[J3] (SC22WG5.6232) Fwd: [SC22] ISO Gender Action Plan Survey

[Bill Long]

> On Jun 4, 2020, at 8:19 PM, Bryce Adelstein Lelbach aka wash <brycelelbach at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Bill,
> 
> Attempting to guess people's gender based on name is not an accurate way to get data.

Statistically, I think that is probably wrong.  Wrong guesses one direction tend to balance wrong guesses in the other direction. 

> If you want to know someone's gender you need to ask.

That is probably less accurate, as has been pointed out.  Some people might not reply at all, and others could fill in the form inaccurately. 

The survey also asked for additional information, including age that probably runs afoul of age discrimination laws.  Further discouraging  some people from replying.  

(Full disclosure - I actually completed the Survey and answered the questions accurately.)

> 
> Yes, ISO has a registry, but not everyone who participates in working groups is registered as a technical expert.

That’s news to me. I thought ISO was sort of particular about that. 

In ant event, if ISO wanted a gender count of the WG’s, the most accurate way would be to ask the convener of each WG to report the numbers. 

> Not all national bodies have or collect this data, either. Even those who do might not be able to share it because of privacy laws.
> 
> I agree the survey isn't perfect. But this isn't the right forum to provide feedback on the survey.

The discussion here was mainly about the basic idea of having the survey, rather than feedback about the survey itself. 

> You can email gender at iso.org to provide any feedback or suggestions.

I’ll add that address to this reply (after deleting accumulated forwarded emails). 

Cheers,
Bill

> 
> 
> --
> Bryce Adelstein Lelbach aka wash
> US Programming Language Standards (PL22) Chair
> ISO C++ Library Evolution Chair
> CppCon and C++Now Program Chair
> CUDA Core C++ Libraries (Thrust, CUB, libcu++) Lead @ NVIDIA
> 
> 
> Bill Long                                                                       longb at cray.com
> Principal Engineer, Fortran Technical Support &   voice:  651-605-9024
> Bioinformatics Software Development                      fax:  651-605-9143
> Cray, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company/ 2131 Lindau Lane/  Suite 1000/  Bloomington, MN  55425
> 
> 
> 

Bill Long                                                                       longb at cray.com
Principal Engineer, Fortran Technical Support &   voice:  651-605-9024
Bioinformatics Software Development                      fax:  651-605-9143
Cray, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company/ 2131 Lindau Lane/  Suite 1000/  Bloomington, MN  55425