Harvard Crimson

Harvard University's Women in Computer Science group this year launched the WECode conference, which took place Feb. 8-9. Women from 40 colleges and universities were in attendance, according to WECode chief organizer JN Fang. Fang was inspired to organize a coding conference for women after reading "Lean In," a book by Facebook chief operating officer (COO) Sheryl K. Sandberg that encourages women to pursue their ambitions in spite of the challenges facing them. "It frustrated me that there had to be a book...there had to be this prominent COO to speak in order for this to be a public issue that people would talk about," Fang says. Although representatives from several private-sector companies were in attendance at the conference, recruitment was not the primary purpose of the conference. "This was created for one purpose, and that is to create community," Fang says. To read further, please visit http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/2/9/women-in-computer-science/#.