New Website

Welcome! Please check out www.charnaparkey.com I've migrated my blog over to this domain.

 

Why we need men at GHC

As the percentage of women in STEM fields fluctuates we have not yet reached 50%. In particular the number of women in positions of mentoring, sponsorship, and decision making roles are even lower than women entering these fields and so we have this many to one connection that becomes over stressed. We must be willing to train men and women how to mentor and sponsor women in tech, and as women we must be willing to utilize all of our resources including the amazing men we work with.

Men as well as women have a role to play in increasing the numbers of women in tech. Why? Not because the have mothers, daughters, girlfriends, or friends that are girls in tech but because there should be equal numbers! Any situation with an inequality needs to be rectified, and we should not assume the only reason they would help is because a female is asking them to. One last introductory point and then we can get into some details. Sometimes our voices (women's voices) can be lost in the noise, bogged down in media, and if we need help until we are equally heard, then we need help. These two points were well made in a recent podcast, though the main topic was about the psychology of persuasion, women in tech and the website www.getraised.com that helps close the gender pay gap were also discussed.

While at GHC13 I've asked nearly every male I came in contact with about their experience at GHC. Time constraints limited me from asking a few but hopefully you will receive an email from me about this, and if you are a man reading this right now and attended this year or in years past please reach out to me, lets talk.

First thank you to every man who attended GHC13, I for one believe we need men to attend. There have been points made by a few women I spoke with that there must be some maximum percentage that would be best because just as some men aren't comfortable discussing these issues with women in the room, some women aren't comfortable speaking up with men in the room. I disagree, every male who wants to attend in support of women in computing, is willing to take part in the discussion and wants to understand the problems we face and how to overcome them should attend. Take a few minutes later to listen to The Broad Experience Episode 20: The Man Show. Where three men and a woman discuss a few of these issues. Did you know that there is a group for Men Advocating Real Change (MARC) in this arena? Check it out and share with some of your male colleagues.

You might say, but eventually the conference will change! Exactly. As the field we are in changes, our experiences and issues will change, and this Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing should change to reflect the changing culture.

For now, back to the present. In one particular discussion I had at GHC13, there were three women and one man, we discussed how each of us felt when we saw him at the conference and how he felt in different situations. Remarkably even though we were all strangers to each other  after a few minutes of talking we could be honest and open about this topic. I believe this is in part because of the personalities we had present, but also because no one was on the defense or offense, GHC is the one place I've found that creates an environment that makes honest discussion possible. Not once have I started this discussion with men at GHC and regretted it.

We had varying ages and experience levels present as well as varying backgrounds. The two other ladies  and gentleman at the table were attending their first GHC. This was my 5th year attending and 6th year volunteering. For me it was great to see a handful of new male faces participating in sessions and giving talks as well as mixing with attendees and mentoring. For the other two women, they were hesitant at first, wanting to know why there were men here at all.

Most first timers to GHC are under the misconception that this is a women only conference, it is not, this is a Celebration of (not for) Women in Computing. In years past, and in this years sessions you will find male and female speakers in the program. This is incredibly useful, we cannot have a balanced discussion about equality in the work place with out all parties represented. For some attendees this is the first time they have been in a conversation about women in computing. Having a female majority experiencing the same biases they do is very useful, but it is just as useful to see that there are men willing to address the issues we face.

But how do we remove the stigma of men attending just as an attendee. I've heard from men that it is easier to answer the question why are you here when they can say "I am a speaker", or "I am a recruiter", or "my girlfriend/advisor/wife asked me to come" when the real answer is they support women in tech and attended to help advance the status of women in tech and celebrate women in computing. For me, and I believe most veteran attendees, this answer is a good one, but for some it is suspicious.

How do we make it easier for men who want to support us to attend, contribute, and grow? Just as we have women ABI Ambassadors whose job it is to bring the opportunities available to women back to their universities and organizations, we need a male ambassador group. What would they do? Attend sessions, take part in the discussion, take part in the solutions, learn from the sessions and bring back their experiences to their companies and networks! Be a point of contact for ABI to pass along opportunities to others. How do we make this possible? Well I'm working on it with the help of ABI and a few volunteers, so if you are interested leave a comment or contact me directly.


I will close with one last thought. By being in attendance these men are giving us permission to start these discussions. They most certainly aren't going to attend GHC and expect NOT to talk about obstacles for women in computing. The definition of feminism is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. This is a genderless word; as such feminist is also a genderless word. We all have unconscious biases, but we can consciously choose to work towards equal rights and opportunities, part of the goal of a conference like GHC is to provide a safe environment for addressing these issues, let's address them together.

GHC13: Asking for a raise and getting it

This talk by Matt Wallaert, Behavioral Psycologist with Bing at Microsoft, was the third in the session Lightning Talks on Career.  The session started first with Sabrina Williams from Google giving some pointers on “Nailing Your Technical Interview”, see her blog here and the wiki notes if you missed it. Then we heard from Ketki Warudkar from Box on “Thinking Big While You’re Young”. These two very useful topics targeted the audience members just starting out, unsure of how to interview well and how to start making decisions on your career path, a perfect lead in to those who currently have jobs and are probably underpaid due to the gender wage gap quoted as around 30%.

For just the note/facts from “Asking for a raise and getting it”, see the session notes on the wiki. 

The message here is important, if we start and continue our careers by being underpaid it is very difficult to close the wage gap. As Matt informs us, even if we stop eating, not stop eating out but stop eating that would not make up for the difference in salary we make in a year. See Matt discuss this here. Once you accept your incoming salary to a company all of your raises are based on a percentage of that number to increase. 

How do we know what we are worth, go to www.getraised.com, it is free.  Here you can find out based upon your title and contributions to your company, prior and future, what you should be paid based upon people in your geographical area with similar titles.

Get Raised was founded in 2010 by Matt Wallaert and Avi Karnani and has continued with the support of a few companies and team of people to bring its current incarnation to us. They have created a salary engine that is based upon government data, user information, and current job postings to narrow the wage gap and help people get paid what they are worth.

So, what if you are underpaid? The site will help you construct a raise request that maximizes your chance of getting a raise.

Raises are not about emotions or about what you want they are about value to the company. You can’t just walk in and ask for a 20% raise the answer will likely be no, the inflection point is 12%, the most successful request is 8%. Maximize the likelihood.

How has it worked for users so far? 72% of women who have used the service have successfully gotten a raise on average of >$6500. This is a big deal, integrate this over the life time of these women and you are talking millions of dollars.

Do you know what you are worth?

Are you afraid to ask for a raise?

Even if you know what you are worth, I believe we should all head on over and use the site, because I for one want everyone to be paid what they are worth and if www.getraised.com uses user data then we should all be putting our information in and giving more data points. Many companies discourage sharing what you are paid with co-workers; some even come right out and say when they give you a raise that it’s in your best interest not to talk about it citing at work jealousy as a reason.

Let’s be as brave as the women who are using this tool to ask for a raise! Watch this 5 minute video where Matt talk about this here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efvg1yamYN8 and take a few minutes to pass along this message. As of this posting, this video only has 67 views, let’s change that. I have seen our online community come together and address things on the internet that shouldn’t be happening, lets watch this video and use this tool, lets close the gap!

 In closing here are a few reactions to the site and talk via twitter. Please leave a comment if you went over to the site, I did and I will write a blog on my experience later.

hey Matt Wallaert, hilarious. transformational. u are amazing, thank u :) @ghc career lightening talks aud 2.
— Bobbilee (@bobbilee19) October 4, 2013

Matt Wallaert: a request for an 8% raise is most successful. A 12% raise request is the inflection point, so don't ask more than that. #GHC
— Stacy Branham (@Branhammertime) October 4, 2013

Matt Wallaert: No one ever gets fired when asking for a raise. #GHC
— Stacy Branham (@Branhammertime) October 4, 2013

Want to learn more about how GetRaised works, and what it does? Cofounder Matt Wallaert talks about it in this video. http://t.co/JdEKbKn2D7
— GetRaised (@GetRaised) June 6, 2013

Matt turns out to be behind a bunch of impressive things; Bing for Schools & the awesome http://t.co/9iW1KvuDHc site http://t.co/xd4cSe7U3G
— Mary Branscombe (@marypcbuk) October 11, 2013

Preparing for Grace Hopper Celebration 2013

In the past few months we’ve all been gearing up for GHC 13 with session proposals, papers and posters. Then scholarship applications and early bird registration which ends today! So what’s left?

1. Secure Funding

-If you have yet to secure all of the funding you need to attend, now is the time to do so. First take a minute to read Kate’s latestblog on how she has found funding in previous years. 

-If you have funding for travel expenses including airfare and hotel but still need registration: Apply to be a Hopper, applications arenow open.. Hoppers are volunteers who work at the conference in exchange for free conference registration. You will be scheduled for 8 hours of volunteer time in one or multiple of the following activities: checking badges, assisting registration, and helping with sessions and conference activities. Shifts are available between October 2-5, 2013

2. Participate in Pre-Conference Activities

-The online communities are already alive with conversation about the conference, take a moment to join the discussions and networking through your favorite social network to meet attendees before you arrive, a list of places to connect can be found here.

-Soon the Communities committee will put out a call for official volunteer bloggers and note takers. The application will be open during the month of August and you will have the chance to get involved and increase readership of your own blog. Stay tuned for more information on this. (Psst. This year we will even be looking for some video bloggers to apply, which will give you the opportunity to interview and talk with many interesting people at GHC13.)

-Up load your resume to the resume database here where 110 sponsors will review it before the conference and may schedule a meeting with you in advance!

3. Plan your session schedule

The session schedule is up! Check out all the great professional development topics as well as technical papers being presented here.

 

It’s a good idea to make a plan before you arrive, especially if you intend on applying to be a hopper or a official note taker or blogger. Knowing the sessions you don’t want to miss can be to your advantage when scheduling your volunteer time.

Until next time,

Charna Parkey

Co-Chair, GHC 13 Communities Committee

How to Edit the GHC Wiki

Will you be attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2012? Are you already going to be taking notes or blogging about the sessions you attend?

If you answered yes to these questions then consider signing up to post your notes or blogs for the sessions you are interested in. Here's how to sign up, it's super easy:

1. Fill out the volunteer application, indicate your interest in wiki note taking.
2. A Communities Committee member will contact you confirming your interest.
3. Head over to our wiki and create an account if you do not already have one.
4. If your account does not automatically work don't worry, it may not have been approved yet.
5. When you can log in. Fill out your user profile by talking about what communities you plan on being involved in, see mine or Valeries for an example.
6. Head back on over to the wiki page and click edit on the day that you wish to sign up for a session.
7. Replace the Sign Up text with your name linking to your profile in the correct cell of the table for the session you wish to blog or take notes on. (Here is an example of how to link to your profile page [[User:Bubbva|Valerie]] replace Bubbava with your user name and Valerie with your name)
8. It is a good idea to preview your changes before saving them

And Voila! you are all signed up. We need to get as many of the sessions covered as possible so please take some time to figure out your schedule before the conference and sign up.

In order to give you an idea of what we are looking for, Note-takers will add their notes directly on the wiki using the wiki markup language, and these should be factual notes of what was actually said in the session. Bloggers will blog on their own blogs anything they like and edit the session wiki page to link to their blog from their.

If you do sign up, be sure to post your notes as soon as possible after the session because we have many followers who are not able to make it to this years GHC and we want to keep them well fed with new and updated content as the conference goes on.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Using Twitter at #GHC12

Love tweeting? Do it at #GHC12! 

New to twitter? Join now to get up to date information and connect with attendees of the conference, get live updates and answers to your questions at the conference and keep in contact with all of your new contacts after heading home.

The aim of this post is to give a few tips about using twitter in conjunction with the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2012. This year we've decided (the communities committee) to make some hash tags for use along with the #ghc12 tag. We have so many wonderful sessions that it would be hard to follow a discussion on for example the leadership track of session. 

So here is what you do to participate:

• Have a general question or comment about GHC12? Just append #ghc12 to your tweet
• Are you the author or panelist of a session in one of the track and you want to publicize it before the conference? append #ghc12 as well as the track hash tag found in the table below, ie #sec
• You are an attendee and you want to follow the updates on a certain track? Do a search on #ghc12 and the track i.e., #sec and save your search to easily access it later
• Just wanna talk about a specific track or topic, you've got the hang of it now, just append #ghc12 and the track hash tag i.e. #sec to your tweet!

What else should you know?

• Join the attendees list by sending a tweet to @ghc 
• Get official tweets by following @ghc

Opensource	#opensource
Women of Underrepresented Groups Track	#wurg
Security Track	#sec
PhD Forum	#phd
New Investigators	#new
Leadership Workshop	#ldr
Career Development	#career
CRA-W tracks	#craw
Senior Women’s Summit	#senior
Invited Technical Speakers	#tech
Academic	#acad
Industry	#inds
Social Collaboration	#soc
Theme	#theme
Students	#student
Steering	#steer
Technical Executive Forum	#techexec
BoFs	#bof
Award Winners	#award
K-12	#k12
Keynotes	None

CECS Polo Shirt Sales Return as Fundraiser

Purchase a polo shirt to show your CECS pride and support students! CECS polo shirts are for sale now through Sept. 14 for $36. Men’s and women’s sizes are available. Pre-sales are required and proceeds will benefit the CECS Senior Design Project Fund. The Senior Design Fund provides financial grants for Senior Design Groups to help them purchase equipment and supplies necessary to develop innovative project proposals, conduct design analysis, and build prototypes.

Please note, we are unable to ship polo shirts. Shirts will be available for pick-up on campus at the Harris Engineering Center and at various CECS alumni events. For more information and to purchase your 2012 CECS polo shirt, visit https://www.ucfknightsnetwork.com/cecspolos2012.