Do you know how it feels to be a woman in computer science? I’ve tried to explain how it feels to be a woman in CS to people who are within the IT industry, and those who are not. But I still haven’t been able to articulate the feeling very well. I just know that it’s very frustrating — and it can sometimes be summarized with: “it sucks to be a girl in CS”.
I just came across this blog post by Nicole Sullivan.
For those guys that complain about computer science scholarships that are tailored for women only. For those of you who have said “who’s sexist now?” when I tell you about computer science girl camps we hold on campus, please read the blog post. Here it is again.
Thank you, Nicole.
Don’t get me wrong — I love what I do and I can’t think of another career that I would be happier with. Even if I could go back in time and pick again, I’d still make the same choices. But boy, is it a tough one.
My friend Lori just tweeted about this article found in today’s Metro, and I can’t help but share it on my blog as well.
A few quotes by an assistant engineering professor at the Dalhousie University, taken from the article:
“That’s probably one of the biggest problems we have in engineering. It’s catch-22: There aren’t a lot of women in engineering and to attract more women to engineering, we need more women in engineering,” she says. “I think any opportunity we have to put that thought in girls’ heads is a good thing.” — Corinne MacDonald
Female role models, even plastic ones, help young women visualize themselves as engineers, she says. — Corinne MacDonald
Both of the ladies interviewed in this article pointed out that they never had “female engineering role models” to look up to. Unfortunately, I think this is still the case. But considering how Barbie’s 125th career is now a computer engineer, I think this is a good start! And it’s good to know that more and more people are becoming aware of all the opportunities in the computer/IT industry, and how they aren’t just for men.
But yeah, just a thought I wanted to share. :)
Google has started accepting applications for Google Summer of Code 2010! Get your proposals ready and submitted before April 9, 2010 (19:00 UTC)!!
As some of you may know, I participated in Google Summer of Code 2008. And the project I worked on is called Cytoscape. So if any of you are interested in this project, here are a few links:
Google Summer of Code 2010 — GenMAPP, Cytoscape, WikiPathways & Reactome
For those of you who are interested in working on the project idea I worked on two years ago, it’s this one:
IDEA 16: Automatic (Smart) Node and Edge Label Layout
Cytoscape currently has a large number of layout algorithms that place nodes according to various criteria. However, a common problem with all of these layout algorithms is that node and edge labels are not accounted for in the aesthetic criteria of the algorithm. This means that labels frequently end up in awkward locations which are hard to read, overlap or obscure other labels, and otherwise don’t look quite right. As a consequence, users are frequently forced to adjust the position of labels s, which is a time consuming and tedious process. To fix this, we propose developing a layout algorithm for labels. Perhaps this algorithm could be integrated with a normal layout algorithm, or perhaps it could be a subsequent step that lays the labels out in an intelligent fashion once the nodes have been placed. Some work has been done on this, but more layouts are needed.
Language and Skills: Java, graph layout algorithms
Idea by: Mike Smoot
Potential Mentors: Ruth Isserlin, Gary Bader
My blog posts that are related to this project can be found here.
The MarkUs Dashboard has been left empty for a while now. So as part of my UI/UX role this term, I’ve came up with a new design for it! Here it is:
MarkUs: Dashboard Prototype
Feedback:
- Karen: Instructors often like to know the assignment average as a fraction in addition to the percentage.
New Format: “Assignment Average: 70/100 (70%)” — for example
Please visit our MarkUs project blog here if you have any questions/comments/concerns, and leave a comment!
Short update on the MarkUs UI/UX design work
After finishing the prototypes for the grader assignment view, I moved on to re-designing the group formation tab. Here are some prototypes:
Group Formation: Adding a student to a group
Group Formation: Removing a student from an existing group
Group Formation: Filtering -- Only show valid group formations
Group Formation: Filtering -- Only show invalid group formations
They can also be found on the MarkUs project blog here. These prototypes will be used in a simple usability session this week, and I will be reworking these prototypes according to the usability feedback we get from the session. More updates to come! :D
