We will meet virtually for socialization and to share local news on 8 March 2021 at 17:30 CST (23:30 UTC). If you are local, feel free to bring supper, or just come and chat with data folks from around the area and maybe a few from around the world!
Speaker information:
Tracy Boggiano is a Microsoft Data MVP, a member of the DBA team for a major company, and a genuinely swell lady! Tracy won the 2020 PASSion award from PASS for Tracy’s volunteering efforts. Her blog is at https://tracyboggiano.com/.
Tracy is going to present on a professional development topic that is important to everyone but especially to those of us who work in information technology.
Abstract:
One in four Americans suffers from a mental health challenge each year. In the tech community, this number rises to 42%. In the UK that is 48%. This is a worldwide problem in the IT field. The stigma associated with discussions around mental health, as well as how it can negatively impact your work and home life, make people reluctant to discuss the topic. Now is the time to start discussing mental health in tech and how to take advantage of the opportunity to safeguard our most precious resource: people.
We’ll discuss how mental health affects job quality, including sharing examples from my professional life. We’ll discuss the four primary workplace factors which play a pivotal role in mental health challenges in the tech community. I’ll provide tips on what is best to say and not say to people you know whose lives are being affected by their mental health. Lastly, we’ll cover how to make your workplace a safe place where mental health can be talked about and how to encourage your company to offer resources to help maintain everyone’s mental health.