ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The 24 hours you spend computing are more interesting than you think.
“Right now we have about 145 hackers, which is great and amazing in some ways. We’re actually at almost full capacity,” said Jessica Ancillotti, RIT’s WiCHACKS lead director.
Rochester Institute of Technology’s Women in Computing program is hosting its 10th annual hackathon.
“You have 24 hours to work on your project, and at the end you demonstrate what you created and submit it to a panel of judges,” said Hannah Coe, a computer science major.
It not only generates new ideas but also motivates women and sexual minorities in the tech industry.
“Women almost always feel like they have to protect their intellect, so having a space like this allows them to just keep their intellect. They don’t have anyone to protect,” Ancillotti says. he said.
According to data from LinkedIn, women make up less than 35% of the workforce at America’s largest technology companies, including Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
“This conversation is really about women and having a platform where we can talk about our experiences as women and minorities in STEM,” Ancilotti said.
Some students say they have experienced gaps at other technology events.
“I’ve had it a few times,” Ko said. “He came next to me and handed me his resume while the recruiter was still reading my resume, and the recruiter took it and started reading my resume. And I just sat there. I was just standing there.”
And minority women are even less represented in the tech industry.
“There was a group of people who were like, ‘Oh, you’re Asian, or you’re obviously good at chemistry, or you’re obviously good at computer science,’ and that invalidated me. .This homework took me hours,” said Computing Explorations student Alia Ulanbek Kyzil.
RIT’s hackathons feature contests in a variety of categories, including games, apps, and website development.
“I’m really happy to be able to spend the weekend creating a project with my friends,” Ko said.
The biggest prize is yourself.
“I like to do things out of a little bit of malice, so I’m like, well then I’ll show them what I can do better,” Coe said.
“Even if I don’t win anything, just working on the project will be a great experience, and I’m not going to sleep tonight,” Ulanbek Kyzil said.