{"id":244,"date":"2014-11-15T09:30:39","date_gmt":"2014-11-15T14:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/?p=240"},"modified":"2014-11-15T09:30:39","modified_gmt":"2014-11-15T14:30:39","slug":"students-start-group-bowdoin-women-computing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/2014\/11\/15\/students-start-group-bowdoin-women-computing\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Start Group for Bowdoin Women in Computing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Madeline<\/a>

Madeline Bustamante \u201917, left, and Grace Handler \u201917<\/p><\/div>\n

In their 101 computer science class last fall, Madeline Bustamante and Grace Handler, both sophomores this year, were surrounded by young men. In the spring semester, when they took Data Structures, a second-level computer science course, there were just three other women in the class.<\/p>\n

Bustamante and Handler said they had expected to encounter more women at Bowdoin who, like them, were passionate about coding. Both attended all-girls high schools and both were involved in robotics teams. So they were accustomed to interacting with female peers who shared their interests.<\/p>\n

As the two discussed the issue last year, they realized they had fallen into computer science a bit by chance. Handler had a friend whose father, after hearing that Handler enjoyed math, told her about an all-girls high school robotics team at Carnegie Mellon University. She joined the team. Bustamante\u2019s parents enrolled her in a computer science class when she was in seventh grade. After that, she was hooked.<\/p>\n

The two friends decided they wanted to provide more opportunities\u00a0for women at Bowdoin to discover computer science. \u201cWe are trying to pull people into computer science so they can experience how we felt,\u201d Bustamante said.\u00a0This fall, they formed the student group Bowdoin Women in Computer Science. So far, more than 30\u00a0students have signed up.<\/p>\n

Computer science \u201cremains one of the disciplines with the fewest number of women,\u201d pointed out\u00a0Associate Professor of Computer Science Laura Toma. And while numbers of female computer science undergraduates are low across the country, \u201cthe numbers get worse if we look higher up, at\u00a0grad school, academia and senior management levels,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

However, Toma said that Bowdoin\u2019s computer science department has in the past few years seen a steady increase in enrollments. This year, 12 women are majors; five are minors. And she thinks Bowdoin Women in Computer Science can make even more of a difference. \u201cWhat I see in computer science is that women tend to be less confident and worry more about what they don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving a network to provide support and perspective for CS women can make the world of a difference \u2014 in retention, in the general atmosphere in classes and in the department \u2014 but also beyond, in the career options considered by women after Bowdoin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The College has received funding from donors that will allow the computer science department to send students to next year\u2019s Grace Hopper Celebration, an annual event in Phoenix, Ariz., for women in computing.<\/p>\n

Bowdoin Women in Computer Science has two main goals. One is to encourage more women to take entry-level computer\u00a0classes. The other goal is to support female students already majoring or minoring in the department and to increase their chances in finding\u00a0technology jobs.<\/p>\n

To accomplish the first objective, Bustamante and Handler are asking more experienced members in the club to serve as mentors for women with less experience. One member, Gabby\u00a0Grandin \u201915 already\u00a0hosts\u00a0a weekly study group, with snacks. And the club is\u00a0planning a panel of female computer science majors\u00a0aimed at first years and sophomores. These advanced students will speak about different courses in the computer science\u00a0department and what they offer.<\/p>\n

For the established computer science\u00a0students, Bustamante and Handler said they want to offer a training workshop for technical interviewing. Interviews for programming,\u00a0software development or other computer-related jobs often\u00a0require applicants to solve a\u00a0computer problem on the spot. This is done via Google docs where interviewers can watch the applicant\u2019s thought process live, which, Handler noted, can be a harrowing ordeal.<\/p>\n

Bustamante and Handler also want to connect with more alumni \u2014 particularly alumnae \u2014 who are working in technology. They are collaborating with Career Planning to stay informed about\u00a0graduates who come to campus who either work in technology or work for an interesting company with a robust technology department. \u201cI know there is a push by some students who would like to be more aware of alumni who work for arts companies or nonprofits that have tech sectors,\u201d Handler said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just Google everyone is interested in.\u201d<\/p>\n

As sophomores, Bustamante and Handler have not yet declared their majors, but it\u2019s clear what they will focus on. \u201cThe feeling of getting a code to run is the best feeling,\u201d Bustamante said. \u201cIt\u2019s a totally different way of thinking; it\u2019s algorithmic. You have to do this, and then this, and this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also creative,\u201d Handler added. \u201cA lot of the times sitting in class, it doesn\u2019t feel like a class because we\u2019re working on a project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing Bustamante\u2019s love of that eureka moment, Handler described having a \u201cjoyous moment\u201d recently when she got her code to run for a lexical analyzer that will become part of a compiler (no, normal people aren\u2019t expected to know what this means). She shrieked with delight in her dorm. Her non-computer science\u00a0friends thought she had finished a paper; they couldn\u2019t understand why she was so excited about a mere code. \u201cThe second you get your code to run,\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s so special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Originally published on Bowdoin News
\nhttp:\/\/community.bowdoin.edu\/news\/2014\/10\/students-launch-bowdoin-women-in-computing-group\/<\/a>
\nOctober 8, 2014 by Rebecca Goldfine<\/span><\/span>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In their 101 computer science class last fall, Madeline Bustamante and Grace Handler, both sophomores this year, were surrounded by young men. In the spring semester, when they took Data Structures, a second-level computer science course, there were just three other women in the class. Bustamante and Handler said they had expected to encounter more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.bowdoin.edu\/bowdoin-women-in-computer-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}