Gina Likins | University Outreach, Open Source & Standards Team at Red Hat
I have been working in internet strategy for more than 20 years, participating in online communities for nearly 25, and working in open source for more than four. I'm passionate about finding ways to help our open source communities thrive and be more welcoming for everyone.
In addition to my interests in communication, conflict resolution and open source community dynamics, I also have a long history with and interest in education, having obtained my North Carolina teacher certification and taught both high school biology and environmental science.
My current role on the the University Outreach team at Red Hat exists to help universities incorporate open source into their curriculum. Find me at @lintqueen on Twitter.
Authored Comments
> Either the thought is wrong or it isn't. Thinking and not saying is a type of
> hypocrisy.
You call it hypocricy, I call it tact. :-)
Either way, I'm choosing to interpret the original request for pictures as a legitimate request for photos of the HTML class Cas and I taught. Her significant other helped out with the class and he took some pics, so I've emailed them to ask if they are available.
With regards to the value of all-female environments: it's an interesting interesting question, on which there is lots of healthy debate that stretches far beyond the realm of women in tech. For example, there is a long-standing debate around whether female-only boarding schools allow women to flourish without worrying what men will think of them or whether they create an artificial environment that keeps women from facing real-world challenges (see http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/editorial/looking-at-both-sides-of-the-gender-question-in-schools-20081108-5kke.html?page=-1).
Regardless of whether you ascribe to the theory that all-girls education is more successful, it's important to note that all-girl hackathons are a *supplement* not a substitute for more traditional coder culture environments.
It's not likely that every project, class, conference and event a woman will attend during her education and subsequent career will be all-female, so having *an event* (like Pearl Hacks) that's focused on creating a supportive enviroment for women can allow them to experience the sense of "belonging" that is inherent for many men at male-dominated conferences.
By the way, there were men at the hackathon too -- quite a few of them also donated their time and expertise to teach and mentor.