Hidden Figures of Python podcast series is a hosted by the PyPodcats team: Cheuk Ting Ho, Georgi Ker, Mariatta Wijaya, and Tereza Iofciu. Our aim is to highlight voices of the underrepresented group members of the Python community.
Diversity in the Python community
There was a time where at PyCon US where only 1% of speakers were women. With some intentionality, investment, and supportive community and outreach efforts, this number improved, and by 2016, 40% of PyCon US speakers were women.
Hello from your @PyCon Diversity Chair. % PyCon talks by women: (2011: 1%), (2012: 7%), (2013: 15%), (2014/15: 33%), (2016: 40%). #pycon2016
— Jessica McKellar (@jessicamckellar) May 30, 2016
Thanks to efforts and investment by community members like Jessica McKellar, the PyLadies community, and The PSF, that PyCon US speakers became more diverse over time to reflect the diversity of the Python community.
How? In part: year-round investments in a supportive, accessible community; sustainable, distributed outreach @ThePSF @PyLadies @PyCon.
— Jessica McKellar (@jessicamckellar) May 30, 2016
Representation in other areas
While we’re seeing improvements in speaker diversity at Python conferences, in other areas it still left much to be desired. Within the realm of popular Python community podcasts, women make up less than 15% as podcast speaker guests.
We know that there are in fact many underrepresented members in our community that are contributing to the Python community, and they deserve to be seen and heard by the rest of us.
By creating this podcast series, we hope for the rest of the Python community to learn more about the underrepresented community members and to appreciate their contributions to the global Python community.
About the name “Hidden Figures”
The name of the podcast was inspired by the book: “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race”, by Margot Lee Shetterly. We find the stories and challenges depicted in the book to be relatable to the Python community.
About the name “Podcats”
Podcats is one of Mariatta’s #TypoOfTheDay. The Podcats sticker was designed by Mukta, commissioned by Mariatta.
While developing this website, Mariatta used the podcats sticker as a placeholder image. However, the rest of the team really likes it too, so we all decided to use the podcats as our logo and team name.