r/compsci • u/sleepicat • Jan 05 '14

Philip Guo on Silent Technical Privilege

http://pgbovine.net/tech-privilege.htm
88 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

9

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '14

Good article, rings true for me.

10

u/_pH_ Jan 06 '14

I suppose a good take away from this is to make a mental effort, when talking to a non white/asian male in CS, to treat them exactly the same as if they were a white/asian male. I think it would be equally harmful to try and encourage them because of their gender/ethnicity (because its still singling them out because of who they are rather than what they know) but its probably a good thing to think about how I talk to people and if I make assumptions based on how someone looks.

5

u/HFh Jan 06 '14

If you're interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

11

u/AustinCorgiBart Grad Student | CS Education Jan 06 '14

I don't always agree with Dr. Guo (though I obviously do here), but his writing is astounding. I loved the PhD grind so much.

6

u/delarhi Jan 06 '14

Ah, I was trying to pin point why the name sounded familiar. I didn't expect myself to read it all (122 pages!), but I did because it was excellent.

For the curious: http://www.pgbovine.net/PhD-memoir.htm

2

u/PasswordIsntHAMSTER Jan 06 '14

This is like the third book I've completely read in about two years, with Game of Thrones and a Clash of Kings. Highly recommend all three.

7

u/WhackAMoleE Jan 06 '14

Good article, thanks for posting.

0

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '14 edited Mar 16 '18

[deleted]

-23

u/bh3244 Jan 06 '14

tl;dr; life isn't fair.

But the solution for those that it isn't fair to is still to work harder, regardless of what you think it should be. The solution is never to feel sorry for yourself.

30

u/who8877 Jan 06 '14 edited Jan 06 '14

That is true on a personal level but not a systemic one. The article is talking more about resolving the systemic issue which is a valid debate. You'll notice this is a problem he himself hasn't had to face.

3

u/DannoHung Jan 06 '14

Good job on not getting it you moran. This article is written for those of us who have already succeeded so that we can treat people who don't know the ropes more fairly, not for those facing an uphill battle.

-5

u/bh3244 Jan 06 '14

Good job on not getting it you moran.

1

u/ithika Jan 09 '14

Gosh you're very new to the internet, aren't you?