Every year, the Anita Borg Institute celebrates Women in Computing with their Grace Hopper Celebration. This October 14-16th, I joined 20,000 other women in Phoenix, AZ for a great event. The weather was great (although a bit hotter than I am used to in upstate NY). While there, I met many fascinating and inspiring women– it reminded my of my year at Wellesley College, only 100x bigger and grander. Below are a few things I learned in workshops and several cutting edge critical HCI research projects.
1. At the CRA-W session on “Managing Up” we discussed ways for those lower on the hierarchical totem pole to both understand their interactions with their superiors and ways to make the best of difficult situations.
a. Their first point was to understand institutional politics (what are the long term goals; what actions have been taken in the past) and what the chain of command is (who has authority in any given situation). The organization is usually a combination of lateral and hierarchical relationships. By having this information, it is easier to know “what you can get away with”. An example they gave was of a discipline that is notorious for being a resource hog (*cough cough* Cognitive Science *cough cough*). To allay concerns across the institute, that department should bring in partners early in the planning process to emphasize that the new initiative or activity is actually good for everyone.
b. In the case of contrary colleagues, their best advice was simply to avoid them! If you must work with them because they are blocking your objectives, make sure to maintain a respectful, professional tone. The ideal response is to provide them with a space to air grievances so they are more willing to support you later on: this is particularly valuable when working as part of a committee.