Keynote Speaker

ABSTRACT

Despite efforts to raise awareness and to increase the meaningful participation of girls and women in computing there is still a long way to go. According to NCWIT, women hold 57% of US professional occupations in 2020, but represent just 25% of computing occupations. By 2029 there are expected to be 3.6 million computing related job openings, 24% of which are expected to be filled by US computing bachelor's degree recipients. In 2019 women represented just 21% of US bachelor's degrees in computing. Carnegie Mellon University works to instill a sense of inclusion and belonging for all students. Through that, along with networking and mentoring opportunities for women, we have achieved gender equity in our undergraduate computing programs.

BIOGRAPHY

Julia Poepping is the Associate Director of Partnership Development for the undergraduate Information Systems (IS) program at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). She manages community partner relationships and advises students for both the capstone consulting course and the summer consulting internship program. She serves on the IS Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee and represents IS on the Dietrich College DEI implementation team. Julia has been with CMU since 2018. For five years prior to joining CMU, Julia was an independent consultant, working with large corporations and universities on digital transformation projects. Prior to that she worked in a large industrial manufacturing company where she held several information technology leadership roles in business and functional areas. She received her BBA in IS from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and her MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. Julia also founded RedChairPgh, a non-profit all-volunteer network of women and men who are committed to creating gender balance in the Pittsburgh technology professions.