Do you have any idea how we might go about fixing the situation? It seems to me like math/econ/tech people in their 20s (including me) don’t know what it takes to make other demographics feel welcome. The best thing I can think of is encourage some people from other demographics to write about and actively discuss EA, and to spread the writings of people who already do.
That’s a really good question, and as another 20-something in tech, I also definitely don’t have all the answers. I have an in-progress draft of a post more generally on outreach, to be posted somewhere (not sure where), but I’ll briefly list some of my thoughts directly related to making a wider variety of people feel welcome.
Expand our models of EA dedication beyond earning to give. This model doesn’t fit most people well, but it’s by far the most prominent idea of what living an EA life looks like.
People want to see people like them in communities they’re part of (I don’t endorse this state of affairs, but I think it’s often true). This may seem discouraging, because it most obviously says “to get more of x type of people, you need to already have x type of people.” I think it’s not totally unactionable though—if cultural minorities make themselves more visible by posting an commenting on the forum, coming to meetups, etc., new people in the same cultural minorities will see them and know they are welcome.
Do your best not to assume that people are in your cluster. The career advice example is good. Another example is to explain math or econ jargon when you use them in a post. I think this has an outsize effect. The experience of being in a community but having the content aimed at different sorts of people is a little like going to a social dance and having no one ask you to be their partner—it’s hard to believe that you’re wanted, even when people keep telling you so. And it feels really crummy.
Note that I don’t know anyone who has said that they were interested in EA but felt unwelcome there. I think at least part of it is that EA is something that very few people outside of this cluster have even heard of, much less have taken steps towards getting involved in.
Do you have any idea how we might go about fixing the situation? It seems to me like math/econ/tech people in their 20s (including me) don’t know what it takes to make other demographics feel welcome. The best thing I can think of is encourage some people from other demographics to write about and actively discuss EA, and to spread the writings of people who already do.
That’s a really good question, and as another 20-something in tech, I also definitely don’t have all the answers. I have an in-progress draft of a post more generally on outreach, to be posted somewhere (not sure where), but I’ll briefly list some of my thoughts directly related to making a wider variety of people feel welcome.
Expand our models of EA dedication beyond earning to give. This model doesn’t fit most people well, but it’s by far the most prominent idea of what living an EA life looks like.
People want to see people like them in communities they’re part of (I don’t endorse this state of affairs, but I think it’s often true). This may seem discouraging, because it most obviously says “to get more of x type of people, you need to already have x type of people.” I think it’s not totally unactionable though—if cultural minorities make themselves more visible by posting an commenting on the forum, coming to meetups, etc., new people in the same cultural minorities will see them and know they are welcome.
Do your best not to assume that people are in your cluster. The career advice example is good. Another example is to explain math or econ jargon when you use them in a post. I think this has an outsize effect. The experience of being in a community but having the content aimed at different sorts of people is a little like going to a social dance and having no one ask you to be their partner—it’s hard to believe that you’re wanted, even when people keep telling you so. And it feels really crummy.
Note that I don’t know anyone who has said that they were interested in EA but felt unwelcome there. I think at least part of it is that EA is something that very few people outside of this cluster have even heard of, much less have taken steps towards getting involved in.