Communications of the ACM
Hacking Their Way to Gender Equality
About 60 women participated in the 2014 International Women's Hackathon, which was held on the campus of California State University San Marcos.
Credit: Justin Van Bibber
About 60 high school and college-age women recently participated in the 2014 International Women's Hackathon on the campus of California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). The participants worked in teams to create, in a single day, a website, app, or video game that addressed either disaster response or climate change.
The hackathon also aimed to encourage other young women to pursue computer science at a time when the technology sector has come under fire for its dearth of gender and racial diversity. The hackathon was marked by cooperation, an exchanging of ideas, and occasional words of praise.
Learning in a nurturing environment that promotes creativity is why all-female events are important, says CSUSM professor Youwen Ouyang. She says other hackathons are more competitive and have cash prizes of more than $10,000, but these can be intimidating to many aspiring female programmers. "We're here to promote women in this field, so it's all about working together, and not being so competitive with others," says Palomar College student Julia Yang.
Still, being personally competitive is important, says Mater Dei Catholic High School Science Academy director Suzanne Till.
From San Diego Union-Tribune
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Abstracts Copyright © 2014 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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