Ruth Suarez (SCIS Academic Advisor), Cristy Charters (SCIS Instructor), Amy Renshaw (Code/Art Co-founder and President), Alejandra Massuh (WICS Student Organization President), and Darlene Holland (Chemistry and Coding Educator) acted as panelists during yesterday’s Women in CS Panel event. Their contribution was invaluable. The Girls Who Code national administration gives a lot of importance to this event because out of about 80 summer immersion programs that run during the summer nationwide, and which collectively reach above 1500 high school girls, very few programs expose the participants to an event like the Women in CS Panel event we had at FIU, where 60 participants hosted at three different institutions meet at a single location to network and discuss current issues on their career interests. The discussion centered around workplace changes necessary to better serve women in CS, women’s role in the family and society, different sub-fields and types of positions in CS/IT, and leveraging social media to alleviate challenges.
“It was a fulfilling and rewarding time spent interacting with GWC participants, encouraging them to pursue their passion in Computer Science/IT, and sharing tips on how to overcome challenges that may occur along the way. It is very beneficial to foster a network of women in CS/IT, a sisterhood of support, to provide advice and encouragement to one another.”
Panelist Cristy Charters
“For the participants, it was really empowering seeing a diverse panel of women in tech.”
Sara Saleem, FIU Girls Who Code Instructor
