Community and confidence are key to improving diversity in tech, Black leaders say

Keith Bagley grew up surrounded by technology. His father worked for IBM as an electrical engineer, and Bagley had always been interested in his work.

“It was an interesting thing to be in that space, where you didn’t quite know what dad was doing, but it looked kind of cool,” Bagley said. “So I had that early on in my life and that kind of set me on the pathway of wanting to be in tech.”

It meant that Bagley, who is now an associate clinical professor of computer science at Khoury College, always had a role model who looked like him in the industry — even when he was surrounded by white faces, he said at a panel discussion with Black leaders in technology on Feb. 26 that focused on identity and computing.

The event, part of the Identity Series, was hosted by Northeastern’s Roux Institute in Portland, Maine and Khoury College of Computer Sciences and moderated by Ashley Armand, graduate advisor for the Align program.

Bagley, who is also the Boston-based director for the Align master’s program, was joined on the panel by Drew Jelani, an adjunct faculty member; Kriston (Kris) Barnes, a data analyst in the Business Management Group at the National Park Service and current Align student; and Everlyne (Eve) Kimani, a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at Khoury.

Top (L to R): Ashley Armand, Keith Bagley, Drew Jelani. Bottom (L to R): Kriston Barnes, Everlyne Kimani

Jelani said he had a very different experience growing up than Bagley. While he is a graduate of the Align program and currently works at Amazon as a software engineer, growing up Jelani wasn’t exposed to computer science and certainly didn’t have any engineering role models. When he started undergrad, he said, he felt like he only had a few options and computer science wasn’t one of them.

It wasn’t until he was about 30 that Jelani discovered his interest in the field, and at first he felt he was too old to transition — but he was miserable at work. So he took the leap into computer science.

While Bagley and Jelani had different introductions to computer science, they are united in their determination to open the field to more people. The two spoke about the importance of community and confidence.

“My passion of course is to throw open the door so there’s more of us, because it’s not just about numbers but it’s about having that community and feeling like everyone is included,” Bagley said.

Building community

All of the panelists emphasized the importance of finding a community to provide support. Bagley called it his crew and likened it to finding your personal board of directors — a group of people to make sure you are staying true to your vision.

“Really we’re in this together,” he said. “As we’re going out and navigating our journeys, what you really want to do — and what we all really want to do — is make sure that you have people who are there to help maintain your sense of sanity as you’re going through hard times  but also nudge you when you’re not doing what you need to be doing.”

Kimani recommended attending events and conferences to help find people who understand the difficulties of the industry. She said that support systems can be especially helpful when confronting imposter syndrome.

“Find those people you can vent to, but at the same time will put a mirror in front of you and ask to look at yourself and ask ‘Why do you think you are not able to do this? Why do you think that you are not supposed to be here?’” Kimani said, underscoring the importance of “people who are able to help you reflect on why you are thinking, the beliefs you are holding about yourself.”

Kimani is also a member of the Relational Agents Group at Northeastern, which works to design conversational agents for healthcare and beyond. Her current research focuses on using intelligent conversational agents to improve communication, productivity, and support around behavior change interventions.

The importance of confidence

Alongside the need for community is the importance of confidence, Barnes said.

“Have the confidence to say you are here for a reason, and that can cascade down so other people can see you in this space and open up those types of opportunities,” Barnes said.

In addition to working at the National Park Service, Barnes is in his first year of the Align master’s program at the Roux Institute. He has degrees in both economics and environmental science and policy, and, though he was always interested in computer science, he found it difficult to learn until he found the Align program.

When Jelani first started working in computer science, he said, he was often self-conscious about what he didn’t understand, and worried about how it would appear if he asked a lot of questions. But a mentor told him that he had a right to understand what was going on — a concept he finds especially relevant for students in the Align program who often come from other industries.

“We are used to being experts in other fields and not used to having to admit that we don’t know something, but that can work against you,” Jelani said. “So you have a right to understand.”

Bagley said it’s important to have a holistic approach — to have the knowledge, the community, and the confidence.

“You have to know your own identity, you have to know who you are first,” he advised. “Once you have that as your core then things may come, things may go, but you know at your center what the truth is.”

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