You Gotta Want ItOne Year of Building Up CWRU’s

Women in Computer Science

Stephanie Hippo (@stephhippo)

Why I’m Here

● I just graduated from Case Western Reserve● Spent the last year as part of Hacker

Society’s leadership● Things got kinda bad. They’re less bad now. ● This talk is a lot about me● When you leave, I need this talk to be about

you.

Finding Hacker Society

Freshman BME who was going to revolutionize healthcare and change the world

Until I hated my major and departmentTook a summer internship with MIM Software

Changed my major to Computer ScienceBoyfriend’s friend recommended Hacker Society

Hacker Society Then

Welcomed with open armsNormally one of a few or only woman in the roomWent to talks even when I didn’t understand them

Kept going until I understood them Became a better programmer and student

Helped me make friends in my classes

Flash Forward 3 YearsHacker Society main source of friends.

I only make new girl friends when the guys get new girlfriends.

If you have to date someone who is friends with the club to feel comfortable going to the club,

something is broken.

CultureCommon Excuse:

None of us were trying to keep people out.

We weren’t actively pulling people in, either.

We made a bad assumption that the only hurdle to joining was caring about what we

cared about.

Why This Matters

CS curriculum makes more sense hands-on

Hacker Society is a big gateway for opportunities

Being on the outside isn’t fun. People stay for communities.

Excuses

Too much class

Too much work

All in my head

Summer 2014 - I Go On Co-Op

Too much class

Too much work

All in my head

Reaching Out

● Reached out to Facebook Group for freshmen● Answered questions about college while

occasionally plugging Hacker Society● Gained their trust and interest● Accidentally became a campus celebrity● Started getting messages

○ Mostly from women

All in my head

"I know you guys have OpenHacks today at 2, but I am not that experienced of a coder, can I still check it out and ask you some questions?"

"I really don't have much/any experience in programming, hacking or what it involves (I'm not exactly sure). I was just wondering what you guys do and if

maybe I could like sit in sometime (like just observe from the back). I repeat ‘I have like no experience’ (the real only computer experience I have is from the

classes I have taken which is not much)"

"Is it ok if I've never really programmed before?"

Out of Excuses

Too much class

Too much work

All in my head

You can’t change what you don’t measure.

● If losing weight, you would step on a scale, get a FitBit.

● If training for a race, you would time yourself.

● If you’re looking to change your culture, you need to think about what numbers you need to look at.

The Data: Student Population

The Data: Role Models - Staff

The Data:Role Models - Speakers

Change We Needed

Role Models

Welcoming Environment

Amplification

Role Models:Grace Hopper 2014

Approached by Division of Engineering Leadership and Professional Practice

Asked what CWRU did to support women in Computing

Suggested biggest gathering of women in computing

Role Models:Grace Hopper 2014

Needed to convince women it was worth missing three days of class

Fundraised like crazy; alumni were incredible

Most incredible 3 days. GHC attendees came back inspired and ready to lead.

Role Models:Grace Hopper Conference

Talk Adjustmentsxkcd.com/1053/

Talk Adjustments

● Intro Talks○ Git○ Linux/Virtual Machines○ Unix + Dev tools○ :(){ :|:& };:

● Workshops○ Ruby○ GitHub Pages

Community Changes

● Start calling out interruptions, condescension● Social Nights

○ Capture the Flag○ Ice Cream

● Hung out in student lounge, answered questions● Can’t be there 100% of the time. Plenty of stuff

we missed

Social Media

● Encouraged our women to blog ○ Dear Family, I Hack○ Adventures In Game Design○ Ladies Storm Hackathons Medium Collection

● Started posting about what our students were working on

Hacker Society Now

Hacker Society Now

● All majors welcome● Outreach that starts early● OpenHacks - Saturday Workshops● HacSoc - Wednesday night talks

○ Introductory talks that then ramp up● HackCWRU - Spring Hackathon● Link-State - Fall Conference

Social Events

OCWiC

Hacker Society Now:#TwentyToTexas

● Wanted to send 20 to GHC 15 in Houston● Next group of HacSoc women organized trip

○ I took a backseat, helped navigate bureaucracy● Registered 15 women

○ GHC registrations sold out IN RECORD TIME at the largest number of attendees ever at 12,000

○ Still 6 more than last year● CWRU women selected as GHC Scholars

Not all sunshine and daisies

Numbers higher, but still low

Crude, anonymous tumblr messages

Condescending attitudes

University support still scattered

Not all sunshine and daisies

Long road to go

While rewarding, the work drained me mentally/emotionally/physically

Still need help

Actionable Things You Can Do

Amplify the women you already know.

Be an involved Mentor. Branch out networks.

Sponsor them → GHC, Conferences, Workshops

Actionable Things You Can Do

Dig up your data.

Ask meaningful questions and look at your numbers. Set goals.

Figure out what you’re going to do about the numbers you aren’t happy about.

Actionable Things You Can DoReview hiring policies processes, and filters.

It’s not enough to not deliberately keep people out. You also need to encourage them to come in.

Be specific in exit survey questions to get a better idea of why people are leaving. Then fix them.

Lesson Learned

None of this is unfixable. It is a ton of work.

You just gotta want it.

Questions?

Stay in Touch:My Twitter: @stephhippoHacker Society Twitter: @cwruacmHacker Society Website: http://hacsoc.org/