Report: Grace Hopper Conference 2010

Getting the email saying I could go to Atlanta for GHC was a godsend. After listening to how Reena went on and on about how amazing it was and how I should definitely apply for the scholarship, I was over the moon to actually get in.

The schedule was jam-packed with lots of very interesting events. The conference opened with the Career Fair and Sponsor Exhibits; I thought it was a goldmine for the University of Southampton, and ECS in particular, to set up shop there. Most the exhibitors were from the US, and we were the only UK presence in the whole conference. We certainly fielded many queries on whether we were from Southampton, NY as opposed to Southampton, UK, but I saw that as an unmissable opportunity to sell our courses to these really eager and bright computer scientists. I think our biggest selling point that seemed really attractive was how you could get a PhD after only 3 years, without any preliminary coursework, as opposed to the normal 4-6 years that a US PhD would take. I'm sure we would get more admission enquiries from these girls at some point in the future.

There was a one-to-one resume clinic which I attended, and I found the advice given by the lady I talked to - a senior official in a US college - highly invaluable. She opened my eyes to the possibility of me branching out to work in the US. So much so that when I went to a renowned company to ask about any internship positions, I was actually whisked away to be interviewed by one of their vice presidents! I didn't realize who she was at the time, but afterwards I couldn't believe how fortunate I was to have such a huge opportunity like that. I'm still waiting to hear from them, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I learned so many different things while I was attending the multitude of seminars and plenary sessions they had lined up, but several takeaways that I've come to treasure is the importance of networking in order to advance your career, and how you should have more faith in your research work, no matter how bad it may seem to you at the time (because it might just be in your head!). I felt this overwhelming sense of confidence building up in me the more I attended these talks; I felt my confidence peaking during a Birds of a Feather session when I was actually glad to be holding the microphone!

To add icing to the cake, I won myself a Microsoft Zune!

For me, the magic of GHC lies ultimately in the fact that when we were there, there weren't any majorly visible file and rank system going on; everybody could talk to everybody and you could talk about anything from the smallest of trivia to the biggest problems of the world. Of course there's also the amazing dancing and partying, but I hold strongly that what happens in Atlanta stays in Atlanta. As Cyndi Lauper would say, "girls just wanna have fun."

I am immensely thankful to ECS and the Anita Borg Institute for allowing me this priceless experience.

I can understand why the value of such a conference could be lost on our male colleagues. Surely if there's a conference that promotes - no wait, celebrates - the female presence in computing, then wouldn't it be fair to have a conference celebrating males in computing? At that point, if we're celebrating both males and females, wouldn't it be more cost effective to just not run any celebrating at all and just cancel each other out?

I would argue that it all boils down to the difference between men and women. Yes, it may sound cliché, but women are more likely to find utility in sitting together in large groups and discussing amongst ourselves about the trials and tribulations of life as a postgraduate student, or how difficult it is to break the glass ceiling. It's just how women work. The book "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" may not qualify as a credible academic resource, but some of its claims seem to make sense. When women have problems, or seek validation, we talk about it, and when we find other people listening and commiserating with us, we find that uplifting and motivational. This is the opposite of what the book claims to be the male mentality of turning inwards into their internal `caves' to fix their problems themselves. So with this perspective, it sort of makes sense to continue running (and attending!) a conference that celebrates women in computing.

One lingering thought amongst us girls was how badly we all wanted to go to GHC again, this time next year in Portland, OR. But we all knew how tight funding is going to be next year, and how lucky we all were for actually getting funded for Atlanta in the first place. Considering that out of all the 2009 alumni of GHC scholarship recipients, only one of them survived to go on to Atlanta, I knew it was going to be tough, so I told the girls the only thing I could think of.

"Good luck girls, may the best girl win."