{"id":1328,"date":"2017-04-10T07:30:30","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T07:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/?p=1328"},"modified":"2017-04-06T16:09:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T16:09:28","slug":"diversity-unconference-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/","title":{"rendered":"The first diversity in Scotland’s digital sector unconference: my reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought that the discussions at the diversity in Scotland\u2019s digital sector unconference would be challenging, enlightening and informative, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n

In the voting session at the start, and the discussions I joined later on, I was struck by attendees\u2019 enthusiasm and the strength of their desire to break down barriers and improve the current situation.<\/p>\n

I also welcomed just how willingly and generously they shared their experiences, perspectives, ideas and insights.<\/p>\n

Many of the comments that attendees made and questions they asked during the unconference captured my thoughts and feelings about it. Here are just a few of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday has been really good for meeting a cross sectoral group of people\u2026 it\u2019s really interesting that there\u2019s so much crossover between different sectors\u2026\u201d<\/h2>\n

It was great to see a range of representatives from the private, public and third sectors. And what was even better was that attendees repeatedly acknowledged that the fact that, whatever sector you happen to work in, a lot of the issues around diversity in digital are exactly the same (like recruitment and selection, resources and the negative impact of unconscious bias).<\/p>\n

Another point that arose in many of the discussions was that the lack of diversity in the digital sector is a cultural and societal issue as well as being an organisational one. Some parents highlighted this by describing how they see gender stereotyping already shaping the next generation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that, whether it\u2019s in our public or private spheres of influence, diversity in digital is something that we all have to take responsibility for, and have to work on together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unconference format allowed people to drive it, and hopefully there were better discussions\u201d<\/h2>\n

Although the unconference was structured in a way that aimed to make the most of the time that we had available, the most important thing – the topics that we focused on<\/a> – were chosen by the attendees. Because of this, we were able to talk about some of the issues that matter to us all the most.<\/p>\n

So we were able to explore topics like class and \u2018imposter syndrome\u2019 (The feeling that you\u2019re not skilled, or knowledgeable, enough to be in the post you\u2019re in. So it\u2019s only a matter of time before you get \u2018found out\u2019.)<\/p>\n

These kinds of subjects are rarely discussed in relation to diversity in digital, or the workplace in general. We need to be more open about them and the impact they can have.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more than just headcounts to understand diversity and tackle the right challenges\u201d<\/h2>\n

Headcounts are useful, but they can only tell us so much. And, as many attendees said, diversity\u2019s about more than gender and the other protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also not helpful for us to make assumptions about what the issues and barriers are, or what the solutions to them may be. We need to identify and be clear about what\u2019s getting in the way of progress before we can decide how best to tackle these issues.<\/p>\n

One attendee noted that there wasn\u2019t always a diversity of opinion in the discussions they were in. That\u2019s just one of the many other tricky questions we need to be prepared to address like, \u201chow do we make sure we\u2019re not just preaching to the converted, and how can we make sure that we include people and take them with us?\u201d<\/p>\n

The next steps<\/h2>\n

As Laurna Robertson, the unconference organiser, reminded us during the event, (possibly more than once): this is just the start. It\u2019s clear that there\u2019s an appetite to do more to increase diversity in digital and, like you, we want to keep the momentum going.<\/p>\n

Attendees voted for Slack as the platform on which they wanted us to set up a community space. So we\u2019ve created a Diversity in Scotland\u2019s Digital Sector group to make sure we can carry on the conversation.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d like to join, get in touch with gary.carmichael@gov.scot<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I thought that the discussions at the diversity in Scotland\u2019s digital sector unconference would be challenging, enlightening and informative, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed. In the voting session at the start, and the discussions I joined later on, I was struck by attendees\u2019 enthusiasm and the strength of their desire to break down barriers and improve…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":374,"featured_media":1329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[35,40,34],"class_list":["post-1328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-public-services","category-digital-scotland","tag-digital-diversity","tag-digital-sector","tag-diversity"],"yoast_head":"\nThe first diversity in Scotland's digital sector unconference: my reflections - Digital<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The first diversity in Scotland's digital sector unconference: my reflections - Digital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I thought that the discussions at the diversity in Scotland\u2019s digital sector unconference would be challenging, enlightening and informative, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed. In the voting session at the start, and the discussions I joined later on, I was struck by attendees\u2019 enthusiasm and the strength of their desire to break down barriers and improve...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-10T07:30:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1536\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Davidson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Davidson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah Davidson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#\/schema\/person\/0cb91ab5a16149eb690db44d7b24499e\"},\"headline\":\"The first diversity in Scotland’s digital sector unconference: my reflections\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-10T07:30:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\"},\"wordCount\":708,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"digital diversity\",\"digital sector\",\"diversity\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Digital Public Services\",\"Digital Scotland\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\",\"name\":\"The first diversity in Scotland's digital sector unconference: my reflections - Digital\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-10T07:30:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#\/schema\/person\/0cb91ab5a16149eb690db44d7b24499e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":2048,\"caption\":\"Photo of facilitation plan for the Diversity in Scotland's Digital Sector unconference\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The first diversity in Scotland’s digital sector unconference: my reflections\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/\",\"name\":\"Digital\",\"description\":\"Updates from the Scottish Government's Digital Directorate\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#\/schema\/person\/0cb91ab5a16149eb690db44d7b24499e\",\"name\":\"Sarah Davidson\",\"description\":\"Director-General Communities\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/author\/sarahdavidson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The first diversity in Scotland's digital sector unconference: my reflections - Digital","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The first diversity in Scotland's digital sector unconference: my reflections - Digital","og_description":"I thought that the discussions at the diversity in Scotland\u2019s digital sector unconference would be challenging, enlightening and informative, and I wasn\u2019t disappointed. In the voting session at the start, and the discussions I joined later on, I was struck by attendees\u2019 enthusiasm and the strength of their desire to break down barriers and improve...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/","og_site_name":"Digital","article_published_time":"2017-04-10T07:30:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1536,"height":2048,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarah Davidson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Davidson","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/"},"author":{"name":"Sarah Davidson","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#\/schema\/person\/0cb91ab5a16149eb690db44d7b24499e"},"headline":"The first diversity in Scotland’s digital sector unconference: my reflections","datePublished":"2017-04-10T07:30:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/"},"wordCount":708,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg","keywords":["digital diversity","digital sector","diversity"],"articleSection":["Digital Public Services","Digital Scotland"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/","name":"The first diversity in Scotland's digital sector unconference: my reflections - Digital","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg","datePublished":"2017-04-10T07:30:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#\/schema\/person\/0cb91ab5a16149eb690db44d7b24499e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2017\/04\/Unconference-photo-for-SDs-follow-up-post-April-2017.jpg","width":1536,"height":2048,"caption":"Photo of facilitation plan for the Diversity in Scotland's Digital Sector unconference"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/2017\/04\/10\/diversity-unconference-reflections\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The first diversity in Scotland’s digital sector unconference: my reflections"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/","name":"Digital","description":"Updates from the Scottish Government's Digital Directorate","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/#\/schema\/person\/0cb91ab5a16149eb690db44d7b24499e","name":"Sarah Davidson","description":"Director-General Communities","url":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/author\/sarahdavidson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/374"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/digital\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}