March is Women’s History Month and ITS is celebrating by highlighting Carolina women in IT. All month long, we’ll share profiles and Q&As that represent breadth and diversity of the Tar Heel-women-in-tech experience and to inspire women who may want to start or further their careers in technology.
Profiles and Q&As
- Kate Moss, Educational Technology Specialist, ITS Educational Technologies
- Rebecca Chang, Tech Support Analyst, Student Affairs
- Keriayn Smith, Associate Professor, School of Data Science and Society, School of Medicine
- Cindy Reifsnider, Director, Data and Partnership Strategy, Innovate Carolina
- Liezl Mae Fos, Data Steward, Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)
- Sally Schinske, Business Systems Analyst, ITS Data & Enterprise Reporting & Application Middleware (DREAM)
- Sarah Haddix, undergraduate student studying computer science and mathematics
- Yifei Lou, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, School of Data Science and Society
Build your tech community
Fostering diversity and women in the IT workforce doesn’t just happen during Women’s History Month.
If you’re a woman or gender minority who is interested in starting a career in IT — or advancing your existing one — there are spaces for you. And if you’re an advocate for diversity and inclusion in tech, there are spaces for you, too.
As a UNC student, faculty or staff member, you can join EDUCAUSE. The organization calls itself the “largest community of technology, academic, industry and campus leaders advancing higher education through the use of IT.” ITS provides an institutional membership, so all members of the UNC community can use their Onyen to connect with peers across the nation.
Specifically, consider joining the EDUCAUSE Women in IT Community Group. Community groups are informal gathering spaces for people interested in a specific topic. The group is a place to build your professional network, ask questions, share resources and participate in events and conferences.
Or join a new group closer to home — last year UNC CAUSE started a women in technology special interest group (SIG) called WIT+. WIT+ “welcomes everyone who considers themselves an ally for promoting women in technology.” UNC CAUSE formed in 1973 as a local alternative to EDUCAUSE. While EDUCAUSE is open to higher education technology professionals nationwide, UNC CAUSE focuses on tech staff in UNC System schools. SIGs are free to join.
Campus groups for students
While students are encouraged to join EDUCAUSE or UNC CAUSE groups, there are other opportunities to engage with peer groups. Here are a few campus student organizations centered around Carolina women in IT and STEM fields: