Mini Living Lab - Improving Retention and Success for Women in Tech and Diverse Teams Through Redesigning the Critique Process.

Gender disparity in high tech is a long-standing challenge. The number of women in tech is lower than 30 years ago; women leave the field 50% more often than men; attrition costs companies money and talent. This SIG addresses the issue of gender and retention by changing key work practices. As a maker community critique, giving and receiving feedback on one's work, is a necessary and everyday experience. Yet especially women lose self esteem when criticized. Since HCI professionals are key participants in critique it is a good place to start improving interactions within diverse teams. In this SIG we engage the community in a critical examination and reinvention of the critique process. Using a Mini Living Lab format, participants share experiences of their critique practices, brainstorm improvements, and try them out with a practice problem. The organizers share insights from their Living Lab company-research partnerships addressing gender and retention.