Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) Scholarship Program

Anita Borg Institute For Women And Technology, Oak Park IL

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides funding for approximately one hundred undergraduate and graduate students to attend the 2015 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC), an annual conference focused on the needs of technical women in computing. It brings research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront in order to encourage and support women to pursue, remain, and advance in computing. NSF scholarship support allows students who could not otherwise attend to participate and to become part of the larger community of computing professionals that is cultivated at the conference. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the access to the many technical presentations and researchers at GHC. The conference exposes students to a wide range of leading edge scientists, researchers, and visionaries from industry and academia who serve as role models and mentors. It showcases participants' technical success and provides a forum for exploration of the frontiers of the discipline and a dialogue between students and leading practitioners and researchers while offering opportunities for professional development. Past GHC conferences have been shown to break down the barriers to women pursuing careers in computing. The broader impacts of students participating in this conference include: increased student intention to remain in computing and pursue higher studies; broadening of attendees' knowledge of technical fields; breaking the feelings of isolation common among women in computing disciplines; and instilling confidence to pursue computing careers. This travel scholarship support provides a unique opportunity to directly affect the careers of future computer scientists and meet the challenge of broadening participation in computing.