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By Suzanna Bobadilla • @suzbobadilla • 9 years ago

#ILookLikeAnEngineer ads going up in the Bay Area

Last month, we told you about #ILookLikeAnEngineer, a conversation about diversity in the tech industry sparked by the backlash software developer Isis Wenger faced when she appeared in an ad for her company. Well, now the hashtag is about to hit the streets in the form of a series of ads that challenge prevalent stereotypes about who looks like an engineer.

According to Michelle Glauser, one of the coordinators of the ad program, the goals of the ads are to give visibility to and normalize non-stereotypical engineers, increase awareness of discrimination that non-stereotypical engineers face, encourage an atmosphere of inclusion in tech, and — I personally think this one is reallly exciting — inspire people who may not have thought of becoming engineers before to learn the skills.

The ads will be in San Francisco, the Bay Bridge, Oakland, Palo Alto, and San Jose. The organizers hope that folks can use the ads as an opportunity to talk about diversity in tech with their communities, to speak up against discriminatory micro-aggressions, and to push for their companies to increase diversity.

To learn more, check it out here!

Header image: #ILookLikeEngineer ads

San Francisco, CA

Suzanna Bobadilla is a writer, activist, and digital strategist. According to legend, she first publicly proclaimed that she was a feminist at the age of nine in her basketball teammate's mini-van. Things have obviously since escalated. After graduating from Harvard in 2013, she became a founding member of Know Your IX's ED ACT NOW. She is curious about the ways feminists continue to use technology to create social change and now lives in San Francisco. She believes that she has the sweetest gig around – asking bad-ass feminists thoughtful questions for the publication that has taught her so much. Her views, bad jokes and all, are her own. For those wondering, if she was stranded on a desert island and had to bring one food, one drink, and one feminist, she would bring chicken mole, a margarita, and her momma.

Suzanna Bobadilla is a writer, activist, and digital strategist.

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