In our first post on the useR! 2016 survey we discussed the responses from the demographic section, finding in particular that: The useR! 2016 attendees were predominately men, typically under 40, White/Caucasian and employed full-time. Women attendees tended to be younger and less advanced in their careers. Non-Asian minority races and LGBT individuals were under-represented. Approximately a quarter of attendees were caregivers. We now turn to look at useRs relationship with R: what experience do they have in using R and what do they think of R?

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Maëlle Salmon, a Forwards collaborator, got the chance to interview Emily Robinson, who recently became a data analyst at Etsy. A very inspiring R-Lady!

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Forwards, the R Foundation taskforce on women and other under-represented groups, is seeking to address issues affecting under-represented groups in general as it works to broaden the participation of women in the R community. In order to adequately address such issues, we would like to widen the diversity of the taskforce itself. Accordingly, we are inviting people who are part of under-represented groups - be they groups identified by race, gender, sexuality, class or disability - to join us.

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Every year, hundreds of R programmers descend on a host city and spend three or four days sharing work, collaborating on projects and making new contacts - the useR! conference, this year held in Stanford, CA. useR! offers a wonderful opportunity to map a subset of the language’s most active users and the Women in R Task Force took this opportunity to survey attendees and find out their backgrounds, experiences and interests, in the hope that it will help us to get a better understanding of how to make the R community a more inclusive environment.

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