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Empowering Girls in Computing: Insights from Cheryl Platz at Microsoft**

Cheryl Platz, Senior User Experience Designer at Microsoft, shares valuable insights for parents and teachers on encouraging girls to pursue careers in computing. Drawing from her own journey through education at Carnegie Mellon University and diverse roles within the industry, she emphasizes the importance of networking, building a support system, and demonstrating passion over mere experience. Cheryl provides practical tips for girls to get a head start in computing, from creating a portfolio to leveraging community resources, ultimately aiming to inspire the next generation of female leaders in technology.

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Empowering Girls in Computing: Insights from Cheryl Platz at Microsoft**

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  1. NCWIT Aspirations In Computing: Parent/Teacher Discussion Cheryl Platz Senior User Experience Designer, Microsoft (cplatz@microsoft.com) Twitter: @MuppetAphrodite Blog: http://blog.cherylplatz.com

  2. My Journey: Education Carnegie Mellon University • B.S., Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction (2002) • 1 year Master’s study in Entertainment Technology • Half-tuition Andrew Carnegie scholarship & National Merit scholarship

  3. My Journey: Industry Undergraduate Jobs Graduate Jobs MAYA Design:Interaction Designer (intern, part-time) Walt Disney World:Interaction Designer (intern) Computing Skills Workshop (CMU):Instructor Project LISTEN (CMU):Research Assistant Building Virtual Worlds (CMU): Teaching Assistant Electronic Arts:Assistant Producer (internship -> full time, 2 years) Griptonite Games:Producer (3 years, full time) Microsoft: Senior User Experience Designer (4+ years, full time)

  4. My Journey: Some Early Lessons • Connections and networking are key, even early on • Speaking up early at new jobs can be critical and a differentiatior • There are infinite ways to apply a computer science degree to various career paths. • Know who you are. Be memorable.

  5. What do I do?

  6. Q. “What can my daughter do to get a head start?” A. It’s not ALL about experience. Even top CS schools accept students with a wide range of experience in programming. Demonstrating leadership, drive, and passion is the key - and can be accomplished in many ways. Of course, one valid way is to develop a mini-portfolio of student projects.

  7. The Power of Portfolios Tons of free online tools exist to experiment with programming… Also popular: student robotics, web programming, creating game ‘mods’ for games like Civilization, Portal or Half-Life

  8. Networking: Early and Often • Women tend to be slightly less inclined to pursue networking opportunities naturally • Ways to get a headstart: • Create a LinkedIn Profile • Start blogging or Tweeting • Attend local conferences • Print a small batch of personal business cards

  9. “What will my daughter need as a student?” Q. Encourage her to build her support network. • Peer support • Advisors • Role models and mentors A. If your daughter is becoming frustrated, try and help her figure out whether it’s the subject material OR the way the material is taught.

  10. Build a Support Network Locally-based international nonprofit devoted to exposing girls to the opportunities provided by technology and engineering careers. Provides job shadows, mentoring, programming workshops, field trips (at selected schools), and a sense of community to girls from middle school through college and beyond.

  11. Seek out communities Microsoft’s Women’s Leadership Council in the Server and Tools business – a funded group dedicated to providing opportunities for networking and growth for departmental women.

  12. Understanding The Challenges Unlocking The Clubhouse:Women in Computing (Amazon) “The interviews capture the dynamic details of the female computing experience, from the family computer kept in a brother's bedroom to women's feelings of alienation in college computing classes… They also describe educational reforms that have made a dramatic difference at Carnegie Mellon.”

  13. Video Inspiration Sheryl Sandberg talks: Barnard College 2011 Commencementhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdvXCKFNqTY TED 2010:Why We have Too Few Women Leaders http://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders.html Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture”:Achieving your Childhood Dreamshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo TechEd 2011: Women in Technology Networking Panel (Cheryl Platz, Betsy Speare, Mary Jo Foley, Amy Barzdukas) http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2011/WIT01

  14. Microsoft Resources http://microsoft.com/university/ • Internship applications • Explorer (pre-internship) applications • Scholarships Other official resources: • Microsoft JobsBlog (link) • DigiGirlz Summer Camp (link) • https://www.facebook.com/MicrosoftCareers Fill out the form in your bags for a headstart on a relationship with your campus recruiter!

  15. Internet Resources • http://societyofwomenengineers.swe.org/ • FabFems (http://www.fabfems.org/) • http://womentech.wordpress.com/ IGNITE Worldwide: • http://ignite-us.org/ • http://facebook.com/IGNITEWorldwide

  16. Make sure girls are well-supported by peers and advisors throughout their journey, not just HS • Understand that early CS curriculums do not always resonate with women – help your girls find ways to keep themselves engaged Closing Thoughts

  17. Focus on leadership, passion, and drive – it’s easier for a company to teach a programming language than to teach those intangibles. • Encourage girls to pursue passions to differentiate themselves, whether or not those passions are computing-related • Leverage the rich resources right here in Puget Sound (Microsoft, IGNITE, UW, Google, TKP, etc.) Closing Thoughts

  18. Contacting Cheryl: @Muppetaphrodite (Twitter) cplatz@microsoft.com http://blog.cherylplatz.com Congratulations and Good Luck!

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