Panel:Engaging Women in

Robotics

Lynne Parker (NSF)Julie Adams (Vanderbilt)

Nancy Amato (Texas A&M)George Kantor (CMU)

Globally, we pay lots of attention to under-represented groups (esp. girls/women)

Summer camps Special

scholarships Special classes Outreach Lots of $$$

Has it gotten us to where we want to be?

% Women majoring in CS in American universities

You had questions… So do we!

How many women are in robotics? Who are they?  What is the distribution of women in academia,

government and industrial robotics?  When did women enter robotics?  Do women enter robotics and then leave? Why?

When?  What methods engage girls and women in

robotics?  What metrics are useful for tracking progress in

recruiting and retaining women at all levels?  Do graduate, undergraduate, and K-12 curriculums

need to change in order to attract females to robotics? 

How many girls participate in K-12 robotics competitions? 

Patricia Ambler Fothergill

1970s

1980s

1990 – 1995

Disclaimer: Preliminary and Incomplete list

1996 – 2000

2001 – 2005

We tried an experiment… George Lee (Purdue) had an idea…

ICRA 2015: Celebrating the diversity of robots, roboticists, and robot users

ICRA 2015 Organizing Committee

Senior Program Committee

Ruzena Bajcsy (Univ. of California, Berkeley)Alicia Casals (Technical University of Catalonia)Bernardine Dias (Carnegie Mellon University)Maria Gini (University of Minnesota)Yi Guo (Stevens Institute of Technology)Ayanna Howard (Georgia Tech)Lydia Kavraki (Rice University)Jana Kosecka (George Mason University)Dani Kragic (Royal Institute of Tech., KTH)Ming Lin (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)Robin Murphy (Texas A&M University)Radhika Nagpal (Harvard University)Allison Okamura (Stanford University)Katia Sycara (Carnegie Mellon University)Dawn Tilbury (University of Michigan)Carme Torras (Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial, CSIC-UPC)Manuela Veloso (Carnegie Mellon University)Jing Xiao (Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte)Yuru Zhang (Beihang University)

• SPC meeting held at Texas A&M, Jan. 23-24

• Preceded by Robotics Symposium given by SPC members

Plenary Speakers – Live Webcast

Daniela Rus MIT

One Robot for Every Task

Helen GreinerCyPhy Works

Robotics Innovation Startup Style

Dean KamenDEKA R&D Corp Innovation: Past,

Present, and Future

WednesdayFriday

Thursday

12 KeynoteSpeakers

Alessandro de Luca, Sapienza U. di Roma Danny Halperin, Tel Aviv Univ. Peter Hart, SRI, retired Danica Kragic, Royal Inst. of Technology Ayorkor Korsah, Ashesi Univ. College James Kuffner, Google Research Zexiang Li, Hong Kong U. Sci and Tech Radhika Nagpal, Harvard Univ. Satoshi Tadokoro, Tohoku Univ. Carme Torras, Inst. De Robotica i Info. Ind. Jing Xiao, Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte Yuru Zhang, Beihang Univ.

Innovation! Go, Girl, Go! Co-Organized by ICRA

2015 and Washington FIRST

Brings together girls ages 6-18 with undergrad and grad students, established robotics researchers and professionals

Plenary talks Career paths FIRST league demos Networking time 400+ girls registered!

Lessons from ICRA 2015 Lots of positive feedback An appreciation that we just “did it”,

rather than being “in your face” Conference was incredibly successful Showed that women (most with

minimal experience organizing large meetings) could do a fantastic job

What is longer term impact?

Some short anecdotes…1) Finding new faculty leader for

women in EECS student group2) Others…

What about unconscious bias?

What is stereotype threat?

This is not just a “female” problem!

It’s not about blaming men But we need (and welcome!) more

male advocates How do we build up more male

advocates?

What’s the difference between a mentor and an advocate?

NCWIT: Top 10 Ways to be a Male Advocate for Technical Women

1) Listen to women’s stories2) Talk to other men3) Seek out ways to recruit women4) Increase the number and visibility of

female leaders5) Mentor and sponsor women

NCWIT: Top 10 Ways to be a Male Advocate for Technical Women (con’t)

6) Notice and correct instances of micro-inequities or unconscious bias

7) Establish accountability metrics8) Model alternative work/life

strategies9) Make discussions of gender less

“risky”10)Reach out to formal and informal

women’s groups

(george’s slides)

Take-home messages In many ways, the state of women in

the workplace has improved But the “problem” of female

representation is not a “female only” problem

It’s a problem of too few male advocates

Let’s figure out productive ways to build up male advocates in this effort!

Your Action Items When you’re involved in

workshop/conference organization, remember to include women!

When you’re thinking of new leaders for professional societies, think of women!

When you’re thinking of individuals to nominate for awards/recognition, think of women!

When doing outreach, engage K-12 girls! When you need a representative for a

diversity activity, volunteer yourself! When you’re in a professional setting, invite

the women to join in the social networking!

Resources http://cra.org/cra-w/resources-for-the-

engaging-women-in-robotics-panel-at-2015-nri-pi-meeting/