they would become stuck in their job. While non-competes do ultimately protect companies, in the current employment climate, non-compete agreements are abusive, last too long and apply to too many companies/industries.

The hiring process in technology, like in other industries, is rather efficient. Each year it seems companies start recruiting earlier and they expect answers soon after extending offers. While their techniques might not always be effective, it is difficult to find other strategies to find the best candidates and ignore things like connections I do think the overall hiring process in technology is ethical but I don’t have a solution to the broken hiring system.

The images of a hacker or programmer we discussed in class of an unhygienic man in a dark basement, living off chips and mountain dew, never wanting to leave his computer are what most people I know expect from someone in computer science. I do think that this image of a programmer is becoming more and more rejected by the computer science community and we are projecting a more collaborative image as seen in our reading “Mark Zuckerberg’s Letter To Investor: ‘The Hacker Way’”. Those who work in teams tend to produce better work and are more likely to generate new ideas. Computer scientists with interests other than coding bring a different perspective to programming and can see a greater purpose in their work. I also don’t think I fit into the hacker stereotype at all, I prefer to be in a collaborative environment when working and pursue other passions of mine. I don’t constantly want to be coding, it’s really just something I find fascinating and enjoy as my major. I do see it as more of a means to an end and while I do enjoy it to other possible “means” I focus more on the end result of what I can create with coding and the purpose of my work. I find the meaning or problem I’m solving in work to be more a part of my identity than the fact that I can code.

People assume many things about students at Notre Dame including that we are all white, from a suburb of Chicago, come from a wealthy family, have at least one family member who went here, and are Catholic. I cannot reject these stereotypes because the majority of students here do fit into many, or at least one, of these stereotypes. I do fit into some of these stereotypes, being white and from a family that is able to support me, and am not ashamed to but I do wish the image of Notre Dame students were focused on who we are and how Notre Dame shapes us, instead of these superficial images even though it is true. A Notre Dame Computer Science and Engineering graduate thinks more broadly than his/her technical field and his/her impact on the world or greater community. The First Year of studies forces Notre Dame CS graduates to be exposed to more subjects than most students studying CS at other universities.

As we saw in class, Notre Dame is one of many schools with more students in the top 1% than the bottom 60%, which is something I didn’t consider when picking where I went to college. I can’t fault people for fitting into one of the Notre Dame stereotypes but I do think that this lack of economic, and other diversity at Notre Dame does hinder Notre Dame in its mission to educate the “whole” person. While I do agree that the First Year of studies and core requirements partially accomplish this by exposing students to different subjects and ways of thinking, not having a diverse student body has an impact on how Notre Dame students develop and creates a large gap in perspective and opinion. I have met a lot of closed minded people here and I think a lot of assumptions people make about those who are different than them (whether in ways of thinking or physically) comes from ignorance and lack of exposure to people who aren’t like them. I believe Notre Dame needs to strive to have a more diverse, equal, and just campus.