Community Contribution #3 – Diversity and Inclusion in PLNs

Before this week, I thought about diversity in a PLN as connecting with people who come from different backgrounds and experiences than I do. After going through this week’s material and our learning pod discussion, I started thinking more about inclusion and whether everyone actually has the same opportunity to participate. Things like language barriers and access to technology can affect who is able to take part in online communities. 

I also found the idea of Two-Eyed Seeing interesting. Bartlett, Marshall, and Marshall (2012) discuss bringing together Indigenous and mainstream ways of knowing and learning from the strengths of both instead of only relying on one perspective. I think a lot of people, including me, find it more comfortable to talk to people who have similar interests, experiences, or ways of thinking. There is nothing wrong with that, but connecting with people who have different views, experiences, and interests can give you a fresh perspective and help you think about things in ways you may not have considered before. 

I would estimate that around 90% of my professional network is made up of people in computer science, cybersecurity, and tech because those are the areas I am interested in. However, a lot of my friends and people I talk to are in completely different fields, which gives me a chance to hear different perspectives. I think this can be useful because people outside of tech can look at the same problem differently and focus on aspects like privacy, usability, accessibility, or how the technology affects them personally.

I think this is especially important in cybersecurity and tech as a whole because a good technical solution is not always enough. I am currently taking SENG 360 and we are learning that even if a technology works perfectly from a technical standpoint, it can still fail if it does not meet the needs of the people actually using it. I could make my PLN more diverse by following people in fields like business, sociology, law, UX, and education. One challenge is that it is easy to stay in your comfort zone around people who are in the same field as you, but making the effort to branch out to people and communities in other fields can give you new perspectives and help you look at problems differently.

How can we make sure a diverse PLN is actually inclusive and not just diverse on paper?

References:

Bartlett, C., Marshall, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Two-Eyed Seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together Indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2(4), 331–340. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13412-012-0086-8