Universal literacy—a challenge for computing in the 21st Century

are hard questions to answer. Large numbers of senior women participate in decision-making bodies that drive the field's future, but they participate as individual or minority voices. As a result, it is difficult to identify patterns or understand whether women are driving (or attempting to drive) the field in any specific directions. So, we decided to ask. The results surprised us. The results changed the way we think of computing and the role that women play in the field. The results might change the way you think, too. Finally, the results will challenge institutions to review their ways of defining their futures and goals. Last September, 50 senior and successful technical women from the computing field in industry, academia, and government from the U.S., Canada, and Ireland met to explore their perspectives on the future of computing. The meeting was unprecedented. The women who attended are nearly all from technical backgrounds and have risen to senior ranks either by continuing in technical roles or by moving into executive or administrative roles. These women represent the full range of technical areas. They are professors , department chairs, and deans. They are directors and fellows , executives, and company founders. They drive research directions in universities, and development and investments in corporations. They influence the direction of research investments by governments. For one day, the participants explored four questions: • What are the most important technical issues for the next 10 years? • What are the most important issues to be addressed? • How must computing and IT education change to meet the needs of the future? • What can the most senior women in the field do to address the issues that everyone is talking about? The results challenge the entire computing field to rethink and expand the way we approach the future, to prioritize our projects, to teach our students, and to inspire the creation of fabulous new technologies. They also sur-} What would happen if you asked 50 successful female computer scientists about the future? As we approached the new century, the last years were full of visionary exercises— attempts to predict, state, or prognosticate a future for computing. Only rarely were women's voices heard unless it was to comment on their rarity. What do women computer scientists foresee as the future of computing? What do our most successful women believe we should do in this new millennium? What …