What Ladies in Robotics achieved in 2021 and what’s coming subsequent in 2022

It’s been a tough 12 months for ladies all around the world, and I’d prefer to thank everybody who has contributed to Ladies in Robotics in 2021, whether or not you’ve merely shared details about your self in our group #intros channel, or organized a web-based occasion, or made your self out there as an advisor in our pilot mentoring program. Maybe you’ve been furthering our mission in an ‘unofficial’ method just by supporting different ladies, and non-binary folks, who’re working in robotics, or who’re all for working in robotics. 

We acknowledge and respect the group constructing work that girls do, which is so typically out of the highlight, and on prime of every part else. Ladies’s work has not often been given financial worth as certainly one of my heroes Marilyn Waring wrote in “Counting for Nothing”. She based feminist economics, now known as triple backside line accounting, and altered the best way that the World Financial institution and different international organizations consider economies. 

The pandemic has pressured ladies out of the workforce at twice the speed of males, leaving ladies’s participation within the workforce decrease than it’s been for 30 years. And the strain reveals no signal of stopping. Nonetheless, I consider that each time ladies are pressured to step backwards, we transfer ahead once more with renewed dedication and focus. And so my inspiration is renewed to additional the mission of Ladies in Robotics, to help ladies and non-binary individuals who work in robotics, and those that wish to work in robotics. We might all discover it exhausting to search out time, however small actions in the suitable time and place can transfer mountains. 

In 2021, our annual showcase featured not 25 or 30 however ‘50 ladies in robotics that you must learn about’ from 21 completely different international locations, from business, startups and academia, with explicit point out of the ladies featured who’ve fought for the rights of refugees and persecuted ladies, particularly the Afghanistan Ladies’s Robotics Workforce. For different ladies, this recognition has helped to lift their profile inside universities or firms, resulting in elevated alternatives.

Our annual listing additionally implies that there’s no excuse for not together with ladies in conferences, articles, coverage making, job searches and so forth. In 2022, I’d like to see us create wikipedia pages for extra ladies in robotics, and create a speaker database, and a quotation listing, just like what Black in Robotics has executed, and the work of 500 Ladies Scientists. 

The work of girls in science remains to be much less more likely to be cited than that of males. Latest UNESCO analysis has discovered that quotation bias is the beginning of profession lengthy lack of recognition for ladies, beginning with ladies citing themselves much less typically than males do. In 2022, let’s concentrate on bettering quotation charges, growing the variety of ladies in panels, journals and conferences, or holding organizers accountable. We will goal growing the variety of ladies cited in robotics curricula, studying lists and coursework. As a corporation we are able to attain out to universities, labs, conferences and journals in a method that particular person ladies can’t.

One other grassroots marketing campaign that we began was the Ladies in Robotics Picture Problem, which has already resulted in some nice new photographs of girls constructing robots becoming a member of the picture search outcomes. Since then we’ve realized that atypical google or wikipedia search steer you to Sophia or intercourse robots, moderately than referencing actual ladies constructing robots. It’s additionally time to retire the phrase ‘unmanned’. Ladies in Robotics is planning to request that any college nonetheless referencing ‘Unmanned’ Automobiles ought to substitute with driverless, uncrewed or a greater time period.

The dearth of in individual conferences is severely impacting the advantages of in individual networking at a senior stage for ladies in robotics, and so we’d prefer to lastly launch our Advisory Board by means of a web-based networking occasion(s) for senior ladies in robotics, each in academia and business..

We piloted our first mentoring program over 12 weeks with 16 ladies and it was a really profitable expertise for nearly each participant. We all know that there’s a lot of demand to run this system once more however we’ll want extra volunteers to assist set up the occasions and match mentors/mentees. That is one space during which sponsorship for Ladies in Robotics might be helpful, however sponsorship comes with a major administrative price, so we’ll solely search sustainable main sponsorships in 2022.

My gratitude goes to CITRIS & the Banatao Institute, by means of the Individuals and Robots Lab, for offering me with some funding for the final two years that has allowed me to spend a few of my time on Ladies in Robotics, Black in Robotics and the Society, Robots and Us Seminars. 

My name to motion is so that you can make your volunteer labor impactful by investing your time in a name to motion with a giant final result. I hope it’s certainly one of our Ladies in Robotics actions, however in every part you do you characterize ladies in robotics and allies. Finest needs to you all for 2022. And thank you to the 2021 Ladies in Robotics Board of Administrators! Our full Annual Report is right here.

1. Counting for Nothing (initially If Ladies Counted) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Women_Counted by Marilyn Waring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Waring
2. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/19/great-resignation-mothers-forced-to-leave-jobs
3. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/women-and-middle-managers-will-lead-the-great-resignation-into-2022/
4. https://en.unesco.org/information/unesco-research-shows-women-career-scientists-still-face-gender-bias

Reflections from the Ladies in Robotics Board of Administrators:

We’re very grateful for the work of our Board Members over the past 12 months and we thank Kerri Fetzer-Borelli, Hallie Siegel and Ariel Anders for his or her imaginative and prescient and expertise on the 2020 and 2021 Board. We’re delighted to have them be part of our Advisory Board in 2022.

Allison Thackston:

Ladies in Robotics group and help in 2021 was completely different from earlier years once we relied loads on native chapters, meetups, and networking.  With many workplaces locked down and other people extra hesitant to do occasions in individual, we’ve struggled a bit.  On the intense facet, we’ve been mentioning our on-line presence, bettering our web site, and growing our social media outreach.  Within the 12 months forward, I hope we proceed this progress.

Cynthia Yeung:

Launching the Undertaking Advance mentorship program was a spotlight of my service on the WiR board in 2021. We have now acquired a lot of nice suggestions from the inaugural cohort which we are able to use to enhance the programming for the second cohort in 2022. One of many key success metrics was the share of returning mentors (demand is limitless in two-sided marketplaces; provide is the constraint) and we’re happy to report that each one mentors are all for returning for the second cohort. It’s personally gratifying to be ready to implement the form of program that I needed to have entry to earlier in my profession. On a macro stage, I consider that sturdy focus and measurable progress on a small variety of initiatives will bode properly for WiR’s affect roadmap.

Lisa Winter:

2021 was a 12 months of self-reflection and a check of endurance. I believe 2022 would be the 12 months when loads of us take larger dangers as we strive to determine a greater work/life steadiness. I wish to see extra communication on the WiR Slack, particularly giving job recommendation and engineering recommendation. What I get pleasure from about different websites that I believe we might incorporate is extra sharing of non-public tasks; connecting over them and in addition studying.

Laura Stelzner:

WiR gives group and  help in a area the place it may be lonely being one of many few ladies at your organization/division.  As the sector of robotics grows we wish to present ladies and non-binary folks all of the wonderful profession alternatives that exist, by offering them with mentorship,  networking, management and profession development alternatives.

Laurie Linz:

2021 was a quiet 12 months for Boulder/Denver, we didn’t maintain any native (in individual)  conferences. I do have excellent news and that’s I’m in course of with establishing some in individual occasions once more. We’ll strategy with warning given the covid scenario, however blissful to be beginning once more. 

WiR helps ladies stage up or launch their profession in robotics. We welcome these not able to launch with networking and academic help. Be taught, launch, stage up.

Sue Keay:

One of many issues that retains me awake at evening is questioning what necessary challenges we’d have solved already and what applied sciences are lacking due to the shortage of variety in robotics. That’s why Ladies in Robotics exists, to assist to help the small variety of ladies who’re contributing to creating robotic applied sciences and to encourage extra to hitch our ranks. The worldwide listing of girls in robotics has been an necessary technique to sign the necessary contributions that girls are making on this area and to lift the profile of robotics as a legitimate profession selection for ladies. Becoming a member of WiR is acknowledging that we will be doing higher with variety in robotics and will present a lot wanted help to a girl in robotics who could also be questioning their cause for remaining in such a male-dominated area. My very own expertise has been that girls have at all times been my best supporters and I really feel much less alone by being a part of WiR.

Sue Keay (Robotics Australia) with Erin McColl (Toyota Analysis Institute) with a Ghost Robotics platform.