Reach Out! How to Reach Students in the 21st Century
Communicating the Reality of IT
Information technology is a vast and rich field, however we lack the
diversity that is needed to be truly innovative. One of the biggest
problems is the gender gap. It is a two-fold problem: often women do not
feel comfortable or capable of having a successful career in
information technology, and society as a whole does not accept them
in this role. It is a large problem that we need to find ways to fix
for the future of technology.
At Indiana University, we believe that one way we can improve the situation is to do
outreach. In this talk, we hope to inspire you to create an exciting
and innovative outreach program of your own. We will show you why we
think outreach is important, how we do it at IU, and how you can get
your own program going!
SAMANTHA FOLEY
is a second year Ph.D. student in computer science at
Indiana University where she is studying scientific computing. She
earned her B.S. in computer science from SUNY Fredonia in 2004.
Samantha is involved in the various outreach activities that the Women
in Computing (WIC@IU) group at Indiana University has created. She is
the 2006-2007 chair of the K-12 outreach program,
Just Be.
JENNIFER FRANKO
is a Ph.D. student in mathematics at Indiana University
were she is studying quantum computing and knot theory. She recieved
her B.S. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her M.A. from
Indiana University. She is a member of the Women in Computing group
(WIC@IU)
and a frequent
presenter for Just Be, the
K-12 outreach program developed at Indiana University.