Coding isn’t just for white boys. The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), working together with UCLA, made that message clear at their inclusivity-focused coding event.
The event, titled “Break the Binary: Across the Spider-Verse”, was held on January 25. Approximately 100 students attended the event, which included a fireside chat with professors from historically underrepresented groups and a beginner-friendly puzzle-solving competition.
The goal of the event was to make coding accessible for everyone, according to William Zhao, a third-year computer science student and president of ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. Anmol Gupta, a projects officer for ACM-Women, said she wanted the event to be inclusive of underrepresented groups in computer science.
Gupta commented, “We wanted to open it up to women, non-binary, and just overall underrepresented groups that are often not in competitive programming.”
Sandra Batista, an assistant professor of computer science who spoke at the event, noted that while progress on inclusivity is being made, even more change is necessary.
ACM will host “Break the Binary” again next year and hopes to add industry professionals as panelists in addition to professors and students. ACM also hopes to conduct more marketing and outreach geared toward underserved students in technology.
Hmmm. One can’t help wondering what the new anti-DEI administration would have to say about that.