This workshop at IJCAI 2015 addresses from an interdisciplinary perspective (scientific and sociological) the curious phenomenon that world-wide female participation in AI and CS in general is dwindling instead of increasing (e.g. in Argentina, it has gone from almost 70% to 11%), with the consequence that we are losing more than half the talent.
The workshop will discuss the societal causes of female under-representation in Computing Sciences, and in particular in AI, in order to:
  • promote consciousness of this situation among both sexes, so that it ceases to appear as “normal”
  • discuss potential actions that could heal these causes and could help the integration of women into the field
  • find ways of enlisting men in particular into helping out, given that they are placed in privileged positions and can therefore exert the most influence.
The workshop will be half-day.  Activities will include:
  1. an introductory presentation at the main conference about female under-representation in AI and computer science in general and particularly in Argentina 
  2. a lunch where the workshop’s topics can be discussed informally
  3. a panel session on what can be done to improve the situation.
  4. contributed presentations (see call for submissions)