Re: Question for candidates

[Ekaterina Gerasimova <kittykat3756 gmail com>]

On 19 May 2014 16:29, Andre Klapper <ak-47 gmx net> wrote:
> On Mon, 2014-05-19 at 15:20 +0100, Ekaterina Gerasimova wrote:
> > Many of the applicants for GSoC and OPW are already from Asia and
> > especially from India. I think that the split is largely related to
> > English being a commonly spoken language in India, but not so
> > prominent in other Asian countries.
>
> [This comment is not targeted to anybody specifically.]
>
> Apart from knowledge of English language I'm curious how much cultural
> dimensions come into play (see [1] for a short intro).
> For those who don't know, some examples:
>       * Uncertainty avoidance - I need to join this IRC chat thingy and
>         talk to a room full of strangers? That's scary!
>       * Individualism - I'm supposed to actively apply for this
>         competition instead of being asked by recruiters at my
>         university, as usual?
>       * Power distance - I expect my mentor to tell me what to do vs. I
>         discuss and argue with mentors/devs about potential solutions.
>       * High-level communication - telling me in public (mailing list,
>         IRC) that my proposed solution could be improved makes me feel
>         like being criticized and losing my face/reputation.
>
> And probably more. I believe some of our workflows and communications we
> are used to feel very uncomfortable to some cultures.

In my experience helping newcomers from South America, Europe and
Asia, all of these do come into play for people from all backgrounds.
The Free software culture itself seems to be a bit of a puzzle to many
people on the outside as it is so different from many other
communities. I find that reassuring newcomers and actively encouraging
them to communicate with the rest of the community instead of asking
for help in private (while explaining all the associated benefits),
helping them integrate into the community and making sure that good
work is rewarded with more responsibility goes a long way.

> andre
>
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede%27s_cultural_dimensions_theory
> --
> Andre Klapper  |  ak-47 gmx net
> http://blogs.gnome.org/aklapper/
>
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