How to diversify education through mentorship within the Python community.

[georgically]

The D&I Workgroup had a discussion session on the topic of "How to diversify education through mentorship within the Python community. " to follow up a question brought by the Djangonaut Space group during one of the PSF Board Office hour session.

We will keep our discussion documented here. Anyone can contribute to this discussion thereafter.

Discussion date: Feb 19, 2025
Attended by:

1. Ali Tavallaie
2. Alla Barbalat
3. Boluwaji Akinlade (half-time)
4. Georgi Ker
5. Keanya Phelps
6. Nathan Bransby
7. Rachell Calhoun
8. Tim Schilling
9. Miguel Johnson
10. Sarah Abderemane

Discussion Summary 

Purpose:
This meeting discussion focused on improving mentorship and diversity in the Python/Django community.
Key topics included:

• Gathering and organizing resources for mentorship
• Supporting underrepresented groups and improving accessibility
• Addressing challenges in retaining intermediate-level contributors
• Exploring ways to connect mentors and mentees
• Discussing potential legal/political concerns around diversity initiatives
   

Key Takeaways

• Need for centralized, organized resources for mentorship and learning
• Importance of local community support and decentralized communication channels
• Challenges in transitioning beginners to intermediate level and maintaining engagement
• Concerns about potential legal/political impacts on diversity initiatives in the community
• Recognition of accessibility needs and underrepresented groups beyond regional diversity

Discussion topics

Resource Organization and Accessibility

• Abundance of learning materials, but lack of centralized, organized resources
• Suggestion to create a GitHub page or work with Education Work Group to compile resources
• Need for better classification of issues/tasks for beginners in open-source projects

Community Support and Mentorship

• Value of local community support and peer learning (e.g., Brazil PyLadies model)
• Volunteer efforts will drive much of the work
• Challenges in transitioning from beginner to intermediate level
• Suggestion for "speed dating" style mentor-mentee matching at conferences
• Proposal to use AI/bots for content moderation and matching help requests with volunteers

Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives

• Discussion on how to focus on minority and underrepresented groups
• Importance of considering regional context in defining underrepresented groups
• Need for accessibility statements and dedicated channels for feedback
• Suggestion to collaborate with organizations specializing in open-source accessibility

Legal and Political Concerns

• Worries about potential legal challenges to diversity initiatives 
• Discussion on protecting organizers and community members from potential backlash
• To consult with lawyer on potential impacts 

Sprints, workshops and Practical Experience

• Value of mentored sprints for beginners to gain hands-on experience
• Challenge of maintaining "easy" issues for newcomers in open-source projects.
• Create sprints with closed issues which have been resolved for new learners so they could use resolved solution as reference.  
• Importance of preparing repositories with well-documented architecture and beginner-friendly issues

Suggestions for improvements

Improve Mentorship Resources

• Gather existing materials (e.g. Djangonaut Space workbooks)
• Organize resources in a centralized, accessible location
• Provide guidance for different skill levels and interests

Enhance Diversity and Inclusion

• Focus on supporting underrepresented groups in tech
• Improve accessibility for people with disabilities
• Address language barriers in translations

Strengthen Community Connections

• Create channels for decentralized communication among local groups
• Facilitate connections between mentors and mentees
• Support regional diversity initiatives

Next Steps

• Compile and share existing resources on the provided GitHub discussion link
• Reach out to Education Work Group to explore collaboration opportunities
• Consult with PSF lawyer regarding potential legal concerns for diversity initiatives
• Investigate creating a dedicated space/channel for accessibility and underrepresented groups
• Collect information on accessibility resources and organizations for events
• Consider developing an accessibility resource library for the Python community

[tim-schilling]

• https://www.conferencechats.org/
• https://github.com/wsvincent/awesome-django
• https://github.com/djangonaut-space/program
  • Djangonaut (mentee) workbook: https://djangonaut.space/resource/djangonaut-workbook/
  • Navigator (technical mentor) workbook: https://djangonaut.space/resource/navigator-workbook/
  • Captain (community mentor) workbook: https://djangonaut.space/resource/captain-workbook/
  • How we evaluate applications / Djangonaut selection process: https://djangonaut.space/comms/2024/06/25/djangonaut-selection-process/

[sabderemane]

• Agreggation of all local meetups related to Django: https://www.djangoproject.com/community/local/
• At the bottom of the page, community blogs: https://www.djangoproject.com/community/
  (there is some moderation before to add the blog)

[Nathan-Bransby-NMT]

Single Location for Educational Resources

Simplify where educational materials are found, by creating one site for storing up to date resources.

• Ensure that the website follows W3C Web Standards to address accessibility, usability and inclusion.

[Nathan-Bransby-NMT]

@georgically reviewing the "Next Steps" section in the meeting writeup, I've collected > 40 accessibility resources that could be useful for the Python community and I've created a new public repository briefly detailing each resource.

If anyone happens to think of something that I've missed, feel free to add it to the list! 😄