For a workshop intending to introduce women to programming, ideally, there should be a strong presence of women both on the teaching staff and amongst the organizers. Given that, ClojureBridge exists to address an imbalance in the Clojure community, so a diverse teaching staff may not be possible in certain geographic areas.
Even though the first workshop couldn't make good gender balance on the teaching staff, the second, third, etc. workshop may solve this. Continuing to organize will help make change in your community. Some ways to maximise the presence of women in the running of a ClojureBridge workshop are:
- Invite local organisations for women in tech to advise/co-organise the event.
- Would any women you know who program in languages other than Clojure consider learning enough to be a TA? This is particularly useful if they have previous experience teaching at a similar event like RailsBridge, Django Girls etc.
- Are there women Clojure developers living in neighbouring cities who could help? (offer to pay their travel costs if possible).
- Is there a Clojure/FP conference in your region which you could schedule ClojureBridge close to, so that conference delegates can volunteer?
- If there's been a previous ClojureBridge near you, are there former students who could become TAs?
- Make the most of the women you have, giving them leading roles in teaching and presenting
Ultimately, it's important to be proactive about creating a diverse environment where possible, and that the environment created by a ClojureBridge workshop be inclusive of all participants.