https://www.facebook.com/events/627027540790637/
Sep 17 at 11:00 AM to Sep 18 at 6:00 PM in PDT
1201 Howard st, san francisco, ca. 94103
I'm having my Dead Guy sale early!
No, I'm not dead! But I'm DYING to get rid of this stuff!
'Dead Guy' sales are when one of our local Electronics people kicks the
bucket, and all the other electronics people go to the sale and have a
sort of reunion while we rummage through all the stuff. I've often
wondered what my 'Dead Guy' sale would be like, so I've decided to have it
early so I can attend!
I'm shutting down my electronics shop of 14 years, and I need to pare down
all the fantastic treasures I've scrounged over the years!
There's actually a lot of good equipment in there, along with vintage
stuff, random doodads, and just plain junk.
Lots of computer monitors, all flat screen. Hard to find small ones, a few
large very nice ones.
Color laser printer with low page count and full toner carts. Very nice.
BIG projection screen, projector, old-school B&W and antique CRTs, A great
16 channel Mackie mixer, various robot entrails, and some things that even
I, a champion of 'what's that thing', cannot identify.
And just a lot of awesome random electronic JUNK!
Also lots of fantastic SHELVING! (you know you want it)
Come on down while the deals are fresh!
i lost my car key, i think outside of Omni on the sidewalk of 48th street
when i squatted down to fix something on the ground.
it's also possible it's lost inside sudoroom, on the floor or on a chair,
although I looked as best I could but i was tired.
it looks like a small black plastic car alarm remote, but there's no
keychain or anything attached to it. it kinda looks like this:
http://d2odvx3v4cbpyu.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Tesla-Model…
if you find it, or hear of someone who found it, please let me know.
thanks!
-jake
These fine folks have previously awarded $5K grants to BAPS, Sudo, Material
Print Machine, Birdhouse AND Liberated Lens. In short - apply for your
group! BAPS and Sudo were winners in Round 7, so they can reapply. The
deadline is 9/22.
Jenny
Help open a people-powered common space in Oakland, California!
https://omnicommons.org/donate
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
"Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories."
-Laurie Anderson
"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it."
-Hannah Arendt
"To define is to kill. To suggest is to create."
-Stéphane Mallarmé
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Southern Exposure <interntwo(a)soex.org>
Date: Wed, Sep 14, 2016 at 5:17 PM
Subject: Last Call for Submissions: Round 10 of the Alternative Exposure
Grant Program!
To: jenny(a)thepyre.org
Dear Jenny,
The deadline for applications to Southern Exposure’s Round 10 Alternative
Exposure is quickly approaching! If you know potential grantees already
working on a project that could benefit from an AltEx grant, please help
spread the word and share the information for this opportunity. If you were
a recipient in Rounds 1-7, we encourage you to reapply.
Whether you benefited from this grant last year or at Alternative
Exposure's inception almost a decade ago, we know you would be a great
representative of the program. Please forward this email, spread via social
media, and encourage your artistic peers to look at this year’s brochure
(attached as a PDF)!
All the best,
Mary Kate Anselmini
Projects + Programs Intern
Southern Exposure
_____________________________________________
Round 10 of the Alternative Exposure Grant Program
*Southern Exposure's 2016 Grant Program, Alternative Exposure, Seeks
Applicants Deadline to Apply: September 22, 2016*
https://www.soex.org/alternative-exposure
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
Southern Exposure is now accepting applications for Round 9 of the
Alternative Exposure Grant Program. Alternative Exposure supports the
independent and self-organized work of artists and small groups that play a
critical and significant role in the San Francisco Bay Area arts
community−giving grants up to $5000. With major support from the Andy
Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and additional support from the San
Francisco Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, Alternative Exposure offers
direct support to Bay Area based unincorporated groups, burgeoning art and
gathering spaces, publications, websites, collectives, events, and projects
that fall outside the traditional frameworks of support.
*MORE ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY*
Alternative Exposure was launched in 2007 and aims to fuel the energy of
the Bay Area visual arts community and encourage the vibrant artistic
activity that occurs on the ground level - artists or groups of artists
making and presenting work in a committed but informal way. Now entering
its ninth year, Southern Exposure has awarded $563,000 in direct funds to
151 Bay Area projects in the past eight years of the program.
Since developing Alternative Exposure with Southern Exposure, The Andy
Warhol Foundation has invested in the creation of a growing national
network of regional re-granting programs - supporting The Idea Fund in
Houston, Texas
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
; The Propeller Fund in Chicago, Illinois
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
; Rocket Grants in Kansas City, Missouri
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
; The Precipe Fund in Portland, Oregon
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
; and The Grit Fund in Baltimore, Maryland
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>.
The Foundation aims to support the independent creative activity of artists
by partnering with leading artist-centered, visual arts organizations
across the country. To find out more about the network of regional
re-granting programs beyond the Bay Area visit warholfoundation.org
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>.
To learn more about the history of this program and the many projects
funded by Alternative Exposure visit www.soex.org/alternativeexposure
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>.
*HOW TO APPLY*
The Alternative Exposure guidelines are available to download from the
Alternative Exposure website. All applications must be completed online by
September 22nd, 2016. Please go to https://soex.submittable.com/submit
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
to access the online application. Please visit the Alternative Exposure
website
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
to download a copy of the guidelines for review as well as the budget form.
*Generous lead support for Alternative Exposure is provided by the Andy
Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts*
The Southern Exposure team is looking forward to receiving your
applications. We can’t wait to learn about how you envision making
impactful contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area arts community.
--
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
*S O U T H E R N E X P O S U R E*
3030 20th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
t: 415-863-2141 / f: 415-863-1841
e: interntwo(a)soex.org <ad(a)soex.org> / w: www.soex.org
<https://soex-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1SUFmBUXz0HtZW3ARnt7P…>
[image: beacon]
Daniel gave someone 2 broken gopros (hero2 & 3) who gave them to liberated
lens. Daniel & i finally got around to trying to fix one (hero3),
yesterday, & we succeeded by reseating a ribbon cable on the motherboard &
cleaning the shutter's electrical contact, also, on the motherboard.
does anyone has an original gopro hero or gopro hero2 battery that i could
borrow to see if the other one can be fixed? i don't mind buying a battery
but i'd rather not unless i know the thing can be fixed.
thx
The Omni Commoner
*Issue 6, September 2016*
*omnicommons.org*
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
The Omni Commons currently hosts thirteen collectives committed to the
mission of equity and community. We’re actively recruiting new members for
existing groups as well as entirely new organizations to collaborate with
us. Please visit *omnicommons.org/wiki*
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
to learn more, or contact *info(a)omnicommons.org* <info(a)omnicommons.org>
with inquiries on how to participate!
Community News
*Help Us Buy the Building!*
Our monthly expenses are on the order of *$17,000*, and the community is
straining to make ends meet while simultaneously working to buy the
building.
We have the opportunity, finally, to proceed with the building purchase -
but we need your help to raise funds for an appraisal ($4500) and fall rent
expenses until we secure a mortgage! Contact us
<info(a)omnicommons.org?subject=Re%3A%20Buying%20the%20Omni> if you can help!
Visit our Donation Portal
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
to give a one-time or recurring donation via Stripe or PayPal, contribute
to our Patreon
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
page, book the space
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
for your next meeting or event, join the Fundraising
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
or Commons
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
working groups to help us increase our revenue streams, and / or simply
spread the word and share this newsletter!
*Volunteer of the Month*
[image: marcus.jpg]
*Marcus* recently spearheaded the Omni Re-Use Sale - an exhaustive endeavor
that involved clearing, sorting, and cleaning years of our accumulated
cruft. He is a member of Art Bison and has been making the above-pictured
Omni t-shirts :)
We are so very grateful to be graced with his active, positive presence and
generosity!
*Join!*
Are you connected to an aligned group looking for occasional or permanent
space? We have space available and are actively seeking new member
collectives to rent it out! Apply to be a member collective at*
omnicommons.org/join
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
!*
*Participate!*
We’re always welcoming new volunteers to participate in various working
groups - in particular finance, building & maintenance, commons (event
management), and fundraising. Check the calendar for the next working group
meeting, or visit *omnicommons.org/lists*
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
to join the relevant mailing list.
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
DONATE NOW TO KEEP US GOING!
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
*Updates From Member Collectives*
*Volunteer Guides & Mentors Needed!*
*Global Communication Services/Youth Empowerment Services (YES)
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
*provides support for immigrant families in the form of language classes,
youth music programs, health consulting, and after-school homework
assistance. They are looking for volunteer guides and mentors to work with
youth aged 8 to 18 in the areas of academic tutoring, English as a second
language, arts & crafts, dance, music and planning entertainment. Contact
them at 510.560.5520 or info.gscinc(a)gmail.com if you're interested in
helping out!
*Film Night “Heist: Who Stole the American Dream” (2011)*
*September 20th, 7-10pm in the Ballroom*
*HEIST: Who Stole the American Dream?* is stunning audiences across the
globe as it traces the worldwide economic collapse to a 1971 secret memo
entitled Attack on American Free Enterprise System. The 6-page memo, a
free-market utopian treatise, called for a money fueled big business
makeover of government through corporate control of the media, academia,
the pulpit, arts and sciences and destruction of organized labor and
consumer protection groups.
Co-director & co-producer Donald Goldmacher will be in attendance for Q&A
after the film.
Doors at 7pm, film at 7:30. $5 donation yes please? Free popcorn and snacks
as usual!
*New book release by Timeless, Infinite Light!*
*Face Down* by Brian Whitener is an abject, fantastic inquiry into forging
new ways of relating, set against the brutal materialist realities of
empire. With unflinching wit, Whitener connects "literature's devices,
knowledges, and affective relationships ... to the new problematics of
experiencing, worlding, and its sensorium of trauma."
*Available October, 2016 from the TIL website
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>.*
*Timeless, Infinite Light is an Oakland-basedsmall press and founding
member collective of the Omni Commons. They describe their books as "spells
for unravelling capitalism."*
Donate much-needed items from our Wishlist - we are especially in need of
cleaning supplies, and LED candelabra and flourescent-replacement bulbs!
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
Have a Question?
Chances are the answer is already on our website or wiki at omnicommons.org
- Come visit and send us a comment or feedback at *info(a)omnicommons.org*
<info(a)omnicommons.org>
or check out the calendar of ongoing events at *omnicommons.org/calendar*
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
!
Recurring Events
Monday
*Fundraising / Buy the Building / Until the Revolution Working Group*, 6pm,
Entrance Hall
*Synthetic Biology, Biohacking and Cheese*, every other Monday at 7pm in
Counter Culture Labs
*Anti-Eviction Mapping Project Meetup*, 1st & 3rd Mondays, 7pm
*The Art of Science, the Science of Art*, 4th Mondays at 7pm in Counter
Culture Labs
Tuesday:
*Hardware Hack Night*, 7pm in Sudo Room
*Biohackers and Mad Scientists Social*, 7pm in Counter Culture Labs
*Birdhouse Art Collective Bi-Weekly Meetups* - every other Tuesday, 7pm,
Entrance Hall
*Sudo Mesh: Building the Peoples Open Network* - Weekly hacknights, 4th
Tuesday general meetings - 7pm in the Disco Room
*Film Night @ The Omni*, every other Tuesday, 7pm in the Ballroom
*CCL Members General Meeting*, 3rd Tues. in March, June, Sep, & Dec in CCL
Wednesday:
*Sudo Room Weekly Social & Potluck*, 7pm in Sudo Room, 3rd Wednesday
meetings
*East Bay Homes Not Jails Meeting*, 7pm, Blue Classroom
*Land Action General Meeting*, 7-9pm in the Basement Hall
*Fermentation Station MycoFermentoOmniMondo*, 7pm in Counter Culture Labs.
*Open Source Insulin*, 7pm in Counter Culture Labs
*Lab Night*, 8pm in CCL
*Hegel for Communists*, every other Wednesday, 7pm in the Treatment Room
*Bay Area Public School Committee Mtg*, every other Wednesday, 7pm in the
Blue Classroom
*Bay Area Community Exchange (BACE) Timebank Monthly Meetups*, 1st
Wednesdays at 6:30pm in the Treatment Room
*Bay Area Trans Writers W**orkshop**, *1st Wednesdays at 7pm in the Ticket
Booth Room
*Thursday:*
*Omni Delegates Meeting*, 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 7pm in the Ballroom
*Commons Working Group*, 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 7pm in the Entrance Hall
*Bioprinter Project Night,* 7pm in Counter Culture Labs
*Javascript Study Group*, 7pm in Sudo Room
*Green Windows Weekly Creative Writing Workshop, *7pm in the Disco Room
*Bay Area Applied Mycology (BAAM) Mushroom Lab*, 1st & 3rd Thursdays,
6:30pm in CCL
Saturday:
*Synthetic Biology project: Engineer an evolved bacterial sunscreen*,
10:30am-12pm in Counter Culture Labs
*The EAST: A Solo Performance Laboratory*, 4:30pm, Disco Room
Sunday
*Open Insulin Lab Day*, 12-3pm in Counter Culture Labs - Regular meeting to
do lab work.
*Oakland Jericho: Prisoner Writing & Analysis*, 3-5pm in the Basement Hall
*Community Democracy Project Weekly Meetup*, 6:30pm in the Basement Hall or
Disco Room
Featured Recent & Upcoming Events
*Dance Battle for TURFinc*
*September 10th, 12 - 9:30pm in the Ballroom*
Ladies and Gents! We're so excited to invite you all to TURFinc's 4 year
Anniversary Dance Battle!
Turfin - Jookin - Poppin Dance Workshop from 1pm - 3pm
Doors Open at 2:30pm for battles!
1 vs 1 All Style Tournament happening from 3:30pm-4:30pm - Make sure to
Sign Up before 3:30pm
All Battles starts at 3:30-9:30pm
This is an All-Ages Family-Friendly event. Bring family and get inspired!
Workshop + Entrance $30
General Battle Entrance fee = $15 before 3:30pm & $20 after
*~ Register
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
~*
*Abolition of Policing*
*September 17th, 11am-1:30pm in the Entrance Hall*
Want to learn how to work toward eliminating the cops? Want to hear how we
challenge the notion that policing keeps us safe? CR Oakland regularly
offers this workshop that looks at the role and history of policing in the
U.S., the way it has impacted various communities, and how people have
resisted and challenged its inherent violence. This workshop also goes over
how we can reduce our reliance on policing by highlighting the various ways
that building up community strength and practices lead to true safety that
does not depend on law enforcement.
*Practice Your Paradigm Shifting: A Workshop*
*September 17th, 12-3:30pm in the Basement*
The challenges facing us are so big, and the answers we find will depend on
the questions we ask. Here’s a big question: How can we shape a world that
isn’t defined and determined by the economy at the expense of all the other
aspects of life? Maybe the answer is not the economy, but the whole ball of
wax: maybe it’s the paradigm, friend.
Come workshop with us on how to let go of a paradigm of “progress” and
brainstorm how we can participate more effectively in the cultural
transformations upon which our collective survival and well-being depend.
*Community & Youth Cultural Healing Ceremony*
*September 17th, 4:30pm-1am in the Ballroom*
(African Dance Performance by Youth) Love Consciousness Celebration
features music, cultural healing practice through music, which collaborate
with the goal of creating moments of joy leading to collective healing and
community building. The music creates a higher state of consciousness; in
this place of divine union as group we can become restored and then the
collaboration ideas will begin to flow!
*BioHack The Planet Conference*
*September 23-25th, 10am-11pm in the Ballroom*
As the BioHacker community grows, there is a need to disseminate
information and facilitate interaction between individuals of different
knowledge bases and areas of expertise. BioHTP is run by BioHackers,
designed for BioHackers, with talks solicited from BioHackers.
*~ Register: $50 Weekend Pass!
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
~*
*Angel & Jenny's Birthday Partay*
*September 30th, 7pm-1am in the Ballroom*
Angel and Jenny were born on this, the 30th day of the month of September.
Come celebrate these humans’ existence on this planet - and yes, this is
absolutely an excuse to party with your friends. All door proceeds go to
the Omni.
Sunday (continued)
*Liberated Lens General Meeting*, 1st & 3rd Sundays, 7pm in the Basement
*Open Circle: Families Fighting for Justice! *- Every 4th Sunday from
3::30-5:30pm
in the Ballroom
*Uniquely Yours - Creative Writing Workshop*, 4th Sundays from 7-10pm in
the Disco Room
Thanks for reading!
*With love from:*
Agua Viva Cafe
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
- A cafe dedicated to creating a warm, convivial entrance to the Omnii,
aiming to open by fall 2016.
Art Bison Design Collective
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
-
a feminist collective that produces media for political and social events.
*Bay Area Public School* - A free, self-organizing, anti-capitalist school
with radical and contestatory politics.
*Birdhouse Art Collective* - A new collective bringing art and artists to
the Omni Commons.
*Chiapas Support Committee*
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
- Supporting autonomous health care and education in Zapatista communities.
*Counter Culture Labs* - A citizen science and DIYbio space that is open
sourcing biology.
*Food Not Bombs* - Bringing free food to parks, political events,
neighborhood gatherings, & social centers since 1991.
Global Communication Services / YES
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>:
Supporting immigrant families through consulting, tutoring, and cultural
exchange programs.
*Global Womens’ Strike* - Omni Collective: International network working
toward the return of military spending to the community, starting with
women, the main caregivers everywhere.
*Liberated Lens* - A radical film & video collective dedicated to social
change.
*Phat Beets* - A food justice group building farmers markets and gardens in
North Oakland.
*Sudo Room*
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
- A place to build, learn, reclaim technology for the people, and create
alternatives to the tech industry.
*Timeless, Infinite Light* - An Oakland small press focused on contemporary
poetry and critical theory.
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f…>
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
<info(a)omnicommons.org>
<http://omnicommons.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=7b3df74e35ed3cfc94d1f7…>
*CopyLeft ** 2016 Omni Oakland Commons, All wrongs reversed.*
You are receiving this email because you signed up for Omni's general
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4799 Shattuck Ave
Oakland, CA 94609
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I'm lucky I'm not in this trap .. i noticed women get mentored to do more non profit / social good and qa work
Maybe open source is the only answer ?
http://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/tech-careers/are-wome…
Are Women Exiting Engineering Because Men Have All the Fun?
By Tekla S. Perry Posted 17 Jun 2016 | 16:00 GMT
Photo: Paul Bradbury/Getty Images
Where are all the women engineers? That’s a question that engineering educators and recruiters have been asking themselves for years now. Twenty percent of engineering graduates are women—but only 13 percent of the engineering workforce is female. It’s not a pipeline issue; engineering schools have been graduating women for a long time now. It’s been easy to blame women leaving the engineering workforce to balance the demands of family, but is that really it? Many have said there’s a culture problem, but what exactly does that mean?
It turns out, according to a recent study, that at least a big part of it happens when women are in mixed groups that need to divide chores. Typically, the division pushes the routine or boring work at the women, the challenging or interesting work at the men.
Researchers Caroll Serron at the University of California at Irvine, Susan S. Silbey at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Erin Cech (who performed the research at Rice University but is now at the University of Michigan), and Brian Rubineau at McGill University conducted the study to try to get a better idea of just why women who made it through years of STEM education start migrating out of tech. The effort, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, looked at 40 undergraduate engineering students, male and female, spread among the four schools. The students were asked to write in diaries twice a month, from freshman orientation through graduation, about anything of interest in their lives. The researchers also conducted interviews with 25 students at each school during years one and four.
In their paper, published in the May issue of the journal Work and Occupations, the researchers say the problem starts early—the first time engineering students are asked to work in teams. About the women, they write, “Their first encounter with collaboration is to be treated in gender-stereotypical ways.”
Here’s one example they gave from student comments:
There was this one case where, in our design class, two girls in a group had been working on the robot we were building in that class for hours, and the guys in their group came in and within minutes had sentenced them to doing menial tasks while the guys went and had all the fun in the machine shop.
Once the women get out of the classroom, the researchers say, moving into internships and summer jobs, the problem continues. The women are assigned routine tasks while their male peers are offered more challenging opportunities. One example from a diary:
So I’m two weeks into my research position and for the first time in my “working career” I’m really enjoying what I’m doing. The last two summers I’ve been working in an engineering internship position at X, the military defense government contractor . . .. The environment was creepy, with older weirdo man engineers hitting on me all the time and a sexist infrastructure was in place that kept female interns shuffling papers while their oftentimes less experienced male counterparts had legitimate “engineering” assignments.
Ironically, the researchers noted, recent curriculum changes in engineering schools may be making the problem worse, not better.
“Many engineering programs have introduced a greater emphasis on design and team-based learning in the classroom, in essence mimicking and modeling the worksite, not only because it is arguably more creative and effective work practice but also because it is assumed that this will complement women’s social talents and enhance their opportunities for persistence in the field,” they wrote. “We find, however, that a gender differential in students’ professional role attachment tends to be produced in exactly those collaborative encounters in team-based design projects.”
Can this be fixed? The researchers suggest that engineering schools should consider “directed internship seminars” as one possible tool for ensuring that student internship experiences “are dissected to help people learn from the problems women face.”
In the meantime, is there anything women can do to fight the problem themselves? Valerie Coffman, chief technology officer at on-demand 3-D printing and prototyping firm Xometry, says there is. After considering the study results, Coffman told me that, while this kind of thing likely happens all over, she is indeed willing to believe it happens more often in tech. “In situations like this,” she suggests, “you need to be your own best advocate and aggressively seek out the most interesting and challenging projects. If your male peers try to task you with menial work, you can tell them 'no'. They're your peers, not your bosses.”
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Omni Oakland
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Invoice # : 1458
Invoice Date: 09/15/2016
Due Date: 09/25/2016
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Amount Due: $2,446.00
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