Fran Berman
UC San Diego
Mentoring Workshop Coordinator

CRA-W has sponsored a series of Mentoring Workshops for Women in Computing Research, targeted to women in all stages of their academic careers. Women often find themselves a minority in their own departments, and the CRA-W workshops bring them together with women already established in their fields. The established professionals provide practical information, advice, and support to their younger colleagues. Each of the workshops is associated with a major professional meeting, providing many attendees with the opportunity to attend technical talks and make contacts in their research areas.

CRA-W workshops have been held in conjunction with Supercomputing '94 and the 1993, 1996, and 1999 Federated Computing Research Conference. In addition, CRA-W has been involved with Mentoring Sessions at the Grace Murray Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Supercomputing '94, 1996 Design Automation Conference and the Computer Science Conference.

The workshops are targeted at women in academics but their impact will be much broader. By helping women to succeed in academics, we hope to provide the next generation of students with a much larger cadre of successful female role models.

The agenda and a final report, from the most recent mentoring workshop in Atlanta, GA, April 1999, at the Federated Computing Research Conference are available.

Workshops have focused on the topics listed below. Transcripts and slides are available from many of the presentations, to serve as a resource for a wider group than were able to attend the workshops.


Workshop topics, summaries, and transcripts

Tenure: What's needed and what's not needed. Writing a good tenure dossier. Choosing references. Typical successful cases. Common pitfalls and mistakes.
Summary transcript from all workshops on this topic
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Grace Murray Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer Science 1994
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Time Management: How to get this all done. How much time to spend on teaching, service, and research. Life outside of work.
Summary transcript from all workshops on this topic
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Supercomputing 1994
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Teaching: How to be a good teacher. Common mistakes of new teachers. What you should be teaching. Dealing with problem students. Special problems facing women faculty.
Summary transcript from all workshops on this topic
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Supercomputing 1994

Getting a Job: How to develop a marketable vita. What to expect on an interview; what to do and what not to do.
Summary transcript from all workshops on this topic
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Supercomputing 1994
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Building a Research Career: Going beyond your thesis. Advising graduate students. Journal versus conference publications. What referees look for. What to do when a paper is rejected. Collaborating.
Summary transcripts under development
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Supercomputing 1994
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Networking and Professional Social Interaction: The importance of networking. Attending conferences. How to meet the right people and what to say to them. Describing your work. Being part of the "Young Girls' Network.''
Summary transcripts under development
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Supercomputing 1994
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Funding: Strategies for obtaining funding from the federal government and industry. The structure of a good proposal. Contacting grant officers. Resources at the university.
Summary transcripts under development
Federated Computing Research Conference 1993 - transcript
Grace Murray Hopper Celebration of Women in Computer Science 1994 - transcript
Supercomputing 1994
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Perspectives from the Smaller Schools: How requirements and expectations differ across a range of academic institutions.
Summary transcripts under development
ACM Computer Science Conference 1995 - transcript

From Associate to Full: Going up the Ladder After you have Reached the First Rung
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Career Options Beyond Research:
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Reinventing Your Research Career:
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Industry and National Lab Career Options:
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Models of Industrial and National Lab Research:
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides

Strategies for Success in Industry and the National Labs:
Federated Computing Research Conference 1999 - slides