Women in HPC: Global initiative empowering women
Women in HPC: Global initiative empowering women in the industry
“Women can achieve anything they set their minds to!” A common belief — yet one that doesn’t hold true as often as we’d like. The gender pay gap persists, and far too few women enter high-performance computing — simply because no one told them early enough that they absolutely could. The global initiative Women in HPC (WHPC) supports women in joining forces and thriving in the field of high-performance computing.
Bettina Benesch
What if drugs designed for women were actually tested on women, and female patients were no longer treated as “small men”? What if car safety design also took women’s physiology into account? Chances are, there would be fewer adverse drug reactions in women — and female drivers might walk away from crashes more safely than they do today. But we don’t know for sure, because there are still far too few studies and crash tests that factor in the female body.
So what does all of this have to do with women in HPC?
Supercomputing and diversity lead to more inclusive product design
Supercomputing plays a vital role in modern research. If we ensure diversity among those working at high-performance computing centers, that variety of perspectives can ripple outward — influencing more inclusive product designs, better data, and more representative science. Diverse teams tend to create solutions that serve the majority, not just half the population.
Only about 20 percent of professionals in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are women. The exact percentage of women in HPC across Europe is unknown — but we can safely assume it’s well below 20 percent. At Cyfronet in Poland, for example, just 13 percent of HPC experts are women; at IT4Innovations in the Czech Republic, it’s only nine percent. To build real diversity in HPC, we need more women — and more men — who actively support this mission.
The initiative Women in HPC supports girls and women in gaining a foothold in the industry and developing their careers. The most effective tool is the WHPC mentoring programme, which takes place three times a year and runs for four months.
WHPC Mentoring Program starts in August
That’s what Women in HPC is all about: above all, it’s about raising awareness of everything that still needs to be done – more diversity in research teams and, ultimately, in society as a whole. The initiative supports girls and women in gaining a foothold in the industry and developing their careers.
The most effective tool is WHPC’s mentoring programme – which is completely free. It takes place three times a year and runs for four months. It is primarily aimed at women already working in HPC, though in some cases female students may also take part. The goal is to strengthen their own networks and find new ways to tackle challenges and think outside the box. Register here for a seat in the mentoring programm.
Join the Central European Chapter of WHPC
If you’d like to join the Central European Chapter of WHPC, you can sign up here. Male colleagues are especially welcome! Because building a truly diverse and thriving HPC ecosystem will take all of us — women and men alike.