MRMCD 2017

Badasses in Computer Science - and why we need to talk about them.
02.09, 15:30–16:20 (Europe/Berlin), Prachtgarten
Sprache: English

Women in computer science are rare enough, but they exist, today as well as in the past. Who are and who were these women? What role did they play in the history of computer science? And what can we learn from them?


The topic of women in computer science is much more present today than it used to be. Still, it is not exactly a new problem in itself. What are challenges that women faced in computer science from its early beginnings until today? Even despite these challenges there were, of course, women who persevered and contributed significantly to the discipline and related areas. Who were they? What do we have to thank them for? And why do we need to talk about them? As with many people from the past there is something we can learn from them. There might, however, be another reason as well: If a computer scientist, or any person for that matter, is asked about famous computer scientists, can you imagine what names they will list? How many previously unknown names and stories will you hear in this talk? And why?

This talk will try to discuss questions and possible answers, statistics and stories, numbers and studies from the topic of (historical) women in computer science.