Unlocking the Clubhouse for Women in Computing

I spoke at the most recent book club session put on by Carleton's IEEE-WIE, WIL, and CU-WISE.  At these sessions, attendees don't need to have read the book; rather, the presenter discusses what a particular book was about and why everyone should read it.  I chose to present Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher.

As part of my preparation, I went through the book and collected what I felt were the key quotes (I had actually read it the first time a long time ago).  It was amazing to see how much of what we do with CU-WISE is supported by the research in the book.  I'm sure I got many of my ideas from this source, but had forgotten where it came from.  Now I can point to it when I need to justify how some of our money is spent.

It was also invigorating to talk about what I wish I had time to do with regard to supporting local teachers in including computer science in their curriculum, improving computer science classes in high schools, and simply recruiting more girls into these classes.  Maybe one day I'll be able to concentrate more fully on that.

In addition to a handout that I made for attendees (see below), I put my notes together in a document that I am now sharing publicly.  I also included my own list of resources at the end.  I recommend taking a look, especially if you would like to see a shorter version of what we need to do to get more women into computing.  (If you're really short on time, focus on chapters seven and eight).  You might also be interested in the write-up I did about a talk on outreach by NCWIT at Grace Hopper.

[My notes on Unlocking the Clubhouse]