Diversity and inclusion (D&I) are important goals that can help broaden the participation of women and underrepresented minorities. Andrew Begel (Microsoft Research) and Brittany Johnson (U Mass Amherst) are co-organizing the ASE 2019 D&I activities and plan the following.
Day 1: First-Timer’s Lunch
Inspired by SIGCSE’s successful first timer’s lunch, ASE will set aside a section of tables at lunch for first-time conference attendees to meet one another and help to create a cohort peer group that can socially support one another throughout the conference and in future years. A senior member of the community will sit at each table to help introduce those first-timers to the conference and establish social links to long-time conference attendees.
Day 1: Local College Student Visits
ASE will be held in San Diego, CA, home to many colleges and universities, such as UCSD, CSU San Marcos, San Diego State University, San Diego Community College, San Diego Mesa College, and numerous others. To inspire college students who may be interested in the software engineering research field, we invite local college faculty and their students to come to the first day’s afternoon sessions of ASE to attend talks, meet senior members of the ASE community, and hear from an inspiring speaker about the exciting possibilities that await them if they choose to go to graduate school.
Day 1: Ad hoc affinity group dinner meetups
We will facilitate dinner meetups at ASE 2019. Volunteers from various affinity groups (e.g. women, Latinx, African Americans, LGBTQAI+, neurodiverse people, people with disabilities, etc.) will gather after the opening conference reception and invite other interested members of the ASE community to come out to dinner as groups. There are a number of local restaurant options within walking or taxi distance from the conference, from which participants can choose and head over to meet, greet, and eat with one another.
Day 2: Women’s Breakfast
We invite women at ASE to meet up and talk over breakfast at the conference hotel.
Day 2: Diversity and Inclusion Lunch
To help reinforce the ad hoc affinity groups and promote the visibility of diversity and inclusion efforts at ASE 2019, we have set aside tables at lunch for various women, underrepresented minority, LGBTQIA+, neurodiversity, etc. groups to sit together and talk about issues relevant to their experiences in software engineering and conference activities. Each table is “hosted” by a senior member of the community who also belongs to that affinity group.
Day 2: Evening D&I Session – Karaoke
After the banquet, we invite women and underrepresented minorities to a karaoke social event where they can get together, talk about issues and experiences, and vent any intense feelings about software engineering during a fun session of karaoke.