It’s time for dinner. We call everyone to the table. We’ve set a place just for you. We’ve cooked your favourite meal. Come and dine with us.
After watching “Women Talk Tech” with Kristen Abell, Cindy Kane and Jennifer Keegin at the #NASPATech conference, I was struck by the number of references made to ‘bringing us to the table’. Given that this was a session on women in tech, the ‘us’ was almost always defined as women actively engaged in the use of technology and/or social media, within higher education or anywhere outside it. One concern seemed to be that there were far too few guests at this dinner party – too few women were at the table . While we could argue that the meal isn’t appetizing, or that the directions to the venue are difficult to follow, or even that the table and the utensils we set it with aren’t easily accessible, I am more interested in the guests themselves. Is it possible that our dinner guests, our colleagues, our friends, are already at the table? Why can’t we see them? Why aren’t they being heard?
I had the pleasure of viewing and externally processing this NASPAtech session with the brilliant Laura Pasquini. As I consider her someone who, I would argue, is very well versed and deeply immersed in the use of technology in student affairs, I was surprised to hear Laura say that she didn’t even know that there was a table. Through further discussion, we came to realize that perhaps the challenge isn’t that we aren’t at the table, or that there might not be a table at all, but rather that the table many of us are seated at is so big, not all of our voices are heard.
Making a metaphorical leap and likening this table to a community, I am reminded of many conversations I’ve had about the building and nurturing of community -groups of people who share common values, goals and interests. With the introduction and subsequent explosion of social media and the Internet, the ties that bind extend their reach even further, seemingly connecting far flung colleagues around a closer, more intimate dining room table. These same advances that bring us closer together, however, can just as easily keep us apart. Geographical distance aside, online communication removes many of the subtle cues and behaviours we often take for granted. In an increasingly large and multi-layered community, it often becomes easier, not more difficult, to get lost in the crowd.
The “Women Talk Tech” session also heavily referenced the #WLSalt community, a space for women to Support, Affirm, Lift and Transform. While ‘lurking and learning’ in and around this community, I have quietly watched and received support and inspiration from some amazing women. Lurking and learning, however, still only gives me a snapshot of the conversations that occur every day. I don’t often get around to meeting everyone at the table.
So while I still encourage you to send invitations to new friends for dinner, don’t forget to seek out, engage with and really listen to those over at the other end of the table. Will you pass the the #WLSalt?
Lisa Endersby is a Student Experience Advisor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Toronto, Canada.
