Yahoo provided funding to Princeton University women to attend the 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference. Students funded by Yahoo said they had a fabulous time and found the conference to be an enriching experience. The annual conference, a program of the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology, is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing. The conference is designed to focus on the research and career interests of women in computing. Leading researchers present their current work, while sessions focus on the role women play in today’s technology fields. Below are some some notes of appreciation we received from the women we funded.

I gained a huge confidence boost from all of the great speakers’ encouraging words, as well as some eye-opening information about women in computer science in both academia and industry. I also made invaluable connections, including with recruiters at Yahoo.

It was a wonderful experience, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to participate. It was very inspiring to be around so many female leaders in the field. I especially enjoyed talking to women who work in such different areas of computing, and it gave me a clearer idea of my own career aspirations.

This was 3 of the most inspirational days of my life: seeing nearly 4000 technical women – students of every sort, people just starting in industry, professors, senior women in industry, academia and government – in one place was one of the neatest experiences I have had. I definitely have an even stronger motivation to go for my PhD now, and some idea about different programs and schools for my different areas of interest.

Yahoo was proud to sponsor Princeton women to attend this conferences and we are happy to see such positive, inspiring results from those who attended.