Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS)

University Corporation For Atmospheric Res, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

The Women in IT (Information Technology) Networking at SuperComputing (SC) (WINS) program seeks to address the prevalent gender gap that exists in IT, particularly in the fields of network engineering and high performance computing (HPC). The project's goal is to establish a sustainable workforce development program giving U.S. women professionals in the network and software engineering fields the opportunity to gain substantial hands-on expertise while developing business and mentoring relationships with global leaders in the field. The project provides travel support for a total of fifteen qualified female U.S. candidates - five early to mid-career participants per year for three years. The support allows the participants to join the SCinet workforce for the conference years SC16, SC17, and SC18. SCinet is a world-class research and education enterprise network engineered and built exclusively for annual Supercomputing (SC) events. SCinet pushes the boundaries of both production and experimental networking, offering its designers and engineers a unique challenge and experience. Support is also provided to enable participants to attend a follow-on meeting to further expand their professional network, raise awareness of the WINS program and diversity issues, and report on their experiences resulting from participating in the program. The program builds upon the success of the Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS) pilot program introduced in November 2015 at the SC15 conference in Austin, Texas. WINS is a joint effort between the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER), and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). From the intellectual merit perspective, the WINS program is a concentrated effort to create a highly impactful training and solution for female participants who have the desire to build expertise and continue their education and careers in network and computer systems. By working with SCinet and the SC conference, WINS is taking advantage of a well-established community event with a 25+ year track record of helping networking and HPC professionals build their careers. WINS allows more women to tap into this deep well of resources in a very deliberate, outcome-oriented fashion. The broader impact of the program is to help build a more diverse workforce by providing growth opportunities for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career areas and to retaining qualified women in the IT field while growing mentors and role models for future generations. The cross-organizational collaboration provides a broad and expansive platform for a national impact. This program is a critical component to providing a strong and diverse IT workforce to bolster U.S. international competitiveness.