[Air-L] today is Ada Lovelace Day

[jeremy hunsinger]

http://findingada.com/  

Ada Lovelace Day aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and maths by encouraging people around the world to talk about the women whose work they admire. This international day of celebration helps people learn about the achievements of women in STEM, inspiring others and creating new role models for young and old alike.

The inspiration for Ada Lovelace Day came from psychologist Penelope Lockwood, who carried out a study which found that women need to see female role models more than men need to see male role models. "Outstanding women can function as inspirational examples of success," she said, "illustrating the kinds of achievements that are possible for women around them. They demonstrate that it is possible to overcome traditional gender barriers, indicating to other women that high levels of success are indeed attainable."

The day begins in Kiribati, the easternmost country in the world, and continues for a mindbending 50 hours, ending in American Samoa. Ada Lovelace Day is on 7th October 2011 and we encourage you to talk about women in stem that you admire and add your story to our directory so that others can find and read it. 



Jeremy Hunsinger
Communication Studies
Wilfrid Laurier University
Center for Digital Discourse and Culture
Virginia Tech



Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
--Pablo Picasso