This year’s WiT Conference brings a strong sense of belonging for female and non-binary students interested in the tech industry.
The Tufts chapter of Women in Technology hosted its 10th annualWomen in Tech Conference on Sept. 26 in the Joyce Cummings Center, celebrating women and non-binary individuals in the tech industry.
The conference has grown in scale over the past 10 years, reflected in nearly a year’s worth of planning. JuniorSofia Alvazzi, one of the executive chairs for this year’s WiT conference, shared that planningbegan in February. The organizing was spread across multiple teams, with most of the planningoccurring over the summer.
JuniorJessicaCharalel spoke about her experiences as a previous attendee and current WiT marketing co-executive chair. She cited WiT’s impact during her sophomore year as a driving force behind her continued involvement with the conference.
“I loved the community. … I feel just being [part of] an underrepresented group in technology … [makes] it really hard to get the confidence to stick out your major and your studies,”Charalel said. “Having a specific space where you can feel safe to pursue professional interests is amazing.”
Charalel’s thoughts echo a larger imbalance in the tech industry. Despite strides in initiatives aimed at increasing gender diversity in the tech workforce,women still hold an estimated 35% of tech jobs With this reality in mind, one of the conference’s key highlights was a career fair
“[The WiT career fair] was on a smaller scale than the career fair for the entire school … but it also had some of the same vendors, so it was nice to reconnect with them on a more personal level,” sophomoreKyra McCandless, a conference attendee, stated.
The smaller setting proved effective, with the conference welcoming a panelist who landed her first internship through a previous Tufts WiT conference.
“Oneof our panelists this year … got her first internship from [WiT] two years ago when she was an undergrad, and when we invited her to speak, she [was] really willing to … pass on her experience,” senior Ivy Chang, co-executive chair of WiT, said.
The overarching theme connecting all these individual experiences was simple: a sense of empowerment through belonging to a shared community. The annual WiT conference has served as a place of common ground for many Tufts students. JuniorSarnai Bold-Erdene, a first-time attendee, shared some highlights about her experience at this year’s conference.
“It was nice to speak or learn from the panel and see how everybody just learns to empower each other,” Bold-Erdene said.
This sense of finding an uplifting community extended not only to the students, but also to those invited to speak this year.
“[The panelists]really bonded over their experience in the tech industry, their struggles and how they started when they were young,” Chang said.
The impact of the conference was particularly apparent during the closing ceremony, when the executive team heard from conference founderWinnona DeSombre (LA’18). As a Tufts alum, she has since founded her own cybersecurity conference in Washington, D.C. For both DeSombre and the attendees, hearing her speak about her unique experience as the founder of the Tufts WiT conference evoked strong emotions.
“[DeSombre’s] speech was so good and so poignant. … It was really nostalgic and just a beautiful speech … and a lot of people cried,” Charalel said.
Looking toward the future, Alvazzi and Chang voiced their hopes that attendees would learn to rely on one another and the community they had found.
“I hope that people get more involved within their own communities,” Alvazzi said. “I feel every time the conference happens … everyone is so friendly and excited to meet each other.”
Chang echoed these sentiments and expressed the solidarity formed through the conference.
“I hope [attendees] left feeling that the problems that they thought they were facing is not something they face alone. … A lot of people will share the same struggles or questions,” Chang stated.
One way Alvazzi and Chang’s wishes were realized was in McCandless’s experience after the conference.
“I recentlygot involved in Women in Computer Science since attending WiT, so I’m now the underclassmen rep,” McCandless said.
This feeling of mutual empowerment is another aspect that Charalel hopes will continue.
“I wish [attendees] would take away a sense of strength and confidence, knowing that there’s other people who think like them, who have the same problems as them,” Charalel added.
Overall, the Tufts WiT conference serves as a place for underrepresented individuals in the tech industry to find community, something the organizers believe the Tufts community is uniquely equipped to do.
“I have high hopes that [the conference] is gonna go for a long while, just because of the community here at Tufts. I feel you never have to worry that there’s not gonna be people who want to help out or be a leader,” Chang said.
