For the ninth consecutive year, UWM’s Computer Science Department supported female undergraduate and graduate students who wanted to take part in the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. The event is the world’s largest conference for women in technology and supporting student attendance is one of the ways in which UWM champions female students in tech.
In September, 14 UWM students studying Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Applied Math and Computer Science, and Information Science and Technology flew to Orlando to attend this event. The group was under the direction of Wilkistar Otieno, associate professor and department chair, industrial & manufacturing engineering.
“While women make up about 50 percent of the population, they account for a much smaller percentage of workers in STEM fields,” Otieno said. “Our attendance at Grace Hopper plays a role in helping our female students pursue computing careers and I was grateful for the opportunity to accompany the group.”
“This was an amazing trip”
This year, Grace Hopper attracted approximately 240 companies, 10 non-profit organizations and representatives of 85 graduate programs, many of whom held on-site interviews. Many UWM students interviewed and were offered internships or consideration for graduate programs.
The students experienced encouragement, support and empowerment, especially from notable keynote speakers and activists, including Brenda Wilkerson, the president and CEO of AnitaB.org, Daphne Koller, CEO and founder of Insitro, Anita Hill, professor of social policy, law, and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Brandeis University, and Megan Rapinoe, U.S. Women’s National Soccer team star and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“This was an amazing trip and I really appreciate the opportunity,” one student commented.
Financial support for attendance at Grace Hopper comes through the BRAID (Building, Recruiting and Inclusion for Diversity) program of AnitaB.Org, a non-profit institute that aims to recruit, retain and advance women in technology. The BRAID funds support diversity initiatives in the Computer Science Department.