- Guest Blogger
Building Collaborative Networks to Support Women of Color in User-Experience and Technology Design
By Laura Gonzales
This blog post contains excerpts from the keynote presentation our team shared at the 2020 Special Interest Group for the Design of Communication Conference.
In 2019, the Women of Color in Computing Collaborative released their comprehensive data brief, which traced the lack of inclusion and representation for women and girls of color in computing from pre-k to entrepreneurship. For example, this report shows that only 7% of all students who typically take the AP Computer Science exam are Black, Latinx, or Native American/Alaskan Native girls.
Starting in pre-k, girls of color are discouraged from pursuing careers in computing by mentors and adults who embrace oppressive assumptions about girls of color; namely, assuming that girls of color are not interested in science and technology and will not succeed in this field. Through longitudinal data presented in their data brief, the Women of Color in Computing Collaborative traces how these initial assumptions shape girls’ of color experiences in higher education, in the tech workforce, and in entrepreneurship, where underrepresented women of color receive less than 1% of all venture funding and represent only 1% of all venture professionals. As Natasha N. Jones (2017) explains “the dominant narrative about Black entrepreneurship is that Black-owned businesses are not profitable, not sustainable, not up to par,” despite the many “narratives of Black entrepreneurial success and invention” (p.320). Thus, oppressive systems and racist assumptions about girls of color are carried through all corners of education and professional development and shape what the contemporary tech industry looks like, what gets supported, and the rhetoric used to describe, expand, and/or limit innovation.
In 2019, I co-developed (along with Dr. Joy Robinson, Dr. Ann Shivers-McNair, and Clarissa San Diego) a proposal for the project, “Building a Collaborative Network to Support Women of Color in User-Experience and Technology Design.” In this project, we proposed that user-experience (UX), as an inherently interdisciplinary field that brings together scientific and humanistic methods, could provide a useful pathway to support students who are interested in doing work in technology, but who may not have backgrounds in fields like computer science and engineering. Working under the assumption that humans’ needs and practices should shape how technologies are built and developed, UX can be appealing to humanities researchers interested in working with people to design more effective tools for communication and engagement.
While there are many interesting elements of UX that can be of use to humanities students interested in technology, for our project, we decided to highlight the importance of language diversity in contemporary technology design. As many researchers show, technologies are now distributed in more culturally and linguistically diverse environments than ever, and UX researchers must work closely with technology designers to develop tools and systems that are inherently cross-cultural and multilingual. Often, technologies are designed in a single, dominant language, like English, and are later translated and localized, either by professional translators and designers and/or by local users who adapt tools and technologies for their own multilingual goals and purposes. While conversations about translation and multilingualism are often kept separate from conversations about usability, as researchers such as Emma Rose and Alison Cardinal (2018) show, there is an increased need for collaboration among UX researchers, multilingual designers, and translators, particularly as the need for effective multilingual technologies rises in contemporary globalized contexts.
For this reason, we focused on combining language and UX as critical pathways for increasing engagement, and for highlighting the strengths of humanities researchers and their potential to positively influence technology.
What we developed is a longitudinal ethnographic study that sought to establish a pathway for four mentees to get training and develop projects that allowed them to leverage their linguistic and cultural skills in designing tools and technologies for their own communities. Over the course of a year, we met weekly to discuss current UX research methods, tools, and practices. As the mentors presented these tools, the mentees began designing their own research projects. As the year progressed, mentees began leading the weekly sessions by sharing updates and getting feedback on their projects. As our team engaged in these conversations, we also traced out the process for co-learning, as we sought to answer our research questions, including:
How can our students, who may not have direct access to the tech industry, be mentored and encouraged to pursue careers in UX and technology design?
What skills (both soft and hard) can our students be equipped with in order to enter the technology industry after graduation?
What can the technology industry, and UX research specifically, learn from the skills, backgrounds, and experiences of WOC in order to more effectively diversify its workforce and designs?
For example, during one of our weekly sessions, we introduced the concept of user research through Indigenous scholars’ definitions of relationality, including Shawn Wilson’s (2008) definition of “methodology [as] accountability to relationships” (p. 7) and Angela Haas’ (2012) positioning of technology as “the work that relies on an ongoing relationship between bodies and things." (p. 212) Through this orientation, we then practiced user research following methods such as those introduced by 18F, providing space to practice hands-on methods while also discussing methodological orientations to UX work that honored and respected the positionalities of our research team and the communities with which we were working.
We asked our mentees, Estefania Castillo, Bibhushana Poudyal, Nora Rivera, and Tetyana Zhyvotovska to brainstorm potential UX projects that were interesting to them and that also allowed them to practice their new UX skills. At the end of the year, our team took a trip to Seattle, where we were able to set up meetings with UX professionals at Facebook, Google, and Chronos Global Academy to both share and get feedback on fellows’ projects and to learn about future opportunities for practicing UX in industry contexts. We are incredibly grateful to Emma Rose, Alison Cardinal, and Clarissa San Diego for connecting us with their networks in Seattle and sharing their feedback and wisdom.
Each of the projects developed by our amazing co-presenters incorporates and extends UX research methods and practices in various contexts. Each of the mentees’ projects was incredibly complex, rigorous, and filled with potential for having a positive impact in UX research and practice. At the same time, it’s important to point out that entering the tech industry, particularly for women, women of color, and international students, requires much more than a mentorship program and networking trip. Indeed, as we traced our journey through this project, we also came upon several roadblocks.
For example, while the Women of Color in Computing project was useful in helping us make connections to UX professionals when applying for tech industry jobs, international applicants face similar challenges to those we see in academia, particularly in relation to visa concerns on job applications. As Josephine Walwema and Felicita Arzu Carmichael (2020) argue, job applications often ask vague questions related to international applicants’ eligibility to work in the US, and they don’t make clear how Visa sponsorship issues are handled. The same is often true for international applicants seeking work in the tech industry. In order to open more pathways for diversity in these sectors, it’s important to make visa requirements and opportunities clear on job applications and to support the work of international applicants.
In addition, it’s widely known that UX is an interdisciplinary field that draws heavily on humanities skills, but our project also revealed that it’s difficult for students with humanities backgrounds, particularly women and women of color, to break into the tech industry. The most successful UX professionals are those who know how to study and empathize with people, particularly people from different backgrounds. While it’s true that humanities skills are critical to successful UX research, many job applications for UX positions require computer science or engineering degrees by default. This requirement alienates applicants from non-traditional backgrounds who, like the women showcased in this project, can very much contribute to tech design, but who may not have backgrounds in computing. As we continue building relationships with industry professionals and learning more about how we can make positive change, we encourage a closer examination of basic requirements on job applications that may put up unnecessary barriers for otherwise qualified applicants.
In collaboration with the broader Women of Color in Computing team, including policy expert Dr. Monica Stigler, we are currently working to write policies regarding how visa requirements are listed on tech industry job applications. In addition, we are working to extend future collaborations by building a larger network of mentees from different institutional contexts and backgrounds. Our team is grateful to the Women of Color in Computing Collaborative for welcoming this project and extending their support and mentorship.
Written By:
Assistant Professor of Digital Writing and Cultural Rhetorics
Associate Director, TRACE Innovation Initiative
Affiliate Faculty Member, Center for Latin American Studies
Department of English
University of Florida
References
Haas, A. M. (2012). Race, rhetoric, and technology: A case study of decolonial technical communication theory, methodology, and pedagogy. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 26(3), 277-310.
Jones, N. N. (2017). Rhetorical narratives of black entrepreneurs: The business of race, agency, and cultural empowerment. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 31(3), 319-349.
Kapor Center and ASU CGEST. 2019. Data brief: Women and girls in computing. Web. https://www.wocincomputing.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/WOCinComputingDataBrief.pdf
Rose, E., & Cardinal, A. (2018). Participatory video methods in UX: sharing power with users to gain insights into everyday life. Communication Design Quarterly Review, 6(2), 9-20.
Walwema, J., & Arzu Carmichael, F. (2020). “Are you Authorized to Work in the US?” Investigating “Inclusive” Practices in Rhetoric and Technical Communication Job Descriptions. Technical Communication Quarterly.
Wilson, Shawn. (2008.) Research is ceremony: Indigenous research methods. Fernwood Publishing, Black Point, NS, Canada.
