Report, photos and video of the 3rd Summit on Gender Equality in Computing (GEC 2021)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 3rd Summit on Gender Equality in Computing (https://acmw-gr.acm.org/gec21), organized by the Greek ACM-W Chapter, took place online on July 2, 2021. The Summit aims at promoting gender-equal access to the computer-related scientific frontiers, encouraging and educating women and men in an equal way to achieve their goals and utilize their potential in digital professions. The goal of the Summit is also to celebrate and disseminate the achievements of computer professionals in a fair and gender-equal way.

Through a series of activities (including invited talks, a workshop, a panel, and 2 poster sessions), attendees had the opportunity to become acquainted to current and emerging topics and important achievements in computer science (CS).

The program included 3 keynote talks delivered by internationally renowned researchers and professionals:

  • “The art of computing from Hypatia to the ENIAC group: The role of women in the chain of human computers", Markos Dendrinos, Professor at the Department of Archival, Library & Information Studies, University of West Attica, Greece

  • “Data security and privacy in emerging scenarios”, Pierangela Samarati, Professor at the Computer Science Department, Università degli Studi di Milano

     

  • “Women in leadership positions: The difficult way of getting and staying in leadership positions", Angela Maragopoulou, CIO B2B/ SVP Business Solutions. Deutsche Telekom

The Summit also featured an interactive workshop entitled "Moving forward from COVID" by Prof. Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Ηead of the Human Computer Interaction Group, TU Wien Informatics, Austria. The workshop aimed at reflecting on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and at discussing ways to focus on positive aspects.

In addition, GEC 2021 hosted a stimulating panel discussion touching upon "Gender Stereotypes in Computer Science and Women Rights" in industry and academia and the way to move forward. In particular, questions discussed were:

  • What do you think were the dominant stereotypes for women in computer science in the past? Are they different today?
  • What are the reasons women remain highly underrepresented in computer science, despite the prestige and impact of the field. Do gender stereotypes have an impact on the underrepresentation?
  • Are the stereotypes more intensive in Computer Science rather than in other fields?
  • Are such stereotypes also reproduced by women in workplaces or is it mainly men that express them?
  • Are there any mechanisms to avoid them or directly address them, both in terms of organisational mechanisms and personal?
  • ‘Women have to work a lot more than men to reach the same position’… is this another stereotype?
  • Ηave you seen behaviors that confirm such stereotypes during your career (against you or other women). If yes, have you noticed any changes in recent years?
  • Academia vs business...fewer or different stereotypes?
  • Critical incidents, like a pandemic, have forced severe changes in the way people work. Has this affected women’s activities?
  • The situation in Europe: possibilities or the illusion of a work heaven?
  • How can this community help women to overcome gender stereotypes in computer science? What form should that have?

Panel participants discussed the above questions and provided concrete strategies for handling gender stereotypes. The panel participants were:

  • Angela Maragopoulou, CIO B2B/ SVP Business Solutions. Deutsche Telekom
  • Ioanna Lykourentzou, Utrecht University
  • Christina Tsigkakou, Oracle Hellas
  • Sofia Tsekeridou, epresentative of Instasoft International S.A.
  • Lillian Gklava, Atos

 

Finally, GEC 2021 provided the opportunity to undergraduate and postgraduate students to present their work in 2 poster sessions. There were twenty seven 3-minute presentations touching upon different areas of computer science.

 

 

The entire event was live-streamed and has been recorded on the Greek ACM-W Chapter’s YouTube channel (video): https://youtu.be/edb9gqQaBuM

GEC 2021 would like to thank its supporters and sponsors, all who contributed to make this event so successful, and of course its attendees for their participation and enthusiasm!

 

Organizing Committee

 

Steering Committee