Events

A banner including 14 photos of WiCS students at WiCS Orientation 2022

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 and community building (e.g., meeting other women in your program and talking with upper years)

At WiCs Orientation, first-year students learn how to improve their university experience, how to help themselves advance in their careers, and how to cultivate a network of friends and allies — people to study with and play with; who can provide advice in good times and in bad; who can refer them to opportunities or to their connections.

As a woman in tech, it is especially important to have a network of technical girlfriends — whose experiences are like one’s own, who have similar interests and goals, and with whom one can vent frustrations and celebrate successes.

Our 2022 Orientation was held in September this year, and it was a great success! You can view the WiCS 2022 Orientation page to check out the schedule we had for the event.

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.

In 2022, we added in a track for high school students to attend WiCS Con! We will continue to offer this in the 2023 WiCS Con. Each conference session will suggest which of the 2 tracks (high school or undergraduate) the session is primarily aimed at.

WiCS Con 2023 will be a hybrid event. Some sessions will be offered exclusively online, and others will be offered both in-person and online. 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.

You can take a look at our Grace Hopper Celebration page to see more information and to read reflections from WiCS students that attended GHC.

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