The Grace Hopper Women Celebration of Women in Computing drew 14,000 women and 1,000 men from 83 different countries to Houston this week. Hundreds of tech companies hosted recruiting booths for current and prospective women engineers. In addition, universities, policy institutes and media outlets added a unique flavor to the event. Peter Maroulis and Alicia Mies, junior fellows in the TechTruth fellowship sponsored by The GroundTruth Project and SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE video unit, were on the scene to gather a variety of perspectives on women in tech:

Name: Maybellin Burgos

Title: Anita Borg Institute, Latina Women in Computing

What is the significance of Latina women in computer science?

There’s a lack of representation of [Latinas] in computer science. We’re all so heavily involved in tech and it’s a really important part of our daily lives. When there’s a lack of representation, there’s a lack in everything we do. For example, with Apple’s racial emoticons, I’m sure it was a person of color who pointed out, “Hey, I don’t feel represented in this.”

Name: Pedram Farjad

Title: Recruiter at Concur (SAP)

What is the importance of women in tech?

I’m a huge fan of women in tech in general. Any kind of diversity just adds, it’s nice to have a mix whether it’s in technology or in another industry and I think women have a lot to offer. Whether it’s gender or race or background or education or whatever it is, I think that the difference in background is great for the industry. My company is a sponsor here for a diversity initiative. We’d like to increase our female presence at SAP. We’re hoping to expose ourselves to women in technology and also do the opposite and expose women in tech to us.

Name: Michal Segalov

Title: Software Engineering Manager at Google Play

What is your message to women?

I’m here because Grace Hopper is an awesome conference celebrating women in computing and I’m a computer scientist, so I care about this type of thing. When people do, what they love and what they are passionate about, that’s great. If that’s computer science, then that’s great, but it doesn’t have to be.

Name: Ann Ming Samborski

Title: Boston University student

How can women become more involved in tech?

OK, so I’d like to say that I’m a firm feminist on this issue, but I’m not. I think the issue with women in tech is not necessarily that women aren’t accepted in the field, but more so that they’re not exposed to it. I think this conference is incredible because it puts out a lot of publications and public opinions in general, advertising for women in tech to discuss and learn about. But, if I can recommend one thing to the field, it’s just to put computer science in more schools.

This story was written as part of a Women in Tech fellowship sponsored by the GroundTruth Project and SiliconANGLE Media’s theCUBE. Other stories reported from the Anita Borg Institute’s Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference in Houston can be found at SiliconANGLE, the TechTruth Women in Tech site and the GroundTruth Project.

Alicia Mies, a junior fellow in the GroundTruth Project/theCUBE’s Women in Tech Fellowship, is a senior at Palo Alto High School. She is the current co-editor-in-chief of Verde Magazine, a Gold-Crown and Pacemaker-winning news and feature publication. She is also the founder of Effeminize, a feminist online publication.

 Peter Maroulis, a junior fellow in the GroundTruth Project/theCUBE’s Women in Tech Fellowship, is also a senior at Palo Alto High School. He is the current co-editor-in-chief of The Campanile, Palo Alto High School’s award-winning newspaper. He is the recipient of the 2015 JEANC Superior Editorial Award.

Profile photos by Peter Maroulis; featured image by Robert Hof