Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are central to the goals of the IEEE Computer Society and all of its conferences. Equity at its heart is about removing barriers, biases, and obstacles that impede equal access and opportunity to succeed. Diversity is fundamentally about valuing human differences and recognizing diverse talents. Inclusion is the active engagement of Diversity and Equity.
Thank you for being part of the ICSE community. We are striving to have every attendee, virtual or in person, feel like you belong and that this is your community. You don’t need to “fit in”, you get to show up as your authentic self, which is the only way you can truly belong. Now, we know that is not always easy and that professional conferences can bring certain apprehension - and while we, the DEI chairs Brittany and Birgit, are doing the best we can, we need your support in order to do this well. Therefore, our mission statement is:
“You belong. - How can we support you such that you feel it?”
Below you find a number of events and activities that we are working on for this and we hope you will choose to take part in. There will be additional online sessions for virtual attendees as well as meet-ups in person that we are still in the process of organising. Please reach out to us in case you would like to organise a meet-up for a certain affinity group or if you have any other ideas to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at ICSE.
A goal of the IEEE Computer Society is to foster an environment in which all individuals are entitled to participate in any IEEE Computer Society activity free of discrimination. For this reason, the IEEE Computer Society is firmly committed to team compositions in all sponsored activities, including but not limited to, technical committees, steering committees, conference organizations, standards committees, and ad hoc committees that display Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
IEEE Computer Society meetings, conferences and workshops must provide a welcoming, open and safe environment, that embraces the value of every person, regardless of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, religion, national origin, ancestry, or disability. All individuals are entitled to participate in any IEEE Computer Society activity free of discrimination, including harassment based on any of the above factors.
List of the community sessions for the virtual ICSE (All events happen in the time band UTC 3-4 and UTC 18-19) ):
- Town hall on May 10 UTC 18-19
- LGBTQIA+ on May 11 UTC 18-19
- Newcomers Reception on May 12 (both time bands): Let’s get together, meet for the first time, or the first time after a long time, celebrate diversity, and build new connections.
- Women Wonder Web May 13 UTC 3-4
- Parenting in Academia May 13 UTC 18-19
In-person DEI events
- Newcomers’ reception on Tuesday May 24th
- Morning yoga at the in-person conference is 7:45-8:30am Wed-Fri (bring a mat or towel if you can, no prior knowledge required)
- Birds-of-a-feather session on “Wellbeing, Resilience, and Biohacking”, Thursday 26th at 4:30-5:30
- In need of childcare support? Please let registration know when signing up for the conference!
Please contact the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Co-Chairs for more information: