My fellow Duke mates were unable to attend the welcome ceremony this morning. What they missed was the message that I got today at GHC: collaboration.
In my mind, there are companies that are competitors in certain fields; however, here at the conference, they unite for women.They unite to be role models for us students. They unite to teach and inform the new women in the field who will later become role models.
At my scholarship lunch, I sat with someone from Google who was one of the founders of Systers. She stated that “women, rather than view meeting people as networking, see it more as connecting” (this was summarized). I don’t know about you, but I agree with her. Unlike the severe and cut-throat feeling I get from the Duke career fairs, the women at GHC feel more open to discussion and supportive.
In the field itself, it was fun to see how my psychology classes can be applied or were used in some of the research that I heard during the break-out sessions. For example, one research on which diagrams were best to display information directly ties to my Health Communication class, which tries to ensure the public (the illiterate, numerically, textually, or health-wise) understands the message being delievered. Knowing that Euler ellipse diagrams are better for readers can be used when demonstrating the probabilities such as dying of a disease.
I have to say, I’m glad to see some guys at the conference and to meet a few that have gone for a few years. To me, it paints a picture that “hey, yes this conference says it’s for women, but men are welcome to come and join us in our celebration.” What better way is it to show the men how to interact with us than to openly invite them to see our world?
There was breaking the ice yesterday and collaboration today. I look forward to finding out what tomorrow brings.
~Wynne
