December, 2022 – Consolidating the relevance of role models and collaboration within the community of women working in computing, informatics, and other STEM fields, the tenth Chile Women in Computing (ChileWiC) conference was held with a large attendance and much enthusiasm from the participants at the San Joaquín campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

“We are very pleased to have been able to meet again at ChileWiC. This is the tenth conference, and we have been growing. Today, we feel that we are in a place that was unexpected in our beginnings, with a very interested community eager to participate, join, and be active promoters of change,” said Valeria Herskovic, an academic from the Department of Computer Science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and one of the organizers of the event.

For the first time, the event featured a student competition in two tracks: individual and pairs, representing an important advancement for the community as it was the first time that groups of women presented their work in the field.

Among the talks, Bárbara Poblete, one of the founders of ChileWiC, an IMFD researcher, an academic at the University of Chile’s Department of Computer Science, and currently working at Amazon, delivered the keynote speech. She shared her experience and the positive changes for women that have occurred in the field since she started working in this sector. Katherine Vergara, the winner of the Abie Award Student of Vision 2022, also presented.

The panels showcased various initiatives that seek to empower, raise visibility, and promote the work of women in STEM, such as Niñas Pro with Carolina Silva, Inspiring Girls Chile with Macarena Salosny, Technovation Girls Chile with María Paz Retamales, and Tremendas with Micaela Riquelme.

The winners of the individual and pairs competition were Daniela Concha, Carla Gallardo, and Ximena Yovaniniz, all students from the Department of Computer Science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

At the end of the event, there was a discussion about the relevance of active inclusion and what women can do to promote diversity in this field. Jocelyn Simmonds, an academic from the University of Chile’s Department of Computer Science, and Pía Guerra from the National Institute of Human Rights participated in the discussion. The diverse testimonies of the participants, sharing similar stories, resonated in the auditorium, creating an atmosphere of camaraderie and strengthening the community and collaboration.

“Alongside the annual event, we would like to create an active community throughout the year. We are interested in giving more visibility to women and gender minorities who are part of computing and technology because we know that role models are important for the new generations,” emphasized Claudia López, organizer and academic from the Department of Informatics at the Federico Santa María Technical University.

The Millennium Institute for Foundational Research on Data actively participates in promoting the inclusion of women and diverse individuals in STEM fields. The interdisciplinary work of the IMFD has shown the invaluable contribution of having different perspectives in scientific research. That is why, for the IMFD, embracing and promoting diversity within our teams is part of the institute’s objectives.

In Chile, only 25% of those who enter STEM-related fields of study are women, and only 7% of undergraduate degrees in these areas are awarded to women. This gender disparity is also reflected in scientific research: out of the total number of researchers in the country, 35% are women, according to the Gender Snapshot study by the Ministry of Science. The study, which analyzes the gender gap in academia and research, presented by Observa of the Ministry of Science in 2021, also reveals the salary difference in STEM fields, reaching a 16% gap between men and women.