📓 1.0.0.03 Making Fidgetech an Inclusive Place
In this lesson
- Why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are part of Fidgetech's curriculum
- Optional background reading on inclusion in tech
- What you'll cover in pre-work vs. later in the program
Time: ~15 minutes (plus optional reading)
One part of being at Fidgetech is making it a place where everybody can feel like part of our class's community.
Optional reading: "The Other Side of Diversity"
Before class starts, you may find it helpful to read "The Other Side of Diversity" by Erica Joy Baker (archived article, ~10 minutes).
- If you're a person of color, a woman, or another minority, you might relate to Erica's experience working in tech.
- If you're not a minority, use it as an opportunity to understand how it might feel to be in that position, and what you can do so everyone in our class feels like they belong.
This reading is optional but recommended. The rest of this lesson works on its own if you skip it.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Curriculum
Like Erica Joy Baker's experience demonstrates, the tech industry has traditionally not been a diverse place. We at Fidgetech are committed to changing that. Fidgetech coursework includes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) curriculum to intentionally engage with important topics in DEI in order to encourage personal reflection and growth. If we are going to make a safe and inclusive learning community at Fidgetech, and if we are going to work towards improving diversity in Tech, we need to approach it together, intentionally.
What DEI looks like at Fidgetech
DEI at Fidgetech is not a single pre-work lesson—it continues throughout the program in several ways:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Pre-work (now) | Community Agreements — how we discuss hard topics respectfully |
| During the program | DEI workshops (quarterly discussions facilitated by staff) |
| During the program | Written DEI lessons integrated with technical coursework |
| During the program | Optional reflective assignments paired with DEI lessons |
In this pre-work section, you will read and agree to our Community Agreements in the next lesson. That is the foundation for every DEI workshop and discussion later.
You can also preview the full DEI curriculum on the site: DEI course overview.
Community Agreements
DEI discussions can be emotionally charged and uncomfortable at times, so we created a set of community agreements to guide students towards a respectful and educational conversation. In the next pre-work lesson, we review the community agreements in detail. You can also find them on Discord's #welcome channel and in Fidgetech's DEI course.
At Fidgetech, learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion is an important part of our curriculum, and we ask all students to take it as seriously as learning how to code.