The way I’m reading these excerpts, only one refers to an alienating conversation of the sort discussed in Making Discussions Inclusive (the one about the “somewhat sexist” comment). The other three seem like complaints about the “vibe”, which feels like a separate issue. (Not saying there’s nothing to do, just that Making Discussions Inclusive doesn’t obviously offer suggestions.) Indeed, there could even be a tradeoff: Reading posts like Making Discussions Inclusive makes me less inclined to talk to women and queer men, because I think to myself “it’d be very easy for me to accidentally say something that would upset them… probably best to avoid opening my mouth at all, so I don’t screw things up for the entire EA movement.”
The comment about how the gender imbalance “led to different topics to be discussed” might (or might not) reflect alienating conversations, but I agree with your general point that the survey quotes are more about the “vibe”. I think the quotes suggest that simple things like running icebreakers and saying hi to people (whether or not they are women and/or queer) can be really valuable.
Thanks for the info.
The way I’m reading these excerpts, only one refers to an alienating conversation of the sort discussed in Making Discussions Inclusive (the one about the “somewhat sexist” comment).
The other three seem like complaints about the “vibe”, which feels like a separate issue. (Not saying there’s nothing to do, just that Making Discussions Inclusive doesn’t obviously offer suggestions.) Indeed, there could even be a tradeoff: Reading posts like Making Discussions Inclusive makes me less inclined to talk to women and queer men, because I think to myself “it’d be very easy for me to accidentally say something that would upset them… probably best to avoid opening my mouth at all, so I don’t screw things up for the entire EA movement.”
The comment about how the gender imbalance “led to different topics to be discussed” might (or might not) reflect alienating conversations, but I agree with your general point that the survey quotes are more about the “vibe”. I think the quotes suggest that simple things like running icebreakers and saying hi to people (whether or not they are women and/or queer) can be really valuable.