ACM-W helped sponsor a 28 minute video called "Women in Computing", produced by Davis Gray. The world of computing is exploding with opportunities, especially for women. This program presents accomplished female computer scientists and specialists working in the fields of Computing, Finance, Health care, Academia and Publishing. The program emphasizes the need for more women to take part in shaping the technology that will define the next millennium. This is a positive message directed at encouraging more girls and women to pursue computer science as a career. This video has been broadcasted to the 12,000 high schools that are part of the Classroom Channel.

During the last decade, considerable research has been undertaken to understand the reasons behind the existence of the incredible shrinking pipeline and in some cases to take action to increase the numbers of women in computing. However, there has not been a central focus to bring all this research together and thus help provide a coherent direction for future work. Through the work of this NSF funded project, Denise Gürer and Tracy Camp took the first steps toward this goal. The end results of this project achieved three outcomes:

Provided a public repository (the ACM-W database) and central focal point for information and research pertaining to women in computing.

Raised the consciousness of the computing community through the web site and dissemination of the final report.

Suggested directions to move towards to help increase the numbers of women in computing and make computer science environments more women friendly (contained in the final report).

The final report was submitted to NSF and is available through the ACM-W website.

The trend of decreasing numbers of women enrolled in higher education across the United States was studied, analyzed, and reported in the Communications of the ACM, October 1997. In brief, data from the National Centre for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education shows that the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in CS to women have decreased tremendously since 1983. In 1983-84, 37.1% of the B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS went to women; in 1994-95, only 28.4% of the B.A./B.S. degrees awarded in CS went to women. Furthermore, while the percentage of bachelor's degrees awarded in CS to women decreased, corresponding percentages of other science and engineering disciplines increased. The goals of this project were to investigate these trends and the reasons behind the trends.

SIGCSE asked Tracy Camp, ACM-W Co-Chair, to edit a special issue on women in computing for their Inroads June 2002 issue. The goal was to have a comprehensive issue on women in computing that is referenced for many years to come. The issue is extensive and ACM-W members quite involved – there are 18 articles with ACM-W members as authors. This project has received funding from many ACM groups and NSF for dissemination of the special issue.

This project organized a teacher enhancement program that was centered on gender issues for the public school teachers in the state of Colorado. A workshop took place for high-school teachers who taught computer science. The workshop focused on sharing positive and negative factors that influenced the interest of girls in computers, as well as educating the teachers on the ACM high school curricula recommendations.

This project addressed the need for role models in non-traditional careers such as computer science, for girls and young women. An "examples" sampler of female professionals in a wide range of non-traditional careers was developed in the form of a CD-ROM and a supporting Web site. The CD was arranged to promote easy access to a database of basic information introducing 100-200 careers in appropriate multimedia formats, including examples of the work of women scientists.

The Women in Computing Academic Resource (WCAR) List is a compilation of colleges and universities that have formal and/or informal programs for encouraging and retaining women in computer science (CS). The WCAR list, created by Laura Downey in 1994, investigated the presence of such programs as one indicator of an institution's (or inSPANiduals of an institution) commitment to addressing some of the obstacles faced by women in CS. The WCAR list identifies "women-friendly" academic programs in CS thereby providing female CS students important information regarding positive encouraging environments. These aid students in choosing institutions they wish to attend and also provide information on existing programs in their communities.

Denise Gürer led a workshop at the Grace Hopper Celebration on Women in Computing September 20, 1997. The 1-1/2 hour workshop featured a panel consisting of women pioneers who have contributed to computer science in the early days of computing. The workshop was video taped and a paper has been published.