This October, students from the University of Iowa Women in Computer Science (WiCS) and faculty members Elizabeth Kleiman, Steve Goddard, and Tasfia Mashiat traveled down to Lenexa, Kansas to attend the bi-annual Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas Women in Computing conference (MINK WiC).

The event brings students, faculty, and technological leaders from across the four states together to discuss the role of women in today’s computing and technology fields. Over the course of two days, conference participants heard from keynote speakers, asked questions at panels, joined workshops, viewed research presentations, and met with employers at a career fair.

Erin Waldron, Founder and Lead Data Strategist at Data Dozen, captivated the audience with her message about the power of taking initiative—not just for career advancement, but for the journey itself. She encouraged attendees to be active participants in their own stories, emphasizing that it's often the people we meet and the memories we create along the way that shape our professional and personal lives.

Dr. Baek-Young Choi, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), offered a deeply personal and moving keynote, highlighting how her professional pursuits have been inspired by her own family—particularly her daughters. Her ability to infuse her work with personal meaning reminded attendees that our closest relationships can be powerful sources of creativity and motivation. Her talk was not only technically insightful but emotionally resonant, showing how impactful work often begins with the people we care about most.

President of WiCS, Mikayla Jensen, highly recommends students to attend the conference for hearing stories by women in technology as it's "inspiring and motivating". One panel on imposter syndrome resonated with her.  "This is something that many women in the STEM field suffer from, including myself. Hearing from women that have been in the industry for years and have found ways to cope with this was very reassuring and deeply impacted me."

"It reminds me that there is a community for women out there and knowing they're all very supportive is amazing." - Mikayla Jensen

Kristin To, Vice President of WiCS, took part in the conference through her Lightning Talk. She focused on User Interface for Developers emphasizing to the audience the importance of user interaction. While practicing for this it was important to her that she's "trusting that I've rehearsed it well enough and focused on conveying my passion to the audience." Because she wanted to let user experience resonate with audience so that they can develop for users. She recommends this experience to other students to get good feedback and to gain confidence in stepping out of their comfort zone.

Another WiCS student participated in the poster presentation section of the conference. Chloe Ladines, Social Media Manager of WiCS, presented on her summer internship research at Quant16, an IT Consultant company located in Chicago. Her presentation focused on website accessibility for government services. "Even though this was more of a personal research, I was really hoping to help inspire developers to keep accessibility design in mind because why create more barriers?" She was happy to see people showing interest in expanding their audience on the projects they build. She recommends students to do poster presentations, especially if they have stage fright like her but still want to talk about what they're passionate about.

Katie Koenig, member of WiCS and first timer at MINK WIC, advises students to just "do it." She had a lot of fun being there in the conference by creating new connections and strengthened old ones. She's super excited to go back again in 2027.

"Go in with a positive mindset and do it, talk to all sorta of people. Bring business casual and ideally print out at least one resume. Still just do it and go along for the ride." - Katie Koenig

Women in Computing Sciences, or WiCS, is open to any student who identifies as a gender minority at the University of Iowa. At least once a month, the group meets to hear from speakers, participate in career-building workshops, and engage in social events. More information about WiCS can be found on their website and on Instagram, @uiowawics.