We were lucky to catch up with Dr. DaQuan Bashir recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Bashir, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

I think the most important lessons I’ve learned during my time in college was that of perseverance. I often talk about this time in different spaces, but it is deeply connected to the work that I do and the reason why I do it.

Working in Computer Science and Computer Science education, I have met many challenges, but none as hard or important as the lesson of perseverance that my undergraduate experience had taught me. Being from Trenton, New Jersey, I did not have the opportunity to take any computer science courses during my time in high school. Regardless of this, I decided that I wanted to study computer science in college. You can imagine how difficult it was to learn programming languages and the concepts within the collegiate level and have that be the first time you are seeing the subject matter.

For the first two years of my undergraduate experience, I struggled greatly in regards to Computer Science, while my peers seemed to be flourishing. It got to a point where I was either going to do whatever I needed to in order to learn and understand the subject matter or drop out of school. The fact that I was one of the only Black people in all of my classes caused me to be hesitant to reach out for assistance from classmates, whom I thought understood things so well. To make matters worse, the typical lecture style of how to teach someone on a collegiate level did not mesh with my preferred style of learning. I felt ill-prepared in all manner of the word regarding college and computer science at that level.

There came a moment when I had to tell myself that if I was going to do this and be the first of my family to graduate from college, I needed to see it through. That spirit of perseverance pushed me to come out of my shell and reach out for help. It made me force myself to think about and learn about computer science (and said concepts) in new and interesting ways.

Pushing through and finding the way to achieve the goal. This is what perseverance has taught me and has been one of the greatest lessons I learned through my undergraduate collegiate experience.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Dr. DaQuan Bashir and I work as a Professional Learning Manager for the Computer Science Teachers Association and Regional Manager Specialist for the Microsoft Philanthropies TEALS Program. My purpose is to create, develop, and support systems that enable high-quality and equitable learning experiences.

Currently that focus is within Computer Science, but it has also existed within Mathematics and Engineering as well. As this is a focus, the target population for my focus is communities like the one I grew up in and graduated from (Trenton, NJ). These communities have historically been left out of or excluded from the opportunities; with high-quality and equitable education being one of them. My experience during undergrad is part of what has galvanized me to want to work in this field and push for change. I wear many hats that include but are not limited to training and facilitation, development of online courses, and research.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I wouldn’t say that I’m unlearning anything, but I am re-shaping my understanding of what things mean in regards to intent versus impact. This distinction has been quite big in my circle as of late and has prompted me to question various things that I have done and the impact of said things afterwards. It has made me realize that, regardless of what your intent was, if the impact is negative, the intent did not matter. Events are remembered through the impact of which things had happened, not necessarily the intention of the event. It has further led me to really think about the impact of the things that I would be doing versus what my intentions are.

Any advice for managing a team?

I’ve been on a few teams since starting my career and have had the opportunity to manage a few teams as well. This definitely will not be a novel idea, but I think one piece of advice I would give anyone managing the team is to trust people to do their jobs. No one wants to be micromanaged and this could be a huge morale killer. If you hire someone to do a job, then you should also trust them to do that job. Micromanaging people is not an efficient or effective way to make sure people are getting work done in a timely manner to the specifications set for a particular task. It also creates more work, whether it be in the physical, mental, or emotional sense for everyone involved. Maintaining an open door policy so that folks can come ask questions or concerns is a great way of building in support. It also encourages independence and personal responsibility. Micromanaging is the polar opposite of this and can hurt any department or organization.