Let me show you how this

magic is made...

How to create no fear spaces

Code is a tool

A starterpack for

inclusive & fun

code learning

Inclusive code workshops

come in

different shapes...

"While participating in the Pixelles Game Incubator [grassroots coding workshop series in Mtl], I had a lot of coding support from some wonderful women. The fact that I could freely ask 'dumb' questions without worrying about reinforcing stereotypes about women being bad at coding meant that the process was efficient and mutually pleasant."

- Amelle

"I've been looking for this space for a long time"

GOAL: Help marginalized people feel comfortable with tech and code

STEPS:

- Go around the circle with names, pronouns, mood

- Be attentive to dynamics of class, race, sexuality, gender
e.g. in conversations: see who is taking up space and redirect attention if needed

- Reassure those who ask basic questions

"People who know how to code have barely any content.
People who do have content, don’t have a platform."

~>

Counter fear!

The alt code workshop invites
you to

_ be playful
not productive

_ think collectively
not just as an individual

_ be vulnerable
not only calculating & rational

But... Let's move away from postfeminist and neoliberal conceptions of women coding!

Don't forget to
SCROLL to the RIGHT
>>>>>

Playing with code has historically been reserved for men.

Informatics professor, Nathan Ensmenger writes that in North American universities in the 1970s, "computer centers were turned over to the use of undergraduates, either explicitly or with the implied consent of the faculty and administration [...]

In this sheltered but unsupervised environment, the links between electronic computing and the culture and practices of adolescent masculinity would be firmly established" (Ensmenger, 2015).

Men had the space (literally) to experiment and play with code.

It's time to make a space in which women can do the same.

Technology ethnographer Christiana Dunbar-Hester's recommendations:

Incorporate positionality of participants in workshops, rather than opting for egalitarian participation.

Do not draw a blind eye to the wider social and political web in which a participant is inscribed.

(Dunbar-Hester, 2017)

Diversity advocacy is multi-sited and
multi-vocal (Dunbar-Hester, 2017).