#OddWomanOut: Be The Change You Wish To See

It started a few semesters ago, when I was tutoring for Programs for Education Enrichment and Retention (PEER) in Clemson. I had about three to four girls from the Computer Science department regularly showing up to be tutored, but they never showed up at the same time and when I finally asked, they didn't know each other at all. Ironically, all of them were first year, first semester C.S. students in CS 101 and they all felt "alone" in their classes. They each described feeling out of place amongst the guys in their classes. Each of them was brand new to C.S. and felt lacking amongst classmates that had been programming since the beginning of high school. In summary, they felt #OddWomanOut.

I've said those words a few times, between the math department and the C.S. department, #OddWomanOut could be the story of my life. I felt bad that so many factors external to the information itself were pushing them away from the field. I wanted them to meet each other to realize that they weren't alone, become friends, and graduate as computer scientists! I thought, what if we had an organization that facilitated introducing these incoming freshman to each other? What if we had an organization that would unite women in each level of the program, from freshman to senior to PhD student for support, academic progress, professional advice, and social bonding? I brought this point up to the director of the Clemson's program and she told me I should look into the Association for Computing Machinery-Women (ACM-W). I knew about ACM, but I didn't know they had an organization dedicated to promoting women in computing fields. The chance to join a professional organization and implement these ideas sounded like everything I could ask for.

Well, life may have led me away from Clemson, but it wasn't able to make me forget what I'd learned. All it took as another #OddWomanOut moment at my first conference to remind me I owed it to the next set of freshman girls to get this idea rolling. I talked to my advisor and he was just as passionate about implementing my idea as I was. So, the introvert who prefers to be behind the computer screen went knocking on lab doors, emailing the entire Computer Science and Engineering female list-serv, personally introducing myself to random girls in the department and started an ACM-W here at Florida Atlantic University.

ACM-W @ Florida Atlantic University

Not only did I find a bunch of women who were equally excited about fostering an environment that was conducive to women succeeding in the field, but as a group we were instantly able to build upon that basic principle to grow the ideas of the organization into both short term and long term goals. Every time one of the members stops by to suggest an event or just say hi, I get excited all over again because I can see that before having a single event, just meeting the other women we had no idea were in the department with us has already made a difference. There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing the members of the organization excited!


They're excited. I'm excited. It's a great time to be a woman in computing. We're officially trashing the odd woman out hashtag and ready to start a new era! #WomenInComputingUnited?—alright coming up with catchy hashtags is not my thing... I'll come back to that. Meanwhile, like us on Facebook, or start your own chapter at your school.