What Ladies in Robotics achieved in 2021 and what’s coming subsequent in 2022

It’s been a tough yr for girls everywhere in the world, and I’d prefer to thank everybody who has contributed to Ladies in Robotics in 2021, whether or not you’ve merely shared details about your self in our neighborhood #intros channel, or organized an internet occasion, or made your self obtainable as an advisor in our pilot mentoring program. Maybe you’ve been furthering our mission in an ‘unofficial’ means just by supporting different girls, and non-binary folks, who’re working in robotics, or who’re enthusiastic about working in robotics. 

We acknowledge and recognize the neighborhood constructing work that ladies do, which is so typically out of the highlight, and on prime of the whole lot else. Ladies’s work has not often been given financial worth as certainly one of my heroes Marilyn Waring wrote in “Counting for Nothing”. She based feminist economics, now known as triple backside line accounting, and adjusted the way in which that the World Financial institution and different international organizations consider economies. 

The pandemic has pressured girls out of the workforce at twice the speed of males, leaving girls’s participation within the workforce decrease than it’s been for 30 years. And the strain reveals no signal of stopping. Nonetheless, I imagine that at any time when girls are pressured to step backwards, we transfer ahead once more with renewed dedication and focus. And so my inspiration is renewed to additional the mission of Ladies in Robotics, to assist girls and non-binary individuals who work in robotics, and people who wish to work in robotics. We might all discover it laborious to search out time, however small actions in the precise time and place can transfer mountains. 

In 2021, our annual showcase featured not 25 or 30 however ‘50 girls in robotics it’s good to find out about’ from 21 totally different nations, from business, startups and academia, with specific point out of the ladies featured who’ve fought for the rights of refugees and persecuted girls, particularly the Afghanistan Ladies’s Robotics Group. For different girls, this recognition has helped to boost their profile inside universities or corporations, resulting in elevated alternatives.

Our annual record additionally implies that there’s no excuse for not together with girls in conferences, articles, coverage making, job searches and so on. In 2022, I’d like to see us create wikipedia pages for extra girls in robotics, and create a speaker database, and a quotation record, much like what Black in Robotics has carried out, and the work of 500 Ladies Scientists. 

The work of girls in science continues to be much less prone to be cited than that of males. Current UNESCO analysis has discovered that quotation bias is the beginning of profession lengthy lack of recognition for girls, beginning with girls citing themselves much less typically than males do. In 2022, let’s deal with bettering quotation charges, rising the variety of girls in panels, journals and conferences, or holding organizers accountable. We will goal rising the variety of girls cited in robotics curricula, studying lists and coursework. As a corporation we are able to attain out to universities, labs, conferences and journals in a means that particular person girls cannot.

One other grassroots marketing campaign that we began was the Ladies in Robotics Picture Problem, which has already resulted in some nice new photographs of girls constructing robots becoming a member of the picture search outcomes. Since then we’ve realized that atypical google or wikipedia search steer you to Sophia or intercourse robots, relatively than referencing actual girls constructing robots. It’s additionally time to retire the phrase ‘unmanned’. Ladies in Robotics is planning to request that any college nonetheless referencing ‘Unmanned’ Automobiles ought to substitute with driverless, uncrewed or a greater time period.

The shortage of in individual conferences is severely impacting the advantages of in individual networking at a senior stage for girls in robotics, and so we’d prefer to lastly launch our Advisory Board via an internet networking occasion(s) for senior girls in robotics, each in academia and business..

We piloted our first mentoring program over 12 weeks with 16 girls and it was a really profitable expertise for nearly each participant. We all know that there’s a lot of demand to run this system once more however we’ll want extra volunteers to assist arrange the occasions and match mentors/mentees. That is one space through which sponsorship for Ladies in Robotics could possibly be helpful, however sponsorship comes with a big administrative price, so we are going to solely search sustainable main sponsorships in 2022.

My gratitude goes to CITRIS & the Banatao Institute, via the Individuals and Robots Lab, for offering me with some funding for the final two years that has allowed me to spend a few of my time on Ladies in Robotics, Black in Robotics and the Society, Robots and Us Seminars. 

My name to motion is so that you can make your volunteer labor impactful by investing your time in a name to motion with a giant final result. I hope it’s certainly one of our Ladies in Robotics actions, however in the whole lot you do you symbolize girls in robotics and allies. Greatest needs to you all for 2022. And thank you to the 2021 Ladies in Robotics Board of Administrators! Our full Annual Report is right here.

1. Counting for Nothing (initially If Ladies Counted) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Women_Counted by Marilyn Waring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Waring
2. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/19/great-resignation-mothers-forced-to-leave-jobs
3. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/women-and-middle-managers-will-lead-the-great-resignation-into-2022/
4. https://en.unesco.org/information/unesco-research-shows-women-career-scientists-still-face-gender-bias

Reflections from the Ladies in Robotics Board of Administrators:

We’re very grateful for the work of our Board Members over the past yr and we thank Kerri Fetzer-Borelli, Hallie Siegel and Ariel Anders for his or her imaginative and prescient and expertise on the 2020 and 2021 Board. We’re delighted to have them be a part of our Advisory Board in 2022.

 

Allison Thackston:

Ladies in Robotics neighborhood and assist in 2021 was totally different from earlier years once we relied lots on native chapters, meetups, and networking.  With many places of work locked down and other people extra hesitant to do occasions in individual, we’ve struggled a bit.  On the brilliant aspect, we’ve been citing our on-line presence, bettering our web site, and rising our social media outreach.  Within the yr forward, I hope we proceed this development.

Cynthia Yeung:

Launching the Challenge Advance mentorship program was a spotlight of my service on the WiR board in 2021. We now have obtained a lot of nice suggestions from the inaugural cohort which we are able to use to enhance the programming for the second cohort in 2022. One of many key success metrics was the share of returning mentors (demand is limitless in two-sided marketplaces; provide is the constraint) and we’re happy to report that every one mentors are enthusiastic about returning for the second cohort. It’s personally gratifying to be able to implement the form of program that I needed to have entry to earlier in my profession. On a macro stage, I imagine that robust focus and measurable progress on a small variety of initiatives will bode nicely for WiR’s impression roadmap.

Lisa Winter:

2021 was a yr of self-reflection and a check of persistence. I feel 2022 would be the yr when numerous us take greater dangers as we attempt to determine a greater work/life stability. I wish to see extra communication on the WiR Slack, particularly giving job recommendation and engineering recommendation. What I get pleasure from about different websites that I feel we might incorporate is extra sharing of private initiatives; connecting over them and likewise studying.

Laura Stelzner:

WiR offers neighborhood and  assist in a subject the place it may be lonely being one of many few girls at your organization/division.  As the sector of robotics grows we wish to present girls and non-binary folks all of the wonderful profession alternatives that exist, by offering them with mentorship,  networking, management and profession development alternatives.

Laurie Linz:

2021 was a quiet yr for Boulder/Denver, we didn’t maintain any native (in individual)  conferences. I do have excellent news and that’s I’m in course of with organising some in individual occasions once more. We’ll method with warning given the covid scenario, however blissful to be beginning once more. 

WiR helps girls stage up or launch their profession in robotics. We welcome these not able to launch with networking and academic assist. Be taught, launch, stage up.

Sue Keay:

One of many considerations that retains me awake at evening is questioning what essential challenges we’d have solved already and what applied sciences are lacking due to the shortage of variety in robotics. That’s why Ladies in Robotics exists, to assist to assist the small variety of girls who’re contributing to creating robotic applied sciences and to encourage extra to affix our ranks. The worldwide record of girls in robotics has been an essential technique to sign the essential contributions that ladies are making on this house and to boost the profile of robotics as a sound profession alternative for girls. Becoming a member of WiR is acknowledging that we may be doing higher with variety in robotics and will present a lot wanted assist to a girl in robotics who could also be questioning their cause for remaining in such a male-dominated subject. My very own expertise has been that ladies have at all times been my best supporters and I really feel much less alone by being a part of WiR.

Sue Keay (Robotics Australia) with Erin McColl (Toyota Analysis Institute) with a Ghost Robotics platform.

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