We are delighted to announce the newly published book Rendering History: The Women of ACM-W, edited by Gloria Childress Townsend. Townsend was active with the ACM Women’s Council (ACM-W) for 17 years, having played leadership roles in the growth of ACM-W chapters, as well as founding the ACM Celebrations initiative. The book details the ACM-W’s 30-year history, starting from the organization’s maturation from a US-centric organization to a global leader in supporting the advancement of women in computer science. 

Rendering History is not just a historical account but a collection of personal journeys. It offers a comprehensive view of ACM-W’s initiatives and, more importantly, provides a platform for the women of ACM-W to share their personal narratives. These stories reveal their individual motivations, struggles, and triumphs in their transformative work, which has reshaped the computing landscape for women and young girls. 

Highlighted within the book are numerous inspiring accounts, including Sue Black’s journey overcoming adversity in two abusive homes to receiving recognition for her contributions to computing by both the late Queen of England and the current King. Kathy Kleiman details her pivotal role in helping rescue the wireless spectrum (now used by WiFi) from the (US) Federal Communications Commission’s plan to sell it. ACM Fellow Bhavani Thuraisingham writes about her birth in Sri Lanka, an arranged marriage to a man eight years her senior, and cutting-edge research in the integration of cyber security and machine learning.

We anticipate that Rendering History will be a captivating read, enriching and inspiring all who turn its pages.

By Cigdem Sengul

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s crucial to reflect on the strides made and the journeys ahead in achieving gender equality in computing. This year, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) shines a spotlight on the groundbreaking accomplishments of women in computing, celebrating women’s contributions through a selection of past People of ACM interviews, ByteCast episodes, TechTalks sessions, and more. So stay tuned into ACM’s social media accounts. 

The landscape of computer science, traditionally seen as a male-dominated field, is gradually transforming, thanks in part to the relentless efforts of countless women who break barriers every day and pave the way for future generations.  To better understand women’s current journeys of perseverance in computer science, in this article, we selected five research papers that appeared in ACM publications in 2023-24. Join us as we explore these insights.

We need to create supportive cultures for women to thrive in computing 

The issue is not just about opening doors for women in computing; it’s about ensuring they feel welcome, valued, and empowered to contribute their fullest potential.

Women may lack early exposure to Computer Science – “Many People don’t even know what Computer Science is.”

Source: Jeba Rezwana and Mary Lou Maher. 2023. Increasing Women’s Participation in CS at Large Public Universities: Issues and Insights. ACM Inroads 14, 2 (June 2023), 18–25. https://doi.org/10.1145/3584181

Rezwana and Maher study women students’ experiences and struggles in computer science at a large public university in the US and show that lack of prior programming experience and gender bias leads to a negative experience for women students in introductory CS courses. Their study participants were led to the CS field due to the positive prospects in the CS field, family influence and support, and early exposures in high school. However, they wished for more positive learning environments. Their negative experiences stemmed from strained interactions with male teaching assistants, who lacked training, and being the only woman in all-male groups. 

The study also highlighted that most students without previous experience think the introductory CS course is designed for students with previous programming experience when “many people don’t even know what Computer Science is.”  So, they suggest being taught an introduction to computer science instead of an introduction to Java (or any other programming language). They also prefer more active learning opportunities with people at their level – which was one of the innovations that turned the tide in Harvey Mudd College (Source: Alvarado, C., Dodds, Z., and Libeskind-Hadas, R., Increasing women’s participation in computing at Harvey Mudd College. ACM Inroads, 3, 4 (2012): 55-64.)

Access, agency, and achievement are elements of women’s empowerment

Source: Nova Ahmed, Tamanna Motahar, Silvia Ahmed, Tamanna Urmi, Mahbuba Tasnim, and Lamia Iftekhar. 2023. Opportunities for Women in Computing: Perspective of Bangladesh. In Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD ’22). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Article 2, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3572334.3572369

All the authors in this study are actively working on improving the footprint of women in STEM from Bangladesh. We interviewed one of the authors, Nova Ahmed, in our Above and Beyond Scholarship series, a former ACM-W scholarship recipient. The study reports on eight years of research work, which shed light on the participation and performance of Bangladesh’s women in the Computing field. After many surveys, interviews, and focus groups, the authors identify that women need:

• A non-judgmental facility where one would not have to worry about what others might think.
• More female instructors,  along with male instructors, trained for gender sensitivity.
• Relatable examples of role models and their pathways

Experiences confirm and increase gender biases

Source: Valentina Fietta, Nicolò Navarin, Merylin Monaro, and Ombretta Gaggi. 2023. Women and Gender Disparities in Computer Science: A Case Study at the University of Padua. In Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Information Technology for Social Good (GoodIT ’23). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1145/3582515.3609521

The authors studied 167 students from the University of Padua, Italy. According to the latest data by ISTAT (Italian National Statistics Institute) from 2021, in Italy, 24% of young adults (25-34 years old) with a university degree have obtained a degree in STEM. However, there is a gender gap: the percentage rises to 33.7% among men and drops to 17.6% among women.  

Authors importantly highlight that women perceive a higher degree of disadvantage than men’s perception of gender bias. While CS students perceive that the bias “CS is for men” is more prevalent among the older population, female students still state experiencing unpleasant situations “in a predominantly male environment that is often unreceptive and has not been able to recognise this discomfort.” These female students feel undervalued, misunderstood, and alone in a predominantly male university environment. We all need to understand reducing gender inequality in CS requires joint commitment and collaboration from all, “including women and men, academic institutions, companies, and society.”

Embracing Intersectionality is a Key to Unlocking Full Inclusion in Computing

Intersectionality considers identities like race, gender, class, and similar categories as socially constructed and best understood together rather than in isolation. Despite ongoing efforts to diversify computing, Black women remain severely underrepresented in the field, making up only 0.5% of CS degree awardees. The final two papers, to this end, study specifically Black women’s experience in computing.

Black women do not always identify as Computer Scientists

Source: Krystal L. Williams, Edward Dillon, Shanice Carter, Janelle Jones, and Shelly Melchior. 2023. CS=Me: Exploring Factors that Shape Black Women’s CS Identity at the Intersections of Race and Gender. ACM Trans. Comput. Educ. Just Accepted (December 2023). https://doi.org/10.1145/3631715

The authors study key aspects of what it means to be a Computer Scientist for Black women, study new and mature undergrads, as well as professionals, seeking to answer:

• How do Black women describe what it means to be a Computer Scientist? 
• How do those definitions map onto how they see themselves within the field?
• What factors help Black women to build stronger connections and CS identity?

Black women in this study described computer science in humanizing ways, focusing not on solving abstract problems but on helping people and making broader contributions to society. 

Being a Computer Scientist is primarily about problem-solving.

Anonymous Study Participant

However, some participants did not identify as Computer scientists. For some, this was linked to the breadth of the field and the lack of experience in all aspects of computer science, which is constantly changing. On the other hand, for some, this breadth was positive. 

… understanding that there’s a lot that goes into computer science, like, I can choose my own path within computer science.

Anonymous Study Participant

“Invisibility” also shaped Black women’s identification and connections with CS. The participants, especially recent graduates, often described CS environments that rendered them invisible or unseen. 

The article also highlights the importance of community and mentorship, which is one of our discussion topics in the Celebrating Technology Leaders Webinar in Empowered by Support: Communities, Connections & Careers. You can watch the full video here.

Tailored approaches are necessary to address the unique barriers Black women face in computing

Source: Susan R. Fisk, Brittany Watts, Courtney Dress, Charlotte Lee, Audrey Rorrer, Tom McKlin, Tiffany Barnes, and Jamie Payton. 2023. Retaining Black Women in Computing: A Comparative Analysis of Interventions for Computing Persistence. ACM Trans. Comput. Educ. Just Accepted (December 2023). https://doi.org/10.1145/3635313

The authors use a decade of student survey responses from an NSF-funded Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) alliance to examine the connection between different types of interventions and Black women’s intentions to persist in computing and how this compares to other students (specifically, Black men, white women, and white men). They found that career awareness and faculty mentorship are the two interventions with a statistically significant, positive correlation with Black women’s intentions to persist in computing. The authors note that this analysis explores Black women who have already expressed an interest in computing, and different interventions are likely needed to attract Black women to the field. 

Women in Computer Science Are Making Some Strides, but Support Networks are a Must

Source: Esther Shein. 2023. Women in Computer Science Are Making Strides. Commun. ACM 66, 5 (May 2023), 15–17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3586583

This article is not a narrative of despair. Challenges do exist, but we are aware of them. Yes, while some universities started enjoying an even gender split, like Vanderbilt University and Harvey Mudd College,  “Computer science is still not a level playing field for those women who majored in it and choose to pursue it as a career, “ as Bettina Bair, previous co-chair of the ACM-W, so aptly puts it. 

Dreschler, a senior majoring in Computer Science at Vanderbilt University, advises building a strong network, with women in particular, and joining groups that serve as support systems for women in STEM. So, see if there is an ACM-W chapter in your university or close to you. If there isn’t one, why don’t you create one? 

• The Ohio State ACM-W Student Chapter has developed nine tips for growing and maintaining its chapter. In this series of videos, you can learn from them how to build, maintain, and grow a strong ACM-W chapter.
• Or would you like to start an ACM-W Professional Chapter?  Here’s how – written by Bettina Bair.

By fostering inclusive environments, encouraging mentorship, and championing diversity, we can ensure that the field of computing benefits from women’s talents and the richness of perspectives they bring. Together, we can forge a path toward a more equitable and innovative future in computing.

We are delighted to announce the opening of nominations for the ACM-W Rising Star Award 2024! This prestigious award honors the outstanding contributions of women and non-binary individuals in computing who have made significant impacts early in their careers. 

About the Award:

The ACM-W Rising Star Award recognizes exceptional women or non-binary individuals in computing whose early career research has left a lasting mark on the discipline. The recipient will receive a framed certificate and a $1,000 stipend and will be celebrated annually for their remarkable achievements. Special thanks to Andrea Goldsmith for her generous donation, which established this award.

Important Dates:

• Nominations Open: January 15th, 2024
• Nominations Close: March 31st, 2024
• Award Recipient Announced: May 31st, 2024

Eligibility Criteria:

• ACM Membership at the time of nomination
• Within 10 years of receiving the terminal degree
• No previous receipt of the Rising Star Award
• Open to all women (trans- or cis-women) and non-binary individuals in computing
• Applicants without recent commendations or awards recognizing their research or technical contributions will be given preference

Application Details:

• Application Form link at https://women.acm.org/awards/rising-star-award/ 
• Google Forms will be used (Google sign-in required)
• Alternatively, reach out to Standing Committee Chairs for a document version

Please find the selection criteria, required application materials, and FAQ information at https://women.acm.org/awards/rising-star-award/. 

Contact Information:

For additional questions, please contact ACM-W Standing Committee Chairs:

• Bushra Anjum: bushra dot anjum at gmail.com
• My Thai: mythai at cise.ufl.edu

Nominate now and celebrate excellence in computing!

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has named 68 Fellows for transformative contributions to computing science and technology. In this article, we are highlighting 13 women who were selected by their peers for groundbreaking innovations that have improved how we live, work, and play.

ACM President Yannis Ioannidis said: “ACM is proud to include nearly 110,000 computing professionals in our ranks, and ACM Fellows represent just 1% of our entire global membership.”. They are the “colleagues whose contributions have all been important building blocks in forming the digital society that shapes our modern world”.

2024 ACM Fellows include:

Dr. Maria-Florina Balcan – USA: For contributions to the foundations of machine learning and its applications to algorithmic economics and algorithm design. Balcan is the Cadence Design Systems Professor of Computer Science in the Machine Learning and Computer Science departments (CSD) at CMU. Her main research interests are in machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic game theory and theoretical computer science (Source: CMU). Previous awards include ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award (2019)

Yingying Chen – USA: For contributions to design and application of mobile sensing and mobile security systems. Chen is a Professor and Department Chair at Rutgers Electrical and Computer Engineering (Source: Rutgers). Previous awards include ACM Distinguished Member (2021)

Xin Luna Dong – USA: For contributions to knowledge graph construction and data integration. Dong is a Principal Scientist at Meta Reality Labs, leading the ML efforts in building an intelligent personal assistant (Source: Homepage). Previous awards include ACM Distinguished Member (2018)

Anja Feldmann – Germany: For contributions to the data-driven analysis of operational networks. Professor Anja Feldmann of Saarland University in Saarbrücken is a Director of the Max Planck Institute, and one of the world’s leading experts in the field of the internet. Her fundamental and practical work on the measurement, analysis and modeling of internet traffic and internet routing has made a significant contribution to the further development of the internet, particularly in terms of security and reliability. (Source: SIC)

Nicole Immorlica – USA: For contributions to economics and computation, including market design, auctions and social networks.  Immorlica is a Principal Researcher at the Microsoft Research New England Lab. She is broadly interested in problems at the intersection of economics and algorithms. (Source: ACM)

Wenjing Lou – USA: For contributions to information and network security. Lou is W.C. English Endowed Professor at Virginia Tech. Her research interests cover many topics in the cybersecurity field, with her current research interest focusing on blockchain, privacy protection in machine learning systems, and security and privacy problems in the Internet of Things (IoT) systems. (Source: Homepage)

Zhuoqing Mao – USA: For contributions to internet security and performance. Mao is a professor at University of Michigan. Her research centers around networks, mobile and distributed systems, and security. Her recent projects include enhancing the security and reliability of connected and automated vehicles, resolving networking issues in data cellular and mobile cloud computing networks, and more. (Source: UMich) Previous awards include ACM Distinguished Member (2022)

Deborah McGuinness – USA: For contributions to knowledge technologies including ontologies and knowledge graphs. McGuinness is an endowed chaired professor in computer science, cognitive science, and industrial and systems engineering at Renssealer Polytechnic Institute. She also co-chairs the Tetherless World Constellation (TWC) and is the founding director of the RPI Web Science Research Center. McGuinness has a longstanding history of leadership in fundamental and applied Semantic Web research, bridging artificial intelligence (AI) and eScience, and creating explainable, provenance-aware AI environments and applications (Source: RPI).

Natasha Noy – USA: For contributions to open data, data discovery, and semantic web. Noy is a research scientist at Google, received her Ph.D. from Northeastern in 1997. She leads a research team building Google’s Dataset Search, a search engine specifically designed to find datasets — of all kinds — that are publicly available on the web (Source: NorthEeastern)

Corina S Pasareanu – USA: For contributions to the development and application of symbolic execution and compositional verification. Pasareanu is principal systems scientist in ECE, member of CyLab and scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center. (Source: CMU)

Prof. Dana Ron – Israel: For contributions to sub-linear time approximation algorithms. Ron is a faculty member at the School of Electrical Engineering, Tel Aviv University. Her main research focus is on the design and analysis of sublinear algorithms, and in particular property testing and (sublinear) approximation algorithms (Source: Homepage).

Dr. Phoebe Sengers – USA: For contributions to critically-informed human-computer interaction and design.Phoebe Sengers is a professor in Information Science and Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Her primary research fields are Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Science & Technology Studies (STS). Her work integrates ethnographic and historical analysis of the social implications of technology with design methods to suggest alternative future possibilities (Source: Homepage).

Elaine Shi – USA: For contributions to the scientific foundation of oblivious computation and decentralized blockchains. Shi is an associate professor in CSD and the College of Engineering’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE) at CMU. Her research areas include cryptography, game theory, algorithms, and foundations and blockchains. (Source: CMU)

Many congratulations!

By Adriana Wilde

This ACM Women post aims to be as celebratory for the women returning to the field of computing, as much as a reflection of the challenges that as a whole community we experience. To the former, first of all, a warm welcome back to this exciting discipline! If you have just returned to the tech world after perhaps a few years’ break, you are now rediscovering a massively changed landscape that goes far beyond coding, so these reflections may be especially helpful. To the rest of our readers, this is a call for your efforts in aiding the navigation into the diverse and exciting avenues that computing has to offer to everyone.

Uncharted territories all over again 

Embarking on this journey can be daunting, as irrespective to previous experience, restarting a career in computing is perhaps like rediscovering a vast canvas, where the brushstrokes do extend far beyond the lines of traditional coding roles. Both academia and the tech industry are continuously evolving, and so are the roles within. The canvas of computing is a vibrant tapestry, woven with opportunities ranging from data science to cybersecurity, including human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence, and in all of these there have been important new curricular developments in recent times. More than ever before, interdisciplinarity rules as computer applications are present in just about every other discipline. Whilst this creates lots of opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to find where their experiences can be useful, it also creates some challenges in terms of understanding what are the gaps to fill and identifying a feasible plan to address them.

Crafting a Diverse Skill Set

Consider the holistic nature of skills development. It’s not merely about mastering coding languages; it’s about embracing a comprehensive approach. From project management to leadership skills, the industry values a diverse skill set. Still, you can explore resources that can help you with upskilling in computing. Retraining is a valid option, and with a little research, it is not difficult to find schemes that support a return to work (or study!) for well-motivated applicants. 

Confidence Across Domains

Confidence is not a single note in this symphony; it is rather a harmonious blend across various domains. Take inspiration from the stories of individuals who have excelled in roles ranging from data analysis to IT consulting. For many of them, the ability to transfer skills from one domain to another is what made them successful. I remember mustering confidence whilst answering in an interview for a teaching fellowship (after an extended career break) by referring to how I had solved a seemingly non-technical problem as an evidence of my technical mindset. Being aware of your own limitations or gaps in your experience can feed into the well-known impostor syndrome, but looking out for relatable role models may help you in dispelling it as you discover that your own story can be transformed into one of belonging, no matter how long ago it was since you left the profession.

Challenging the Narrative: Beyond the Leaky Pipeline

The narrative around the “leaky pipeline” is overused to characterise the droves of women who, at various stages in their lives, turned away from computing. Thus,  it needs to be challenged.  As a community, we recognise that it oversimplifies the problem and the challenges faced by those who left. If I were to give a visual image of my posture regarding the paradigm shift required to improve gender diversity, I would steer away from this overused metaphor. I consider that this imagery is unhelpful because it characterises women who have left the profession at diverse stages in their careers as having been irretrievably lost, just like water leaking out of a pipeline. I much prefer the visuals associated with the “snakes and ladders” board game, whereby any  misfortunes as well as valid life choices at given times (the metaphorical snakes) may set women back, but they could return with the right “ladders” put in place. I have thought about this new metaphor for long, as an intersectional woman in academia who, alongside her career, has been swallowed up by snakes of varying sizes, yet I have always been able to find a good ladder to bring myself up and go much further ahead. Perhaps you have experienced this too, and are now in a position to build ladders for others to follow you.

Resources for a Diverse Tech Community

Discover organisations and platforms that cater to the diverse facets of computing. From following conferences on your topic of interest to reading publications on state-of-the-art research, including taking an e-learning course, the resources available are as varied as the roles within the industry. The ACM is a great place to start.

Share Your Story, Shape the Narrative

Share your story, challenge the narrative, connect with professionals across the computing discipline, and be part of the community shaping the future of the profession. Whether you are a woman returning to the discipline after a break, a champion advocating for diversity, or just someone who has faced challenges in their professional journey, your contributions will enrich our collective experience of navigating the multifaceted world of computing.

By Bettina Bair

On November 6, 2023, the Central Ohio ACM-W Professional Chapter was officially chartered by ACM’s Chief Operating Officer, becoming the third active ACM-W Professional Chapter in the United States. There are 16 active ACM-W Professional Chapters worldwide. Our chapter has close ties with the NW Ohio ACM-W, OCWiC ACM-W, and two ACM-W Student Chapters in Central Ohio.

All of us in the Central Ohio ACM-W Professional Chapter (nicknamed 614ACMW) are thrilled to be welcomed into the ACM-W global network of professional women in computing.  Since we just went through our chartering process, I thought I would share some of the strategies we found to be helpful. 

Would you like to start an ACM-W Professional Chapter?  Here’s how.

To start with, the requirements to start an ACM-W professional chapter are simple: 3 officers, 7 members, and contact information (chapter name, address, email, phone).  It does take some time, though, so we’re here to break it down into steps. 

Step 0. Develop a Value Statement.

When you are looking for officers and members, people will want to know why they should be involved.  And also, why ACM-W and not some other unaffiliated club?  It really helps to write down your value statement so that you can be confident and clear when you answer these questions. 

Amanda and I developed this list of ACM-W Professional Chapter benefits, and we share it at meetings. You can also use the list ACM published: Professional Chapter Resources and Benefits.

• ACM-W advocates, supports, and celebrates women in computing.  Chapters provide an environment for members to make professional and social connections, learn about technology, get career advice, participate in mentoring, organize events, and provide community service. 
• ACM-W is a globally respected professional association. There are hundreds of chapters worldwide with 70k+ members.
• ACM-W Professional Chapters have access to ACM’s Distinguished Speaker list. ACM will cover the cost of sending any of these speakers to your chapter event. Chapters get free web hosting.  Professional Chapter members get access to many ACM publications with tech news, career announcements, conferences, and more.  ACM-W Chapters can connect with other chapters via the ACM-W Buddy project and ACM-W Celebrations.  ACM-W Professional Chapter members come from industry, non-profits, start-ups, and academia. 

You may develop additional benefits or member requirements for your chapter. Every local community is different.  As long as your priority is advocating, supporting, and celebrating women in computing, you are doing it right. 

Step 1. Find Officers. 

Since you will be the chair, you really only need to find two more people to be officers. You should look for people with leadership experience who are also friendly, responsive, and enthusiastic.  All your chapter officers need to be paying ACM members. 

Here are some places I looked for chapter officers: colleagues, best friends, co-authors, former ACM-W student chapter officers, ACM-W Celebration event sponsors, speakers, and organizers. I looked at hackathon programs and company organization charts. Ultimately, Facebook and LinkedIn proved to be the most useful. Using a filtered search, I was able to generate a list of women I knew who were working or living in my city. 

Very soon after, I made contact with Amanda Kauppila, who would become our chapter’s vice chair (Hi Amanda!). Amanda had been an officer of her ACM-W Student Chapter, so she was a perfect person to step into an officer position in an ACM-W Professional Chapter. 

Step 2. Recruit Members.

You need ten members in total. Your officers count as part of that minimum number. And your non-officer members do not need to be ACM members. ACM-W Professional Chapter members can be women, men, non-binary, academic, and industry technology professionals at all levels. You can be selective, but ACM-W encourages professional chapters to have diversity in their membership.  In particular, members should be from multiple employers and include academic as well as industry organizations

So, Amanda and I needed to find eight more members. To find interested people, you should organize a recruiting event. You can also contact people individually and invite them to become members, but a recruiting event can establish your chapter as a welcoming place.

Our first recruiting event was a tech talk headlined by a rockstar professor from Ohio State University, Dr Tanya Berger-Wolf.  Tanya is a popular speaker with cross-disciplinary research that touches on AI, big data, and biodiversity conservation.  (Hi Tanya!)

We reserved a meeting room at our local library and advertised the event on Meetup, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Again, LinkedIn proved to be the best media channel to connect with local women in computing.

After Tanya’s talk, Amanda and I did a presentation about our intention to create an ACM-W Professional Chapter.  Tanya volunteered to be our third officer, and we signed up four new members. 

Step 3. Build Critical Mass. 

After your first recruiting event, you may still not have enough members to apply for an ACM-W Professional Chapter charter. We didn’t.  But Amanda and I felt that the success of that first meeting – having Tanya sign up to be our Treasurer and getting four members – was a vote of confidence, and it motivated us to carry on. 

Amanda and I realized that we needed to build an online presence where we could show who we were and what our chapter was about. So we set about creating a website and social media groups where we could host more community-building activities. Amanda started talking to people about being speakers at future meetings. 

In effect, we started acting like we were already a chartered ACM-W Professional Chapter.  Believing in ourselves helped others believe in us. And slowly, one at a time, we added members. 

Step 4. Check on Details. 

When you have three officers and ten members, you are *almost* ready to submit your application for an ACM Professional Chapter charter.  Here are a few additional required details you should have handy. 

• Chapter Name – Your chapter’s official name must be “City-name” ACM-W Professional Chapter unless the city-name is not unique.  There are 23 cities named Columbus in the U.S., so we were able to get an exception to call our chapter the “Central Ohio” ACM-W Professional Chapter.
• Chapter Mailing Address – Your chapter can request promotional material from ACM, so you need to have a shipping address.
• Chapter Email Address – This should be a unique email address, not the same as any ACM or ACM-W member. 
• Chapter Phone Number – I’m not sure why this is needed, but it’s a required field. 
• Chapter Type and SubType – “Professional” and “ACM-W”
• Officer ACM Member IDs – The form will ask you for the member IDs, not the names.  You can’t look up the ID, so you should get it from your officers.  You will designate one person each for Chair, Vice-Chair, and Treasurer.
• Email List Name – ACM will create two listservs for your chapter: one for officers and one for members.  You can make up your own name but it has to start with a letter, be 10 characters or less, and only alphanumeric, without spaces or periods. Dashes and underscores are permitted.
• Member Names, Email, Affiliation – You need first name, last name, email, and affiliation (company). Or an ACM member ID.  You can enter these one at a time or upload a CSV file with this layout: Last Name, First Name, E-mail, Affiliation (not ACM). 

I know that sounds like a lot, but it’s really just a few small things that are very specific. 

5. Submit! And Next Steps.

When you click “Submit” on your ACM-W Professional Chapter application,  your chapter will begin its formal approval journey.  This is very exciting, and you should definitely celebrate.  Whatever happens next, you have done a great job assembling a small community of smart and motivated women in computing. 

Initially, you will get an email from the ACM local activities chair to let you know that the process has started and to advise you that there might be a one or two-week wait for a final decision on your application.  

At this point, I recommend that you reach out to the people who will approve your application, introduce yourself, and give them an opportunity to learn more about your chapter. Here are the people you should contact:

local_activities@hq.acm.org – This person can help you fix any problems with your application and will also be able to ensure that your chapter gets the ACM resources that are available to you.

ACM-W Professional Chapter Chair  – all chapter applications are approved by the ACM-W Professional Chapter chair. Let her know that your group is applying for a charter and see if there are other chapters or activities happening in your area. 

Regional Chair – If your chapter is in India, Europe, or North America, it will be a part of a larger geographic regional group.  Contact the regional chair and let them know that you are interested in being a part of their community.

Pretty soon, you will get that special email from the Local Activities chair letting you know that your chapter has been welcomed as a member of the ACM-W global community of women in computing. 

What will your chapter do next?  Here are 101 ideas! 

Conclusion.

Congratulations on taking the first step to starting your own ACM-W Professional Chapter! I hope this guide has been helpful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to the ACM-W staff.

I wish you all the best in your chapter’s journey!

Deadline: 31st of March, 2024

Apply here

ACM-W (ACM Women in Computing) seeks applicants for the next ACM-W Rising Star Committee Chair. The ACM-W Rising Star Award recognizes a woman whose early-career research has had a significant impact on the computing discipline, as measured by factors such as frequent citation of their work, creation of a new research area, a high degree of technology transfer and/or other positive influences and societal impact. Come and help us select a rising star annually, and be part of the organization supporting, celebrating, and advocating for women in computing worldwide.

Responsibilities include organizing and remotely leading a 5-member award committee to solicit, process, and select award recipients from submitted nominations. The award cycle opens approximately at the beginning of January, with submissions due in February and winners selected by the end of March. Time commitment will be low during non-active months and higher when the committee processes and selects applications.

This is a volunteer, remote, part-time position with an initial two-year term. 

If interested, see below for details and instructions for applying.

Organization

ACM-W is a global community whose mission is to support, celebrate, and advocate for the full engagement of women in all aspects of the computing field. We provide a wide range of programs and services to members and work in the larger community to advance the contributions of technical women.

Position 

ACM-W Rising Star Committee Chair

Part-time Volunteer Assignment

Compensation, Hours, and Benefits

The ACM-W Rising Star Committee Chair is expected to spend 10-15 hours a month and attend two 2-day face-to-face meetings a year. Travel expenses for the face-to-face meetings will be reimbursed. The assignment is for a two-year term. 

ACM-W is a non-profit organization administered entirely by volunteers. This is a volunteer position, but it directly impacts the ACM-W global community of 70,000+ members. The Chair’s name, photo, and contact info are included on the website. They will also receive a special ACM-W Leadership badge for their email signature card and social media accounts.

Qualifications

The successful applicant will have

• Leadership and Committee Experience: Prior experience leading committees, teams, or projects, especially in a research-oriented or academic setting. Experience in managing the selection process for awards or recognition programs would be beneficial.
• Understanding of Diversity and Inclusion Issues: A strong commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within the computing field, specifically advocating for women’s participation and representation.

How to apply

Please complete the application form before March 31, 2024.

It is great to look back on the year to see just how far we have come. This year, new people joined our groups, working groups, and standing committees. The ACM-W has worked to put structures around their work to enable ease of onboarding for new team members. While this work continues, the teams of volunteers across our regions have worked together to present opportunities, talks, scholarships, and networking. The highlights for me each month are presented below, but I am most proud of the joint anniversary celebration of the two ACM-W regions, ACM-W Europe and ACM-W India. The growth of the ACM-W into regions such as Africa and South America is gaining momentum, and I look forward to the day they can celebrate their 10th anniversary.

January was a time to consider new beginnings with a series of videos created by the Ohio State University Student Chapter of the ACM-W. The series helped guide ACM-W Student chapters on creating and growing a chapter using tried and tested techniques.

February invited chapters to become chapter Buddies to strengthen partnerships between chapters to support a common goal. The project encourages collaboration across student chapters, professional chapters, and between chapters in different regions. Chapters can work on a number of activities during the year to share ideas and experiences.

March brought a celebration of technology leaders where experts in various fields share their wisdom to benefit the ACM-W community. In Celebrating Technology Leaders, our Standing Committees chair, Dr Bushra Anjum, invites experts in a variety of fields to share their wisdom for the benefit of the ACM-W community.

We have many Celebrations of Women in Computing held each year, and also, in March, The Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing (OCWIC) boasted 235 attendees from 43 universities and tech companies!

Dr. Manya Ghobadi was announced at the 2023 ACM-W Rising Star in April. Dr. Ghobadi, an Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), spoke of her strong passion for technology driven by the potential of using computation to make a positive impact on society. The impact of awards and scholarships was made ever more clear in this wonderful piece by Dr. Adriana Wilde on how the ACM-W Scholarship helped her attend an event, opening new opportunities for her career.

May put a spotlight on the Trondheim ACM-W Professional Chapter. The work of professional chapters often brings benefits not only to the professionals involved but also to ACM-W student chapters in the area. The Trondheim Chapter connects with students through various projects led by Dr. Jaccheri as well as the recent ACM Celebration of Women in Computing: womENcourage^TM 2023.

June was a time for change as the ACM-W Communications Co-Chair Bettina Bair stepped down but never far from the ACM-W. Bettina revolutionised how we reach out to our members. In her farewell interview, she shows how much fun it can be to work with a motivated team on a common goal. Opportunities often arise within our committees, including in the ACM-W regional committees.

The first Indo-European ACM Celebration of Women in Computing: A Decade Celebration was held in July. The collaboration of the two regions showcased experts across their regions, highlighting commonality, and overall, it was a major success in the ACM-W professional network. These collaborations boost the Buddy Project, showing how it can be done at a global level. Well done to Heena, Rukiye, and all involved!

August provided an opportunity to consider how computing connects everyone as the womENcourage^TM 2023 finalised its preparations. womENcourage exemplifies the positive effect of attending and presenting at an event in a supportive environment. Celebrations of Women in Computing aim to forge links between attendees so that links endure when the event is long over. Building our professional networks brings opportunities that we cannot begin to imagine.

September was a time to hear from our first student chapter buddies. The ACM Bilkent Student Chapter at Bilkent University became buddies with the ATU ACM-W Student Chapter in Ireland. It is amazing that strong links can be established across time zones from one chapter in Ireland to another, 4,297 Km away in Turkiye. The Bilkent Student chapter, established in 2004, is the first ACM-W student Chapter in Turkey, and the ATU ACM-W student chapter (2014) is the first in Ireland. We look forward to many great activities from our first Chapter Buddies!

October provided an opportunity to explore the value of applying for ACM-W scholarships and how they can be used to further your career goals. The scholarship history project team reached out to past recipients to find out where they are now and if they had benefitted from the award. A lovely statement by a recipient highlights the value of scholarships. “Receiving the ACM-W scholarship gave me validation of my abilities at a time when I was not receiving very much from my graduate program.” Remember that scholarships are open for applications. All dates can be found on the ACM-W scholarships page. We look forward to receiving your applications.

Activities in Mexico were the focus of November. The ACM-W North America supported two speakers at a conference that welcomed 40 women from international universities. Congratulations to Dr. Aldeco and Dr. Mirna Muñoz on your talks.  We also encourage you to look at the latest report from the Standing Committee for Gender Equality in Science.

As you read this newsletter, you can see that more activities are ongoing. Perhaps in the seasonal break, you may find time to look at new opportunities within the ACM-W. Have you considered applying for senior membership? We would love to see more women applying. The ACM-W is here to support, celebrate, and advocate for you.

I wish you all a peaceful and supportive year ahead.

Ruth G. Lennon

ACM-W Chair

The Standing Committee for Gender Equality in Science (SCGES) is an independent committee formed in 2020 by nine international scientific organizations, most of which are full members of the International Science Council (ISC). These founding partners had worked together on the ISC-supported project “A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It?,” which became known as the “Gender Gap in Science Project”.

The nine founding partners of SCGES were ACM, IAU, ICIAM, IMU, IUBS, IUHPST, IUPAC, IUPAP, and the project GenderInSITE (2016-2021). Over the three years since the first meeting of SCGES in September 2020, these partners have been joined by fifteen international scientific unions that are all members of ISC: IFSM, IGU, INQUA, IPSA, IUBMB, IUCr, IUGS, IUIS, IUMRS, IUPESM, IUPsyS, IUSS, SCAR, UIS and WAU.

The project  contributes to this analysis from three complementary perspectives: 

• The Global Survey of Scientists addresses issues related to missing role models, feelings of critical exclusion, harassment, or low participation and retention rates. 
•  The Study of Publication Patterns provides insights into the proportion of women as research authors or the presence of women publishing in renowned journals. See the Interactive tool on publication patterns for visualizations of publication data from STEM disciplines in relation to the gender of the publishing authors. 
• The Database of Good Practices introduces a conceptual framework to analyze them and provide evidence of effectiveness and impact.

Based on the findings of the project and from discussions held within the network created around the project, SGCES makes several recommendations, starting with instructors and parents, scientific or educational organizations of all kinds, and Scientific Unions and other worldwide organizations, in particular the union members of SGCES.

The full report, “A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematical, Computing, and Natural Sciences: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It?” can be found in this link.

The SCGES Webinar Series 

The webinar series, which started in 2022, is also continuing. The five webinars organized in 2022-2023 with topics cover the situation of women in various scientific disciplines around the world, the work towards gender equality, the results of research on women and gender, and more broadly, on intersectionality in disciplines where such research is carried out. Examples include: 

• (In-)visibility of women in science: historical perspectives, organized by the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPST).  The moderator was Catherine Jami (CNRS). Presentations included: 

1. “Tomorrow Began Yesterday: Why History Matters,” Patricia Fara (University of Cambridge) 
2. “Navigating Gendered Barriers to Scientific Knowledge Through Spousal Cooperation: Mrs and Mr Mary Somerville,” Brigitte Stenhouse (University of Toronto & The Open University) 
3. “Visibility of Women in Science, for an Anti-oppressive World,” Indianara Lima Silva (State University of Feira de Santana) 

• How to Evaluate and Reduce the Gender Gap in Science? The webinar was moderated by Mei-Hung Chiu (National Taiwan Normal University), and presentations included:

1. “The Gender Gap in Science Project and its Outcomes,” Marie-Françoise Roy (Université Rennes)”
2. “What interventions for more women in science? Tools, knowledge, and know-how for the creation and evaluation of public policies,” Guillaume Hollard (Ecole Polytechnique)
3. “The global survey of scientists: focus on Africa, Latin-America, Mathematics and Physics,” Sophie Dabo (Université de Lille), Rachel Ivie (American Institute of Physics)
4. “New results for the gender gap in publication patterns,” Helena Mihaljevic (HTW Berlin)

All webinars can be viewed on SCGES’s YouTube channel.

SCGES looks forward to bringing together scientists from all disciplines to cooperate on fostering gender equality in their communities at the local, national, regional, and international levels. For further information, please see this year’s report.

The 12th International Conference on Software Engineering (CIMPS)

The 12^th International Conference on Software Engineering (CIMPS) was held at CENIDET, Cuernavaca, Mexico, from October 18th to 20^th. This international conference has been held since 2012, and this year, ACM-W NA sponsored the participation of two speakers who promoted ACM-W.

CIMPS welcomed 40 women from different international universities studying computing-related fields such as software engineering and computer science for undergraduates and Masters or PhD programs. The event was made possible due to the support of academic and industry sponsors.

The first ACM-W sponsored speaker was Dr. Rocio Aldeco, a research associate professor of Computer Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico). She participated in the conference as Vice Chair and chair of nominations at ACM-W NA. She actively promotes the participation of women in ACM. She talked about the challenges of software engineering in developing distributed applications, highlighting the need to improve and develop new protocols that support trust through cryptographic evidence and provenance (i.e., blockchain and digital audits).

The second speaker, sponsored by ACM-W NA Dr. Mirna Muñoz, communications co-chair, talked about Standardization and Quality: A bridge between Industry and Academia., and presented the experience of boosting the competitiveness of Very Small Entities. Software development microenterprises and software development centers established within Higher Education Institutions participated in the project, highlighting the benefits of using Software Engineering standards.

11th International Conference in Software Engineering Research and Innovation (CONISOFT 2023)

The 11th International Conference in Software Engineering Research and Innovation (CONISOFT 2023) was held at Universidad de Guanajuato, León, Mexico. ACM-W NA sponsored a speaker and coffee breaks.

CONISOFT welcomed 175 women from different international universities studying computing-related fields such as software engineering and computer science for undergraduates and Masters or PhD programs.

At the conference, Dr. Mirna Muñoz talked about Raising Efficiency in Agile Development: ISO/IEC 29110 Standard, which addresses a proposal to reinforce agile development approaches, especially SCRUM and XP, with the implementation of proven practices that provide an international standard for EMPs, allowing for a more robust development environment, without ceasing to use its agile approach for the development of its non-critical software products.

Author: Lindsay Jamieson, ACM-W NA chair

We are soliciting volunteers to assist with the ACM-W mission in North America (Canada, the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean).  From positions on standing committees to memberships in the Executive Committee, we have openings at all-time commitment levels. 

The committee supervises the activities and initiatives supporting all North American ACM-W chapters. There are many opportunities to help others while also building your own network and leadership experience.

The committee seeks professional (two-year terms) and student (one-/two-year terms) volunteers from across North America interested in serving as subcommittee chairs or members. To ensure we fully represent North America, we especially encourage volunteers outside of the U.S. (Mexico, Canada, and other countries in North America).

We would love to have volunteers join us in working groups, subcommittees, and other roles as they arise.

Professionals	At-Large Members of our subcommittees
Students	Celebrations Chair(s) Communications Chair(s) Student Chapters Chair(s) Empowerment of Marginalized Communities Chair(s) Nominations Chair(s) At-Large Members

Professionals can volunteer at this link.

Students can volunteer at this link.  

ACM-W Europe continues with the collaboration of its chapters as the buddy system campaign started by ACM-W. The second chapter buddies of ACM-W Europe happened between two professional chapters which are Trondheim ACM-W and The Greek ACM-W.

Two chapters had their first physical meeting at Trondheim during the 10th ACM Celebration of Women in Computing  womENcourage^TM . Maria Roussou and Anna Szlavi, the representatives of ACM-W Greece and ACM-W Trondheim (respectively) met to exchange ideas and discuss further collaboration. The womENcourage conference in Norway marks the first instance of collaboration as buddies, as Athena Vakali from ACM-W Greece was one of the invited keynote speakers of the event hosted by ACM-W Trondheim. For 2024 the buddies are planning to make further steps to strengthen their connection, possibly through a workshop at the 6th Summit on Gender Equality in Computing to take place in Cyprus.

Are you an ACM-W Chapter in collaboration with another ACM/ACM-W chapter? We love to hear from you! And if you don’t have a collaborator, partner, or a buddy, it’s time to find one! ACM-W has started a new campaign in December 2022 and is encouraging all ACM-W chapters to partner with other ACM-W chapters from the same/different state, country, or region to become a Buddy. Your partnerships can be created to achieve some common goal, be it Academic, Social, Professional or Service. We invite you to tell us how, as ACM-W chapter buddies, you work towards a common goal and provide a shared experience for your diverse community members. To be part of this campaign, you can work with local, country, regional or global buddies. See our December 2022 post for more information.