When Roesha Nigos began as a freshman engineering student at Texas A&M University, she knew she wanted to study engineering but wasn’t sure what to major in. When she decided computing was for her, she was told that she would never thrive in a computing environment, but despite those comments, she persisted.
Now as a junior computer science engineering student, she had the opportunity in October 2018 to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration in Houston, an annual international conference targeted at women in computer science that hosts a career fair, as well as presentations and technical workshops from leaders in industry. For Nigos, the experience provided her with a likeminded community of engineers she could turn to when she felt limited.
“Grace Hopper was the turning point in my road to computing,” Nigos said. “This community is exactly what I need in times of doubt and uncertainty. These were the people I could turn to when a programming assignment is defeating me or my internship projects seem to go nowhere.”
One of the many benefits of the conference is the networking and community focus outlined by Nigos, bringing women together to discuss and learn in an industry that is typically male dominated. More than 20,000 people attended the conference in 2018, with 70 students, 19 of which were male, attending on behalf of Texas A&M University.
“Ten percent of the students we give scholarships to are males in order to better prepare them for roles in industry and to give them a better idea of how to attract and retain women in computing,” said Dr. Dilma Da Silva, department head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M. “Many of our students are in the situation of taking classes containing 100 students and maybe two are women. It is very different for these men to be in the opposite situation where everyone is mostly women and it gives them an understanding of what it is like to be a woman in this industry.”
The department is able to support students with scholarships to the conference thanks in part to assistance from General Motors Inc. By sending these students to the conference, the department hopes to inspire students by successful engineers in industry and also help them make career connections.
“I learned so much in terms of technical skills, how to deal with specific challenges in my career, and interviewing and networking skills,” said Lilly Maxwell, a senior computer science and engineering student. “The Grace Hopper conference opened up so many windows for me in terms of internships for next summer, and I got the opportunity to meet several incredible young women in this industry.”
Da Silva, as well as Dr. Scott Schaefer, professor and associate department head for academics, both attended the conference. Da Silva gave two presentations during the course of the conference, continuing a tradition of leadership and speaking at the conference maintained by her and Dr. Nancy Amato, an Unocal and Regents Professor within the department and the director of the Engineering Honors program for the Texas A&M College of Engineering.
“There are more jobs in computing than talent right now so we need all the talent that we can get,” Da Silva said. “This conference offers our students the opportunity to be inspired by successful women from industry and academia and we are proud to have our students be a part of it.”