Note: All sessions from Commit London are being recorded and will be available on our YouTube channel in 24-48 hours.
Up next, Capgemini UK's Matt Smith shared how to go from Zero to K8s: As Fast As Possible: Coding in the blink of an eye! 11:30AM BST – How to shift left and bring security more firmly into development was the topic of a mid-morning panel discussion at Commit. Sotiraki Sima, executive director in technology risk at Goldman Sachs, stressed the benefits of starting small and being prepared to continually adapt to new technologies and new tools. Jeremy Guido, backend engineer with My Data Models, said designating a security leader in a development team can help to make everyone feel more like a stakeholder. And Philippe Lafoucriere, distinguished engineer at GitLab, stressed the role of automation in scaling security throughout the SDLC. The bottom line: it's a process so take it a step at a time. 1:00PM BST – What's next for the GitLab tool? Eric Brinkman, director of product, dev products, outlined our technology roadmap. He began with Meltano, a six-person startup located within GitLab that is focused on bringing DevOps best practices to DataOps.
Unconscious bias – in any form – is particularly insidious. It perpetuates racial discrimination and is really difficult for victims to call out because the perpetrators don't even know they are doing it. But ignorance is not an excuse. 'With any kind of bias, you have to be willing to look at your own behaviour. ' (Picture: TedxFolkestone 2019) Julia thinks it's vital that employers and people in all forms of power make an effort to check their unconscious behaviour. 'You have to call it out, ' she says. 'In yourself and in others where you can. With any kind of bias, you have to be willing to look at your own behaviour. 'If someone introduces themselves and they have an unusual name – do not shorten the person's name to something more English or easier for you to say. That's not how they introduced themselves. 'Own up to the fact that you will probably mispronounce their name. Ask them how to pronounce and tell them that you want to get it right. Ask them how their mother pronounces their name.
'The higher up I go, the more I expect it to be the norm, ' she explains. 'I have completely given up on providing my full name, so I just say the shorthand. 'It started in primary school. My whole name was on the register but I never got called by it. I was just called Vicky, because it's what they could pronounce out of the list. 'It's funny because being African, you can have several names and the family pick and choose what they want but they respect all of them. At work, they don't attempt to know the meaning and they pick what's convenient for them. ' Victoria feels so strongly about this issue that she co-authored a children's book empowering children to get to know the meaning of their own name. She says: 'It stems from stigma and a lack of willingness to learn or pronounce your name correctly. 'Unless you're famous, your "foreign sounding name" gets no respect. ' Antonina Mamzenko's name is Russian and Ukranian. She says she has always suspected that her name played in part in the lack of responses she got from job applications after graduating.
People really appreciate that attempt and the acknowledgement that your name is important to you. 'Like anything, if you admit that it is a problem, and you show willing to address the problem, then people are usually willing to help you to address the problem and that's how it gets solved. ' 'It's such a simple thing to take the extra time, to have someone spell out their name for you. It really isn't that difficult and it could really make a world of difference too people feeling seen and valued. ' The financial impact of unconscious name bias is real. As well as missing out on potential professional opportunities, a report in The Sun last year found that a car insurance applicant named Mohammed was quoted hundreds of pounds more than one called John. In fact, five insurance companies quoted Mohammed between £205 and £919 more. 'It means being honest with ourselves and with the conclusions we come to when we see a name that is unusual to us. ' (Picture: Ella Byworth for) Ifeoluwa Victoria Oladele, who now goes by Victoria, says name bias is something that she's experienced at various levels of employment.
'I want to say – what were you expecting? A white woman? ' (Picture: Ella Byworth/mylo) Bias is unfair prejudice or discrimination against someone based on an external factor like their skin colour, race, gender or religion. But one type of prejudice that is rarely spoken about is unconscious name bias. It happens all the time and the negative impact can be enormous. Picture the scene. A white, male manager receives a CV with a name at the top. Rather than looking at the reams of experience and qualifications on the CV he gets stuck on the fact that he doesn't know how to pronounce the applicant's name. He picks up the next CV. John Smith. You can make an educated guess about who is more likely to get an interview. This scenario is all too common. Minority applicants have to send, on average, 60% more job applications to get a positive response from employers compared to their white counterparts. It's so common in fact that in 2016 the CBI called for the removal of candidates' names from job applications to create a more dynamic and diverse workforce.
By Katie Silver Health reporter, BBC News Published 26 October 2017 media caption James Tringham, who has bipolar disorder, explains that being at work has a "normalising effect" Hayley Smith says her manager encouraged her to apply for other jobs when she told her she had depression. The news about her illness spread across the office. "It was horrible - I felt really exposed, " she says. After a few anxious, unhappy months, she left. Hayley is one of up to 300, 000 people with mental health problems who leave their jobs each year, a report says. The report by mental health experts also says poor mental health costs the UK economy up to £99bn each year. Paul Farmer, co-author of the Thriving At Work report, said mental health was a taboo subject in many workplaces. Mr Farmer, who is chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said: "Opportunities are missed to prevent poor mental health and ensure that employees who may be struggling get the support they need. "In many instances, employers simply don't understand the crucial role they can play, or know where to go for advice and support. "