Girls and women pursuing STEM careers have to encounter barriers as they walk towards their goal. These exist due to lack of role models and publicity aimed at women encouraging their work. There isn't sufficient encouragement by family members, nor flexible work timings exist. Due to personal responsibilities, in addition, there is difficulty in working part-time. There is the perception of a lack of job opportunities. Women often feel burdened by expectations of others while working in a male-dominated culture. All these factors lower their self-esteem and confidence. This prevents the ambitious women in tech from harnessing their skills. Hence, a majority of them may give up on their dreams. To help women overlook these discouraging factors and celebrate the women achievers in Tech, we planned to celebrate International Women's Day at LinuxChix India.

International Women’s Day at LinuxChix India MeetUp

Henceforth, Amity University’s Computer Science Department‘s Linux club ASET ALiAS organized LinuxChix India meetup on March 8, 2017, on the auspicious day of International Women's Day. The event aimed to make the female students and faculties aware of opportunities available in the tech industry. The objective of the ALiAS Women's Day event was to create an unparalleled forum for the women of all elements of experiential learning. To make them aware of the platforms and opportunities in the tech industry, available to test their intellectual and artistic prowess. These opportunities would open avenues for them to share mutual experience, skills, and talent & to reach their collective and individual aspirations, in the tech field.

We had with us Ms. Shivani Bhardawaj and Mr. Shyam Saini as the speakers for the event.

Ms. Shivani Bhardawaj is an Outreachy intern and a Linux Kernel developer. She actively contributes to the Free Open Source Software, especially Linux kernel development. She works at Essentia and has started the LinuxChix India organization. LinuxChix India is a community for women who like Linux and for anyone who supports women in computing. This is a regional community of an international group of Free Software users and developers, with the motto: Be Polite. Be Helpful. They are currently over fifteen active local groups across the world.

Mr Shyam Saini is a fourth-year student at Amity University, Noida (2013-17). He contributes to Linux kernel and is an active Open Source contributor as well as the organizer of Indian Linux User Group Delhi meetups.

Opportunities available for encouraging women in STEM

During the event, Ms Shivani Bharadwaj along with Mr Shyam Saini briefed on various scholarship programs and summer internship opportunities. Many renowned international organisations such as Google, Firefox, Red Hat, Microsoft, etc. have introduced such opportunities as a measure for uplifting and empowering of women. These would help them advance in their career. The speaker shared her experience as an Outreachy (a GNome Project) intern and inspired young girls to apply for Google Summer of Code like opportunities.

The speaker introduced the audience to her field of expertise, a Linux Kernel developer, and shared how they could get started with it. The audience was enthralled to know about a profession previously unknown to them. They seemed enthusiastic to try them.

Followed up, a lightning talk by the club’s faculty coordinator, Mrs Shilpi Barman Sharma, on how she encourages her students to learn more and excel in their field. She explained how important it is to keep trying out new things to discover their passion.

A final cake cutting ceremony was held by the Amity's females present for the celebration of International Women's Day.