Session 3: 1:40 PM – 2:40 PM
Making Waves in K-12 Perceptions of Computing. The Evolution of Outreach Programs
Location: Royal Palm 4, 5 & 6
Panel: Ariadna Font Llitjós (Carnegie Mellon), Anissa Agah St.Pierre (University of Victoria), Emily Treat (Carnegie Mellon), Vinithra Varadharajan (Carnegie Mellon), Ulrike Stege (University of Victoria), Ruizhen Feng (University of Victoria)
Outreach programs are an excellent way for women in computing to affect future generations of computer scientists. Several universities across North America are making waves to attract the next generation of potential students. By showing young students the diversity and excitement of computer science, we can change their perceptions of computing, erase harmful stereotypes, and make it an appealing career path for young women and minorities. We offer specific pointers, tips, and tricks on how to sustain a successful outreach program from two universities that have ongoing outreach programs: University of Victoria and Carnegie Mellon University. Further, the panel will address how to find continual funding, recruit new student presenters, build a supportive community, use audience feedback to improve presentations, evaluate the impact and benefits, and find new places and opportunities to present. We will also provide pointers on starting an outreach program and creating a good presentation.
Balancing Your Career and Family
Location: San Diego Conference Room
Panel: Kathy Baxter (Google), Sharon Perl (Google), Kathleen Fisher (AT&T Labs Research), Nuria Oliver (Microsoft Research), Terry Roberts (Intuit)
This panel is targeted towards women at all stages in their lives. Women in college may be wondering if they should have children immediately rather than stopping mid-career to have a family. Women a few years into their career frequently wonder when the best time is to start a family. Women that have just had children and are getting back into their careers may wonder how to balance it all. Women that have had children may be finding it difficult to advance their careers with the same speed as before they started their family. Concerns of being a “good” mom and superstar at work plague many women.
This panel will address the concerns of each of the audiences mentioned above. We hope to create a more open dialog among women at all stages, learn from each other’s wisdom, and break down the myth that only superwomen can have it all.
Invited Technical Speaker: Justine Cassell
Making (Virtual) Friends and Influencing (Virtual) People: Building Rapport in Humans and Virtual Humans
Location: Sunset Conference Room
Presenter: Justice Cassell, Professor, Media Arts & Sciences, Northwestern University
Harmony or rapport between people is essential for relationships as diverse as seller-buyer and teacher-learner. In this talk I describe the kinds of verbal behaviors — such as small talk and using the same accent — and non-verbal behaviors– such as attention, positivity, and coordination — that function together to establish a sense of rapport between two people in conversation. These studies are used as the basis for the implementation of embodied conversational agents (virtual humans) who/that are capable of acting as friends and collaborators. Applications of this work have ranged from direction-giving systems that can be trusted, to virtual peers that help children acquire literacy skills, and systems to help children with autism learn about reciprocal social interaction.
A Framework for Changing Undergraduate Computer Sciences Curriculum and Teaching
Location: Golden West Conference Room
Panel: Debra Richardson (UC Irvine), Lecia Barker (University of Colorado, Boulder), Mark Guzdial (Georgia Tech), Suzanne Schaefer (UC Irvine), Laurie Williams (North Carolina State University)
Changing undergraduate computer science curriculum is a powerful means of challenging stereotypical images — lonegeek- in-a-cubicle-programming-dayand- night — while making the computer sciences more appealing to women students. However, there is no universal recipe for changing undergraduate curriculum. This panel of computer and social scientists will discuss continuing research and evaluation in undergraduate computer science programs and provide an overview of three critical elements involved in changing curriculum. These elements are: (a) find out what’s going on; (b) based on what’s going on, determine an implementation or two that makes sense; and (c) keep an eye on what’s going on and track progress towards change. The panel will address these elements and present examples of: (1) a field-tested context survey and results; (2) two effective practices that have been adopted by more than one institution (pair programming and media computation) and (3) how, when and why effective evaluation matters.
Split Session
Location: Royal Palm 1, 2 & 3
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Multimedia Search
Presenter: Janine Crumb, Microsoft Corporation
This talk will cover the current state of multimedia web search. What technologies are used, challenges faced, and problems to be solved. For example: defining and measuring what makes a relevant image, video, audio clip and web pages that contain them; integrating relevant multimedia research into a massively scaled system; and analyzing vast user data to develop the right interface.
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Systematic Research of Young Women’s Stereotypes and Attitudes Toward Engineering Through Computer-Based Avatars: The Impact of Appearance and Message
Panel: Amy L. Baylor (Florida State University), E. Ashby Plant (Florida State University)
This interactive presentation will discuss results from several NSF-funded experimental studies investigating young women’s (middle school and college sophomores) stereotypes and attitudes toward engineering. In these studies, anthropomorphic 3D animated avatars were employed as controlled research vehicles to represent computer-based “social models:” their *appearance* and *message* were manipulated in several large, controlled studies. The session will also discuss the potential of such computer-based social models to serve as “virtual mentors” to young women, to enhance their motivation and stereotypes toward engineering.
Split Session
Location: Sunrise Conference Room
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Part of the Problem/Part of the Solution
Panel: Claudia Morrell (Center for Women and Information Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Revi Sterling (ATLAS Institute - University of Colorado, Boulder), Sophia Huyer (Women and Global Science and Technology - WIGSAT)
Companies are increasingly interested in creating strategic opportunities in the “Three-Quarters World” - the 3/4 of the population that live in developing and traditionally underserved regions. Technical and gender-equity nongovernmental organizations are increasingly employing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) tools as part of their strategy. While ICTs show great promise in alleviating entrenched economic, health and gender disparities, ICTs may be exacerbating gender gaps. Despite the best intentions, many aidfocused initiatives intended to assist women’s unique development goals are challenged with long-term sustainability and the ability to have wide-ranging impact upon the culture.
This panel will discuss challenges, pitfalls and opportunities for ICTs as mechanisms of positive change for women in developing regions. We will outline the multifaceted dimensions of “ICT for Women,” exploring the role ICTs play in assisting other development efforts, as well as looking at ICT as a sector itself, a form of capacity building for women.
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Social and Cultural Impact on ICT Women
Panel: Naseem A. Bhatti (Computer Training Centre, Pakistan), Dilma Da Silva (T.J. Watson Research Laboratories)
The information and communication technologies are considered non hierarchical, personal and liberating. This presentation will focus on social and cultural impact of ICT on women in Pakistan and Brazil. This presentation will highlight that if technology becomes available and affordable its use sends waves of change in society. The effects of use of ICT enabled devices and services on socio-cultural norms and traditions and the changes in society due to the affordability and availability of information and communication technologies will be presented.
