Human-Centered Data Science Lab

The 2015 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) brought together 12,000 attendees in Houston this October to celebrate women in computing and technology.  GHC is known for attracting outstanding technologists from academia and industry to share their research and insights for professional development.  This year the conference offered 15 tracks including Data Science, Human Computer Interaction, and Emerging Technologies.  GHC also features a career and community fair with hundreds of companies, universities, and non-profit organizations represented.

Cecilia Aragon co-led a workshop for graduate students as part of the series in the Career Track presented by the Computing Research Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W).  The workshop, co-led by Patty Lopez of Intel Corporation, focused on helping graduate students build self-confidence and make progress toward their ideal careers.  Both speakers shared personal experiences of overcoming fear and institutional biases.  They proposed “3 steps to success” for graduate students: 1) working every day to overcome fears, 2) relying on teachers, mentors, and friends for support, and 3) pursuing research topics that are personally interesting, regardless of the current trends.  In the interactive portion of the workshop, participants worked with partners to describe their ideal career paths, three “super powers,” and fears.  They also brainstormed measurable ways to work on overcoming their fears and self-doubt every day.  The workshop reinforced the general themes of GHC, offering insightful advice and building up a supportive community of women in technology.