YALE WOMEN & GENDER MINORITIES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
About Us
Yale Women & Gender Minorities in Computer Science
Yale Women and Gender Minorities in CS, or Yale WGiCS for short (formerly Float Yale) was founded in 2013 by a group of Yale students who recognized a severe gender gap in the computer science community, and wanted to encourage students who might otherwise be daunted by coding to learn and develop technical skills. To that end, Yale WGiCS hosted a series of HTML and web development workshops on campus (all student-taught) in its first few years, which were very successful. Many Yalies wrote their first computer program through WGiCS’ events.
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In the time since then, Yale WGiCS has shifted its focus towards broader goals of encouraging students to explore computer science courses, retaining students in the major, and building community. We host study and support groups, teach free workshops, bring speakers to campus, organize lunches with professors, sponsor trips to conferences, coordinate dinners with women in the industry, liaise with the computer science department and alumni, and more. Most importantly, we enable students to build relationships with each other—and what naturally follows is a more welcoming, supportive and inclusive environment for students to succeed.
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Yale WGiCS celebrates all underrepresented gender minorities, including trans, gender-nonconforming, and nonbinary individuals.
FAQs
There is no expectation for your level of experience coming in as a member of Yale WGiCS. Immediately, members of the Yale Community interested in WGiCS events and activities can join our Facebook group for events & programming: facebook.com/groups/floatyale
To get the full WGiCS experience, we encourage students to sign up for WGiCS Families once they open in the fall semesters!
What are the requirements for being a member?
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No. While we suggest that you are taking/have taken a computer science course at Yale to become a member, anyone interested in computing or involved in a related major can join! Our public events are available to any member of the Yale community.
Do I have to be a CS major to be a WGiCS member/attend WGiCS events?
WGiCS operates on a semesterly recruitment cycle—you can become a member at the beginning of every semester. Stay tuned on our Facebook page and our newsletter for the most updated information about membership.
For any questions, you can always email the board at yalewics@gmail.com.