Women in Computer Science (WiCS) was formed by female undergraduate students at Brown in the late 1980s as an affinity group of Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE). The goal of WiCS is to increase the participation of women in the field of Computer Science.
Now, WiCS continues this effort through Brown's computer science department, and also seeks to improve diversity and inclusion for underrepresented minorities in the tech industry. WiCS works to this end through its social, mentoring and outreach programs, along with its facilitation of discussions and its cooperation in department action plans.
One highlight of WiCS is its organization of social events for members of the department to meet and get to know each other. Often these events include invited guests such as women and underrepresented minorities from industry and academia.
As part of its outreach program, WiCS support the Artemis Project, a free summer camp for rising ninth-grade girls from the Providence area who show interest in science and technology.
In order to foster a close community between members of WiCS and the Brown CS department, WiCS holds a year round mentorship program where any student may apply to be a mentee and students with more experience may apply to be a mentor.
Mentees are matched with their mentors through a careful pairing process, and then this builds a relationship on which the mentee can rely on the mentor for any kind of advice, be it in the Brown CS department, Brown in general, or pertaining to people's experiences in tech.
Currently mentee and mentor applications are closed, but they will be reopened in the fall!
There are many ways to get involved in WiCS!
The easiest way to stay up to date is to sign up for our mailing list here.
We also hold regular events throughout the semester.
In the fall, you can apply to be a mentee or mentor in the WiCS mentorship program. In the spring, you can apply to the WiCS Leadership team.
Additionally, if you would like to plan your own WiCS event, follow this planning guide here!
The current WiCS coordinators are Mounika Dandu, Wennie Zhang, Olivia Orrell-Jones, and Amy Pu. If you'd like to reach them, you can email the coordinators at wics@lists.cs.brown.edu