What is GHC?
"Inspired by the legacy of Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, the Anita Borg Institute's Grace Hopper Celebration is designed to bring the research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. It is the largest technical conference for women in computing and results in collaborative proposals, networking and mentoring for junior women and increased visibility for the contributors of women in computing. Conference presenters are leaders in their respective fields, representing industry, academia, and government. Top researchers present their work while special sessions focus on the role of women in today's technology fields." (http://gracehopper.org/2012/about/history-of-the-conference/)
NMSU goes to Baltimore!
The 2012 GHC was held in Baltimore, MD, and had a record number of attendees - approximately 3600! NMSU/YWiC proudly contributed to that number with 9 students and 1 staff member.
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| Top: Janie, Jen, Liz, Tasha, Nicole Bottom: Becca, Steph, Alyssa, Sam, Noor |
GHC Student Poster Session
For the second year in a row, YWiC presented 2 posters in the student poster session. The abstracts for the posters were:
Young Women in Computing: Expanding Into a Multifaceted Outreach Program - The Young Women in Computing (YWiC) program began in 2006 as part of the National Science Foundation’s Broadening Participation in Computing grant. YWiC focuses on sparking middle school and high school women’s interest in technology fields. Over the past six years, the program has established a successful and sustainable outreach program. Building upon an initial five-week summer camp for high school females, the program has now become a multifaceted computer science community outreach program with a strong foundation in local school districts, as well as New Mexico State University (NMSU). To view or download the entire poster click HERE.
LilyPad Arduino vs. App Inventor: Effects of Software Development Tools on Female Interest in Technology - Young Women in Computing (YWiC) is an outreach program at New Mexico State University targeting middle and high school females. The program’s latest project has been conducting a city-wide app programming competition for middle and high school students. Teams consist of 2 to 3 students, whose goal is to design a socially beneficial app using the Android platform. YWiC hopes to excite the students about possibilities in computer science, encourage collaboration, and provide them with tools to further their interests in technology. Research will focus on the impact of diversity within groups.To view or download the entire poster click HERE.
The format of the poster session was pretty casual. Poster presenters spent the evening standing by their posters as conference attendees were free to circulate the area. YWiC research assistants received many interesting questions about their research and networked with other representatives from similar outreach initiatives.
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| Enjoying the poster session |
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| Poster session action shot! |
GHC provided conference participants the opportunity to attend special sessions designed to inspire attendees. Over the course of the conference, YWiC members attended sessions including:
- Are We There in Mentoring for Diversity?
- Recruiting and Retaining Women from Underrepresented Groups
- How to Get There: Secrets for Success, in the style of GLEE
- From Engineer to Executive: the Path Forward
- Student Organizations Supporting Women in Computing and Technology: Why & How?
- Tempering the Imposter Syndrome
- Women and Innovation
- Are We There Yet? Education and Innovation for Girls and Women
- Get There by Taking the Lead! NSF Funding Opportunities and Effective Proposal Writing Strategies
Keynote Takeaways
A large part of what makes GHC fabulous are the influential speakers. This year, the most inspirational speaker was Nora Denzel, a Technical Executive and Corporate Board Member for SABA and Overland Storage.
Nora was an incredible speaker that captivated the audience with her humor and poise. Her 5 tips for women pursuing careers in computing included:
- Things happen in your career for you, so you shouldn't think of your obstacles as obstacles. Studies have found that attitude is the best indicator of success. A positive good attitude can take you very far in both work and life.
- It isn't what you know in your job, it's how fast you learn.
- Act as if you're confident even if you don't always feel that way.
- Control your career PR Agent... which is you. Control your own "press releases" and don't disclose your faults and limitations unnecessarily. You need to have confidence in yourself, so that others can have confidence in you. Nora said that "performance reviews are like frying bacon. When you're naked, you know it will hurt, you just don't know where".
- It takes a village. Make sure you have a network that you nurture. "It's not what you know and who you know. It's who knows that you know what you know".
Fun, fun, fun!
Career fairs don't always have to be boring. At GHC companies and organizations from industry, academia, and government put together fun activities at their booths. This year, Google had a photobooth which proved to be popular!
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Baltimore is a beautiful city, so of course there was opportunity for exploration. YWiC/NMSU students took an evening off to explore the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore. Activities included shopping and dinner on the harbor!
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| There is just something about shopping that brings people closer together :) |
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| Worst Outfit Contest winner! |
Hear from the students
After the conference, students were asked to say a little bit about what they learned or took away from GHC. It shows what a difference GHC makes for students!
"At conferences like the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, networking is essential and also happens to be super fun!" - Janie
"This year was the best! First, I was prepared to talk to companies and network with others. Second, I had a blast with all of the YWiC gals. :) I was proud to be one of the 3,600 technical women attending" - Noor
"This was my favorite GHC yet. There was great opportunity for networking with others. I had the chance to have several job interviews / assessments, and I left with good leads for my future!" - Nicole
"This year was a great networking opportunity for me. I was able to meet new people that I will probably be working with in the future, and also people from different companies that are really interesting." - Liz
"GHC never disappoints me. Every year the conference gets bigger and better, and I love it! It allows me to make new connections and grow my professional network. I wholeheartedly believe in the advancement of women in technology, and it is a wonderful experience being surrounded with so many technical women who believe the same. The powerful speakers, awesome sessions, and wonderful people make it an experience that sends me back to school with tons of inspiration to share!" - Tasha
"Once again, GHC has inspired me to become a better woman in computing. Not only did I learn about various topics in the informative sessions, but I was able to network with other women in IT from around the world." - Sam
The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing has always been a favorite of YWiC. We cannot wait until next year! To see more photos from YWiC's GHC experience check out: http://bit.ly/R3mJHP
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