Paving the way for women in STEM/computing

December 14, 2017

Janine Jay '18 competes in a hackathon

Software engineering major Janine Jay '18 was ecstatic to learn that she had won the prestigious Anita Borg Scholarship. It enabled her to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration, the world's largest conference for women in computing, and network with peers from all over the world.

The scholarship paid for Jay's travel and expenses, and gave her full freedom to explore everything the conference offered — including lectures, workshops and panels on a range of different technology topics. She attended discussions with prominent speakers, such as Melinda Gates and Goldiblox founder and CEO Debbie Sterling, and took advantage of a career fair that brought representatives from all of the top companies in the technology industry.

"Where else would I be able to talk one-on-one with recruiters and developers from Google, Facebook and IBM?" she asked.

For Jay, the conference reinforced her conviction to enter the world of technology and ascend the ladder of influence. She said she's confident it can do the same for other female computing students.

"I am determined to get other students to attend this conference every year," Jay said. "It will instill the confidence they need to dive head first into this industry."

"It was so amazing to be in a crowd of 18,000 female programmers," she said.

Software Engineering

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