Spring semester 2005 saw the formation of MSU Women in Computing
(WIC), a new student-run organization to encourage the participation
of women in computing.

The number of female students enrolled in programs that involve
computing is very low compared to their male counterparts. In spring
semester 2005 only 32 of 362 undergraduate students in Computer
Science and Engineering (CSE) at MSU were women, according to the MSU
Office of Planning and Budgets.

It is commonly believed that a sense of isolation and not "fitting in"
causes many capable women students to question their committment to
pursuing majors that entail computing. As a result, women students
switch out of such majors in disproportionate numbers.

MSU WIC was established to increase the awareness of female students'
presence in majors that entail computing. By increasing awareness and
opening lines of communication between students and faculty, the
organization's founders hope to encourage more women students to
enroll in computing majors and to keep them in the majors.

Pictured are some of the founding members of MSU WIC (left to right):
Tish Melia, Randee Bierlein, Teresa Isela Vandersloot (advisor),
Niharika Joglekar, Kirsten Partyka, Lauren Revard, Laura Campbell,
Laura Dillon, Jennifer Mott and Kira Johns.

This semester, WIC members read and discussed "Unlocking the
Clubhouse: Women in Computing" by Jane Margolis, Allan Fisher (MIT
Press, 2002, ISBN 0262133989), visited local high schools to talk to
teens about MSU programs, volunteered at the College of Engineering
Career Expo and the MSU Science and Technology Day, and organized
a hardware workshop. In May, they will be attending a conference
organized by an Ohio-area WIC group.

MSU WIC is open to all faculty members and students of Michigan State
University who are interested in Computing. Both men and
women are welcome to join.

For more information about MSU WIC point your browser at
http://www.egr.msu.edu/msuwic