Events

WiCS runs a number of events for undergraduates and graduate students that aim to raise awareness, enhance skills, and promote mentoring and community building. These events are often run in partnership with our WiCS Sponsors or with the WiCS undergraduate committee. Below are events that we run annually.

FALL		WINTER		SPRING
September	WiCS Orientation	January	WiCS Con	May	Resume Critique
September	Resume Critique	January	Resume Critique	May/June	Mock Interviews
September/October	Mock Interviews	January/February	Mock Interviews	June	Responding to Everyday Biases
September/October	Grace Hopper Celebration	March	Responding to Everyday Biases	June	Careers in Tech
October	Responding to Everyday Biases	March	Student/Industry Lunch	July	Math/CS 101 (incoming students)
October/November	CAN-CWIC

On top of these, WiCS runs technical workshops, professional-development workshops, developer panels, end-of-term socials. Be sure to stay up-to-date with our WiCS Calendar of Events.

All WiCS events are governed by the WiCS Code of Conduct.

WiCS Orientation

WiCS runs its own Orientation for first-year women who are entering CS, SE, CFM, or the CS/BBA double degree program. This event is

partly an introduction to WiCS (e.g., representation of women in CS at Waterloo, what it is like to be a woman in computing) and
partly networking community building (e.g., meet other women in your program and talk with upper years)

WiCS Orientation is a great way to meet the other women who are going to be in your courses and your programs for the next 4-5 years.

WiCS Upper Year students put together some videos with tips on topics like navigating online classes, study techniques and more. Watch the videos here.

Also, here are Slides from WiCS Orientation 2021. The slides include information about the stats of women in the incoming class, what it is like being a women in tech, the importance of peer support and building your own personal network, and what you can expect from WiCS this year in terms of events and opportunities.

Conferences

WiCS Con

WiCS Con is a two-day multi-track conference hosted by WiCS in partnership with our industrial sponsors to offer something unique to our students. The conference sessions cover acing technical interviews, resume tips, unconscious bias, imposter syndrome, negotiating salaries, and lots of technical workshops, drop-in office hours with various companies, and networking. WiCS 2020 was attended by 150+ students.

WiCS Con 2022, we are adding in a track for high school students! Each conference session will suggest which of the 2 tracks (high school or undergraduate) the session is primarily aimed at.

The plans for WiCS Con 2022 is to be a hybrid event. Being online has its advantages, such as being accessible to attendees who are unable to travel (e.g., being on co-op).

Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing

Each year, we try to fund as many students as possible to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing

The Grace Hopper Celebration is the world's largest conference for technical women that provides access to sessions covering a wide range of subjects and professional development for all career levels.
Leading researchers present their work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research, and engineering.
A special shout out to the Mathematics Endowment Fund, whose generous funding provides 20 percent of the funds needed to send WiCS students to the annual Grace Hopper Celebration.

CAN-CWIC

Closer to home, we aim for a significant Waterloo presence at the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing; the generosity of sponsors makes the cost of attending very low.

Mentorship

WiCS Bubbles

Bubbles are groups of first-year WiCS students that are paired with 2 upper-year students who mentor them throughout the term. Bubbles meet regularly to socialize, provide support, advice, and have fun! First-year isn't easy but having a BigCSter mentor could make it a bit better!

Connect with other students! Bubbles are hosted on Slack! Slack is used in professional workplaces to communicate with members of a team, co-workers, and your employers! This is a great opportunity for you to get first-hand experience with Slack and add it to your resume while meeting more peers!

Little WiCS' Big CSters Mentorship

The Big CSters Mentorship Program helps connect women and non-binary students in Computer Science and related fields, through events geared towards mentorship and community building. The events include technical workshops, social gatherings, and discussion circles about common issues that students face.

First-year or senior year students can get involved with Big CSters by coming to our events.

Distinguished Lecture Series

WiCS organizes lunches for students, alumni, staff, and faculty to interact with women Distinguished Speakers to discuss their career choices and trajectories, topics related to women in computing, and provide advice to women who are interested in careers in research.

Look for our full listing of past and present speakers.

I really enjoy WiCS events! They give me very insightful advice and it's also motivating to see that there are so many career opportunities in CS.

- Undergraduate CS Student