For March as women's month I got the amazing opportunity to share at Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology on how we can bring more women into open source!

Here's a short breakdown of what I talked about! Each point was broken down further in the video live call.

A big thank you to SLIIT FOSS community and everyone who tuned in.

Introduction

• Statistics show that over 50% of women face seclusion and toxic treatment while working in the open source field. This has led to hesitancy to join the field

• In 2018 when Physicist Dr. Donna Strickland won the Nobel Prize, there was a no wikipedia published for such a feat!

• More than 90% of Github open source contributors are male…This lack of diversity extends from the lack of representation in tech as well. This obviously reckons the intertwining of women in tech and women in open source

• Studies have backed the open fact that inclusivity brings better quality and creativity in delivering better tech products

Challenges facing women in open source

Hesitancy to join OSS
Lack of representation hence leading to demoralization
Bro culture is still dominant
Lack of men in the women in open source convos
78% of women in tech feel that they have to work twice as harder to get promotions and recognition in tech

How to remedy these challenges and do better

Skills beyond programming, examples to be given
Bringing men into the women in open source convos, hiring and overall inclusion
Monetization as a remedy
Better and stronger inclusion of women into the field
Safe spaces for women in open source
Debunking the myths surrounding joining open source
Welcoming the greater role of non-code contributions into open source as well.

Conclusion
Interacting further with the SLIIT FOSS community and answering questions from the audience.

This was a great experience for me as an international speaking engagement. Thank you once again to everyone who made it possible and tuned in!

breakthebias #womeninopensource #womenwhotech #SLIIT #SLIITFOSS