UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Fourteen College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) students attended the three-day ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference in Washington, D.C., in early September to celebrate diversity in computing.
The annual conference brings together students, faculty, researchers and professionals from all backgrounds. Named after Richard Tapia, a mathematician and professor at Rice University, the event also aims to network students with companies and professionals in the technology field to create meaningful relationships that extend beyond the conference.
Notable plenary speakers with extensive industry knowledge talked with the audience about their professional and personal journeys. Their messages resonated with attendees, including Kayla Samson, a second-year student studying security and risk analysis.
“The keynote speakers were transparent in telling their stories that unveiled the reality of being a person of color or having a disability while exploring the field of technology and computing,” Samson said. “[Dr. Stacy Branham’s] words were inspiring and spoke volumes about facing the challenges in the field.”
IST students are able to attend the annual conference thanks to generous support from the College of IST and conference scholarships. This year, student attendees were accompanied by several members of the college’s administration and faculty, including Andrew Sears, dean; Jocelyn Bennett Garraway, assistant dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion; Lynette Yarger, professor at the College of IST and associate dean for equity and inclusion at Schreyer Honors College; John Yen, professor; and Madhavi Kari, assistant director of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“The college strongly believes in supporting experiences such as Tapia to ensure our students from underrepresented populations in STEM fields know they belong and have a voice in an industry with a significant gender and diversity gap,” said Kari. “These experiences are instrumental in helping students gain confidence and inspire them to achieve their goals and know they can be successful in their careers. I’ve noticed that when students attend Tapia, the feeling of isolation or imposter syndrome lessens and the feeling of inclusion, belonging and community in the tech industry increases.”
Samson said the College of IST can continue helping students succeed by providing opportunities for them to connect with professionals from marginalized backgrounds and promoting diverse representation.
“The most rewarding part of this conference was the opportunity to be in a space with such esteemed speakers and people of color, especially women of color, and hear their stories,” she said. “It is reassuring to listen to those who look like you and how it was in attaining their purposes in the many struggles they encountered.”
Cybersecurity analytics and operations junior Francisco Ramos said he attended the conference to “make new and meaningful connections” and learn new concepts from different industries.
“Being able to represent the College of IST gives me a sense of pride in what I do and the accomplishments that I’ve made because of the [college],” Ramos said. “Without the help of the College of IST, I wouldn’t have nearly as many opportunities as I have now.”
For Ramos, College of IST classes and resources have also prepared him for the conference by teaching him key technology concepts.
“A lot of the workshop events that I attended built upon my foundational knowledge that I attained from my classes and resources and gave me a practical example of where I would see the concepts being utilized to fulfill business needs,” he said.
Rachel McAdams, a junior studying cybersecurity analytics and operations, echoed those sentiments.
“I’ve gained a greater understanding of AI and IoT devices, specifically the challenges they had to face with their research and how they counteracted them,” she said.
In terms of professional career development, McAdams said she learned about networking, negotiating offers, and getting a feel for the company culture at the conference.
“I would highly recommend this conference to anyone interested. It was a rewarding experience both career-wise and networking-wise,” she said.
IST students can learn more about experiential programs within the college, including the ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference, at ist.psu.edu/current/careers/programs.