Author: Vishakha Agrawal, Global Girls Bill of Rights panelist and Information Science student
When I first started college, I didn’t think in a gender-specific way. I didn’t think about feminism. I just wanted to be a researcher.
I thought as long as I was good at what I did, there were no rules. But I was wrong. There are no rules… if you’re a boy. If you’re a girl, you’re allowed to be pretty, but don’t be too smart. Don’t have an opinion.
In my experience, when guys realize that they have better technical skills at something, they use it to assert control and dominance over women in engineering. In college, everyone is learning, but our fixation on only getting better tech skills/getting that internship everyone wants/getting that scholarship and not being considerate towards people with diverse experiences is causing so much harm. This culture is especially detrimental to people who identify with women’s experiences but have to join male-dominated organizations.
In my second year, I co-founded a chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery’s Council on Women in Computing (ACM-W) at my university. It’s the first community exclusive to female and non-binary identifying students at my college.
“We faced a lot of scrutiny for starting a women-only community.”
A guy once told me, “You shouldn’t describe ACM-W in these words. How many non-binary students are even there in your organization?” Another guy immediately took the opportunity to explain to me that not mentioning gender in the description of my organization would be the way to achieve actual gender equality.
Some male students tell me that they don't have the time to be considerate of affinity groups and that it's an inconvenience. A few boys from a male-dominated student org told us that they would get my organization shut down if we speak up against these injustices. How are we ever going to achieve diverse workspaces if people who think this way get managerial positions in companies or leadership roles at universities? How are affinity groups going to ever feel safe?
We were told that once you enter an engineering college, everyone is equal. That there’s no need for a women-only organization. That is not true. How likely are you to go out for a late-night beer after a hackathon with your male team members? Or a 10 pm tennis game with your male co-workers where most of the networking happens? How about a networking event with alcohol at a conference?
ACM-W is so much more than just another organization to me. At ACM-W, I am building a safe space for all women and non-binary students. It’s not an organization where you just learn about technology.
As women, we have to start appreciating our and each other’s worth. We have to stop trying to tear each other down and start cheering each other on. How many of you would recommend your woman co-worker for an opportunity at work?
Feminism is about freedom; it’s about equality.
“I will build more communities for affinity groups. I will encourage all women to build such communities, take every opportunity that comes their way, and never be afraid to speak up.”
About Vishakha: Vishakha, 21, is a third-year undergraduate Information Science student at Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering, India. She is interested in AI ethics, policy+tech, and AI for space research. She has been associated with She’s the First in the past as a panelist for the Global Girls’ Bill of Rights. She is also an organizer for Indian Women in Computing, a Delta Analytics’ Global Teaching Fellow, an organizer for Queer in AI, and a Palantir Global Impact Scholar.