Being the current Chair Person of Women In Computer Science Society (WICS), a society I helped founded at UCT, I have grown a lot as a leader. We just held our last event for the semester last week so this post comes from retrospection. I have drawn a lot from my experience as a Google Student Ambassador( star GSA .;)) , but WICS has been different in that we do not a stable source of funding and the team is bigger (there were only 2 GSA's, WICS committee is made of 6). Here are some lessons I took away which I believe also apply to many other aspects of life.
Its never too early to start planning.
A lot could go wrong and in no particular order these risks include: funds not arriving on time, your event could clash with another event in your event, the internet could be slow, heck the ATM could run out of money. You'll sleep a whole lot better if you have catered for them in advance.
Less admin more results.
Any student leader at UCT will attest to how much admin there is. From registering a society to to booking venues , retrieving funds for events. There is always a form to fill and this can easily detract you from the mission of your society. I keep admin to the minimal, by taking shortcuts for instance reimbursement is so much easier than purchase order, then reimbursement it is. In short legally hack the system.
Take chances, take charge.
At Grace Hopper conference last year I took charge by approaching a Facebook representative on getting sponsorship for WICS. I had little hope but did it anyway. After following up and suggesting our (very vague at the time) plan , we got sponsorship for two events including speakers for our Interview preparation event. We also got sponsorship from Google for our opening event in a similar manner.
Don't exclude men from the conversation.
Our mission is to encourage women to pursue Computer Science and a lot of times we are asked if men are allowed to events, or why are men allowed. Having few women in technology is not just a women's problem. Data proves that women are just as good in technical fields as men, the gap starts because of society stereotypes and norms and we should fix it together. Besides men have women in their circles, will be more than happy to refer them to our society if they feel included in the conversation.
Its gets better with practice.
In the beginning, it was more difficult to coordinate everything with my team but after a couple of events together, we built a framework that works for all of us. We are even gonna host the first women's hackathon on campus next semester. No matter how inconvenient it seems at the beginning, done is better than perfect.
People are willing help, just show them how.
Interested in our activities? Volunteering ? Sponsorship?
Read more about us on our website.
Like us on facebook page.
Or email us at women.cs.uct@gmail.com.
Stay tuned for next semester!
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