Meet the LISA '12 Speakers: Selena Deckelmann talks about Education vs. Training

Submitted by rikki on November 27, 2012 - 11:14 am

LISA '12

In 1997, Selena Deckelmann attended her first LISA conference (LISA '97) with the help of a USENIX student grant. At LISA '12, Selena will be giving an invited talk on Education vs. Training. In this interview, Selena tells us what to expect her to bring to LISA next month in San Diego and offers practical advice on training future sysadmins and increasing diversity in technology fields.

Rikki: You're giving a plenary on Education vs. Training. What should attendees expect to get out of your talk?

Selena: I chose the title for the talk based on conversations I've had with professors and colleagues over the years about systems administration. There's this idea that sysadmins really should be "guild trained" — apprenticed, basically. That idea and several related ideas are then used as an excuse for not creating academic programs around systems and network administration. I believe that we should have degrees and research in systems fields, and it seems as though the university systems aren't willing or able to take this on.

Given that the industry feels that universities aren't preparing us for our jobs — and really, very little formal training exists at all — what can we do about it? So far, we've created user groups, mailing lists or newsgroups, and informal teams that share the folklore of our industry. There are a few books, even academic ones.

What's missing is a culture and a system we can agree on for teaching. Something is emerging. We need to be paying attention and seriously analyzing what a global community of sysadmins, devops, and web developers are creating and shaping that into a map to a job.

Rikki: What inspired you to give this talk?

Selena: Mostly my experience in open source, trying to recruit developers as a volunteer in projects and helping out with classes aimed at teaching women how to program. Briefly: It's difficult. And the frustrating part of it all for me is that I can't just point people who are interested in becoming a sysadmin to a course of study, or even any particular book. They need a guide or a cohort, both of which are in short supply.

I want our system of educating sysadmins to change so that we can fix the supply problem, and so that what we know is way more accessible to people in general.

Rikki: I know that you took advantage of our student grant opportunities in the past. This year, Google also chipped in so we could offer a few grants for women in computing to attend LISA '12. In addition to grants and other financial help, what else could professional organizations like USENIX do to help increase diversity at tech events?

Selena: That's great work! A great next step would be to build a reputation for diversity by having smaller events that target the diverse populations and tap into professional networks among minority groups. My goal, if I were to create something like this, would be to build strong professional relationships between the existing groups and leaders among under-represented groups.

The research into women's experience in computer science and more generally STEM indicates that having study groups where you don't have to assimilate into the larger IT culture to learn helps keep women and minorities from dropping out of programs. There's not as much research that I've found (but I always love to hear about more!) that addresses system administration; however, the same principles probably apply.

Rikki: I recently talked with you (online) about sexism issues my teen daughter encountered in her high school programming class. I've spent years encouraging my daughter to take a programming class and to be hands-on with technology, but I'd never really thought about what parents and guardians of boys could be doing to raise young men who encourage and support girls (and each other) in STEM areas. What tips would you have for parents/guardians and teachers of boys to help us break this ongoing pattern of sexism in technology fields?

Selena: I'm not a parent, so most of my advice about this stuff comes from husband, who is a high school social studies and journalism teacher. I'd say that the most powerful tools are questions. Ask your kids what they think about women in tech leadership roles, like Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg. Ask your kids about their classroom experiences and help them find role models in technology that aren't exclusively men. And, I'd also say that you should encourage boys to befriend the girls in their classes. Informal learning groups in tech are something a lot of girls miss out on, simply because they never get invited to learn outside of class with boys.

For teachers, an eye opening book is Stuck in the Shallow End by Jane Margolis. That book contains a roadmap for creating an equitable classroom.

Rikki: In addition to the training and workshops all week, we'll have some fun at LISA '12. We're having a board game night on Sunday, and we're having our reception on a boat, cruising around the San Diego harbor (LISA '12 Reception: Shaken, Not Stirred, Thursday, December 13, 6:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.) If our cruise turned into a "three hour tour" and you ended up stranded on an island, which three people in IT and which board game would you like to be stuck with?

Selena: I'd probably like to be stuck with: Leah Beuchley for help rejiggering our devices to set up a rescue beacon; Bradford Stephens for database trash talking and mixing cocktails; and Matthew Garrett, for unending UEFI horror stories and help with drinking.  Board game is harder. Maybe Cards Against Humanity, for horrified entertainment value.

You can catch Selena's Education vs. Training plenary talk at LISA '12 on Thursday, December 13, 2012. We'll see you in San Diego!

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