Information Theory Society Outreach Effort Muriel Medard

Recapitulation At the meeting in Porto, the BoG voted to have a concerted effort from our Society aimed at enhancing women’s participation in a way that is inclusive and beneficial to all members in the Society (led by Bob Gray, Muriel Medard and all interested) Concrete steps:  The Society approved a r equest for an initial $3 K from the Society for such efforts  Balancing career and family for members of our Society (planning such an event at ISIT 2008)

Community specific efforts – successful approaches ICASSP has run a successful women’s lunch networking event for several years Networking and communications has a successful N^2 Women (networking networking women) initiative Main components of success:  Events at main conferences (lunch/breakfast workshop), co-organized by a student (who is given a small travel award) and by a more senior member of the community, happening early in the conference  A mailing list with very few but useful s (the event at ISIT has already been sent to the N^2 Women list)  A visible web site hosted by the relevant society

Role of women in the IT Society Very few senior (50+) members and Fellows (counted 7 in the last 8 years, many of them not through our Society) Limited participation in TPCs:  ISIT /63  ISIT /56 (and 2/4 TPC co-chairs)  ISIT /55  ISIT /58 Better participation on BoG 3/20

Going forward We would like to continue meetings at ISIT and some of our main events (IT Summer School, some ITWs):  organized by students/postdocs in conjunction with senior members  support from the Society for travel grants and event  emphasis on networking, mentorship development and career skills, open to all Connect the outreach website to the IT Society website as an integral part of our Society’s services to its members