Computer geeks: It’s a woman’s world, too

Tidewater Community College’s Women’s Center will host a panel discussion on March 15 titled “Women and Computers” that will highlight careers for females in a burgeoning industry.

Heather Engel, executive vice president of Sera-Bynn, will be the keynote speaker. Engel took part in Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s cyber entrepreneurship roundtable last July.

The event, from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at TCC’s Virginia Beach Campus Student Center, room K320, is free and open to the public. Anyone attending the lunch must RSVP by March 14 at www.tcc.edu/womenscomputerslunch.

TCC information technology professor Kim Perez will moderate the panel, which will include Tracy Gregorio, president of G2 Ops Global, Inc.; Irene Conlin, senior cyber security analyst at General Dynamics; and Jeri Prophet, president and chief executive officer of IntellecTechs, Inc.

“This is an opportunity to explore a lucrative field that we encourage all women to consider when making career decisions,” said Gretchen Edwards-Bodmer, leadership development coordinator for the Women’s Center.

By 2020, there will be 1.4 million jobs available in computing related fields. U.S. graduates are on track to fill 29 percent of those jobs, with women filling only 3 percent of those, according to Girls Who Code, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap in technology.

TCC offers an Associate of Science in Science with a Specialization in Computer Science that is a transfer degree. In addition, the college has an Associate of Applied Science in Information Systems Technology and multiple career studies certificates in the field, including one in cyber security.

For more information, contact the Women’s Center at 757-822-7296 or womenscenter@tcc.edu.