Computer Science Programs Have a Higher Representation of Neurodivergent Participants

I know that tech as a whole has a higher representation of neurodivergent participants and the general population. Have you seen the same thing at universities or in computer science programs at universities? Yeah, I have several friends at the department who maybe are autistic or have other special conditions. And I think that it's pretty cool that the university actually also supports that.

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Guest

Andy Piper | Ana Meta Dolinar | Gemma Penson

Panelist

Richard Littauer

Show Notes

Hello and welcome to Sustain! The podcast where we talk about sustaining open source for the long haul. Richard is at the State of Open Con 2023 UK in London, and he’s excited to have his first ever in-person podcasts. Today, he has three guests joining him. His first guest is Andy Piper, who volunteered to come here and represent the Open Source Initiative. We’ll hear more about he’s helping the OSI today, what changes he has seen with the OSI over the past decade, and his thoughts on the Cyber Resilience Act. His next two guests are Ana Meta Dolinar and Gemma Penson, who are both University students in Cambridge. They had a stall upstairs at the event for Women@CL, which is the initiative promoting inclusivity and community of women who do computer science, either as students or researchers at Cambridge. Today, we’ll learn all about the Women @CL, how they’re helping to fix the huge gender imbalance when it comes to open source and computer science, and their thoughts on the “leaky pipeline” metaphor. Download this episode now to hear much more!

[00:00:46] Andy tells us why he’s at the State of Open Con helping the OSI.

[00:04:01] We hear Andy’s perspective on how you can benefit from the OSD by being an enthusiast and what it gives you by having the OSD there.

[00:06:25] We learn what Andy is currently doing with open source and being a member of the Python Software Foundation.

[00:09:44] Since Andy’s been a member for over ten years, he tells us what he has seen that has changed significantly in the past decade with the OSI.

[00:11:26] Andy shares his first experience at FOSDEM 2023.

[00:12:59] What are Andy’s thoughts on the Cyber Resilience Act? He also mentions a website and blog to check out by Simon Phipps.

[00:15:41] Find out where you can follow Andy and the OSI on the web.

[00:17:56] There is a huge gender imbalance when it comes to open source and computer science, and Ana and Gemma share the statistics with us as well as what activities they do to help fix that imbalance.

[00:19:14] Ana explains more about the Oxford Women in Computing Society. She mentions lobbying and explains how it requires a lot of background work.

[00:21:20] We hear more about the Oxbridge Women in Computer Science Conference that takes place April 2023.

[00:24:45] Tech has a higher representation of neuro divergent participants, and Ana and Gemma talk about how visible this population is at universities and in computer science programs and how supportive the university is.

[00:27:19] We hear Gemma and Ana’s thoughts on the “leaky pipeline” metaphor and why it may or may not work.

[00:32:00] The last question is on the topic of governance and how they plan to keep the program existing and onboard new women to this important cause. They tell us about the initiative at Cambridge, and a Big Sister, Little Sister program they have.

[00:35:28] Ana and Gemma explain the mentorship from the graduate school, postgraduates, assistant lecturers, etc.

[00:36:25] If you’re a company that wants to sponsor Women in CL, find out where you can reach out to them and where to get in touch with Ana and Gemma on the web.