• Reflect on intersectionality and how your identity impacts your experiences and interactions with others
• Develop greater empathy and awareness of the experiences of others in the field of software development
• Provide exposure to the biases that exist in the field of software development
• Build skills to address micro and macro aggressions
  • The ability to identify micro/macro aggressions
  • Using inclusive language
  • Accepting other’s experiences
  • Apologizing when you commit a micro/macroagression
• Building a vision of the impact you want to make on the people around you and the people who will use your products
• Communicating how your identity creates a unique perspective to who you are as a Software Developer

Adapted from Courageous Conversations

• Be present in this space.
• Close browsers, projects, or other distractions.
• Stay with the topic.

• Use “I” language for your experience, not generalizing the experience of many.
• Everyone does not communicate the same way, appreciate the way people express their ideas.

• People sometimes try to “fix” the pain or discomfort of others, instead sit with them in the pain or discomfort.
• We all experience things differently and our reality is different. Listen to that experience without judgment or attempts to minimize.

• Be mindful of the airtime you are taking.
• If you are often silent, push yourself to speak up. If you often speak, push yourself to listen more.

• People are often waiting to share a point of view or experience and that can lead to missing the opportunity to connect to others.
• Listen to the ideas and try to BUILD on the conversation instead of dropping ideas in the middle of the circle.

Equity and inclusion work does not end in an hour session. These ideas are meant to be a starting point to an ongoing conversation and process. There is not a clean, simple, or easy way to wrap up conversations on identity.

Sessions in Modules 1 - 3 will follow a general format that includes:

• Content is provided for review at least 48 hours prior to the session on Turing.io/GearUp (TBD)
• Each session will have the option of independent reflection or group discussions
• Each student will submit a synthesis of what they are learning and applying from the session in a google form.
• Students in the independent reflection can link their gist or write a summary response
• Students in discussion groups will share what they learned from their discussion group
• FE/BE cohorts will be combined to have two facilitators in each session

Each Module should complete a Culture Survey at least ONCE during a Module.

• Recommended between weeks 1-3
• Please see Culture Survey.md for further directions
• Instructors can choose how to implement the survey and feedback discussion