For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
209: Self-Identity and Parenting in Tech with Mia Mollie De Búrca
01:25 - Mia’s Superpower: Adaptability
- Applicable Skills to Basic Computer Programming
- Parsing Information
- Research
05:31 - Linguistics and Cultural Anthropology
- Linguistic Relativism (Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis)
08:36 - Parenting While Having a Career in Tech
09:42 - Objectivity and Truth in Software Development
11:04 - Tech Parenthood (Cont’d)
- Maternity Leave and Returning to Work
- Part-Time Flexibility
- “Keep-in-Touch Days”
- Returning to Work as an Individual Experience
- Discrimination & Stigma
- Multitasking Expectations For All
- Geographic Differences
- Company Culture
24:21 - Tenure in Tech, Job-Hopping, and Juggling Parenthood
- Parenting in View During the New COVID/Remote Work Era
“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." – Elizabeth Stone: teacher and author
- Psychological Safety and Privilege
- Living and Operating in Fear
- Code-Switching
- Visibility of Parents
44:05 - Self-Identity in the Tech Industry
55:36 - Diversity Hiring
Reflections:
Mia: Psychological safety and privilege.
John: “Just because I’m psychologically safe doesn’t mean everybody else is.”
Laurie: The dichotomy of Mia and Christina’s experiences of being parents in tech.
Christina: It is possible to remain optimistic that Moms in the United States will get better.
Rein: Comfort and guilt in diversity hiring.
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Special Guest: Mia Mollie De Búrca.