Engineering and computer science — two of the most lucrative STEM fields — remain heavily male-dominated. Only 21% of engineering majors and 19% of computer science majors are women. In order to help foster a stronger community for women in tech, the UT Dallas Computer Science Department has hosted a monthly lecture series called the Grace Series. The Grace Series Talks at UT Dallas generally feature a wide range of speakers, including UT Dallas Computer Science and Software Engineering alumni, UT Dallas CS/SE professors, as well as other distinguished female and male technologists in the field. Drs. Pushpa Kumar, Janell Straach, and Linda Morales conceived the idea of the UT Dallas Grace Series as a result of attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference (GHC) several years ago. Through the years, additional faculty members have become involved with the series, including Dr. Karen Mazidi, Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham, Dr. Mehra N. Borazjany, Dr. Gity Karami, and Dr. Anjum Chida. The conference, fittingly named after the woman who helped pioneer computer programming, Rear Admiral Dr. Grace Murray Hopper, has involved presentations designed to bring research and career interests of women in computing to the forefront. Every year, GHC brings together the community of female and male technologists, highlighting the best minds in computing and spotlighting the contributions of women to computing. The UT Dallas Computer Science Grace Series lectures are fashioned after the GHC Conference format.
The first speaker of the fall 2022 Grace Series Lecture featured Dr. Bhavani Thuraisingham of the University of Texas at Dallas Computer Science (CS) Department. Dr. Thuraisingham is the Founders Chair Professor of Computer Science, the Founding Executive Director of the Cyber Security Research and Education Institute (2004-2021), and the Co-Director of the Women in Cyber Security and Women in Data Science Centers at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also a visiting senior research fellow at Kings College, the University of London, since 2015 and gives lectures pro-bono in Trustworthy Machine Learning at the University of Dschang, Cameroon, Africa. Dr. Bhavani is an elected Fellow of several prestigious organizations, including the ACM, the IEEE, the AAAS, and the NAI (National Academy of Inventors). Her research, development, and education efforts have been on integrating cyber security and data science/machine learning for the past 37 years, including at Honeywell Inc., the MITRE Corporation, the National Science Foundation, and Academia. Her recent focus has been on developing scalable trustworthy machine learning-based solutions for tackling cyber security challenges. She has received several awards, including the IEEE Computer Society’s 1997 Technical Achievement Award, ACM SIGSAC 2010 Outstanding Contributions Award, the 2013 IBM Faculty Award, the 2017 ACM CODASPY (Data and Applications Security and Privacy) Lasting Research Award, the 2017 Dallas Business Journal Women in Technology Award, and the 2019 IEEE ComSoc Technical Recognition Award for Communications and Information Security. She has delivered over 200 keynote/featured addresses and over 120-panel presentations, including for Fortune Media, Dell Technologies World, and the renowned Lloyd’s of London Insurance, written 16 books, published over 130 journal articles and over 300 conference papers, and has 7 US patents. She has also written opinion columns on security for venues such as the New York Times, WomensDay.com, Inc. Magazine, and the Legal 500. Dr. Thuraisingham received her PhD in Computability Theory from the University of Wales, UK, and the prestigious earned higher doctorate (D.Eng) from the University of Bristol, England, for her published work in Secure Data Management. She also has a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics and the renowned Lloyd’s of London Insurance, has written 16 books, published over 130 journal articles and over 300 conference papers, and has 7 US patents. She has also written opinion columns on security for venues such as the New York Times, WomensDay.com, Inc. Magazine, and the Legal 500. Dr. Thuraisingham received her PhD in Computability Theory from the University of Wales, UK, and the prestigious earned higher doctorate (D.Eng) from the University of Bristol, England, for her published work in Secure Data Management. She also has a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics and the renowned Lloyd’s of London Insurance, written 16 books, published over 130 journal articles and over 300 conference papers, and has 7 US patents. She has also written opinion columns on security for venues such as the New York Times, WomensDay.com, Inc. Magazine, and the Legal 500. Dr. Thuraisingham received her PhD in Computability Theory from the University of Wales, UK, and the prestigious earned higher doctorate (D.Eng) from the University of Bristol, England, for her published work in Secure Data Management. She also has a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics.and the Legal 500. Dr. Thuraisingham received her PhD in Computability Theory from the University of Wales, UK, and the prestigious earned higher doctorate (D.Eng) from the University of Bristol, England, for her published work in Secure Data Management. She also has a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics.and the Legal 500. Dr. Thuraisingham received her PhD in Computability Theory from the University of Wales, UK, and the prestigious earned higher doctorate (D.Eng) from the University of Bristol, England, for her published work in Secure Data Management. She also has a certificate in Public Policy Analysis from the London School of Economics.
In her talk titled “Top 15 Reasons to do a PhD in Computer Science,” Dr. Thuraisingham goes into great detail about how important it is to get a PhD in Computer Science. In this presentation, she provided a brief background on how she arrived at where she is and how she benefitted by getting a PhD. She then went on to provide 15 reasons as to why a person, especially a woman or one from an underrepresented minority community, should go beyond a BS and MS and get a PhD.
“The representation of women and underrepresented minority communities has increased a great deal in Computer Science. However, in many disciplines of Computer Science, such as Data Science and Cyber Security, it is vastly underrepresented. Far fewer women have been elected to IEEE and ACM Fellows than men when it should be around 50%. In addition, fewer women are in positions of power both in academic institutions (e.g., Engineering Deans) and in the C-Suite in corporations as well as on corporate boards,” noted Dr. Thuraisingham. She went on to talk about how there is an insufficient number of women who are senior researchers and practitioners who are able to support younger women in getting promotions and awards such as IEEE and ACM Fellows and various Technical Recognition Awards. As a result, women not only lose out on the recognition,but they also lose out on high-paying jobs.
Dr. Thuraisingham went on to say, “One way for women and underrepresented minority communities to have an edge is to not only do a BS and MS in Computer Science (CS) but also a PhD in CS. Dr. Thuraisingham strongly urged the audience to maximize their potential by getting a PhD.
After introducing herself and her history, Dr. Thuraisingham went on to talk about the top 15 reasons why to get a PhD in Computer Science. Below are her top 15 reasons why it is important to get a PhD.
- PhDs allow for creative thinking and comprise an intellectual challenge. PhDs maximize one’s potential.
- Holistic solutions involved with acquiring a PhD can enable a person to develop a critical skill set.
- Interdisciplinary Research involved with PhD programs can be extremely intellectually stimulating.
- PhDs open up multiple options and job opportunities associated with high-paying and high-demand jobs in industry (both software development and research), academia, federal research labs, and government.
- One of the major benefits associated with achieving a PhD in Computer Science is the possibility of founding start-ups.
- Computing is currently pervasive, being involved in every corner of the world. For example, numerous healthcare start-ups have been founded to give people better healthcare advice, especially for serious ailments.
- Financial Rewards are almost guaranteed with a PhD. The starting salary of a PhD is usually around $250-300K (including stock options and bonus) in industry, while that of a person with an MS degree is around $150-200K.
- Job Security is guaranteed with a PhD.
- Consulting and involvement in the lecture circuit can be a popular decision with a PhD in hand. Because of the numerous opportunities in Computer Science, one could readily make a career out of consulting and contract work.
- Combining Career with Family. There is no job better than that of a professor (especially a tenured professor) to allow one to raise a family and have a fulfilling career. This is not limited to a PhD in Computer Science; it also applies to all fields. Your hours are flexible, and you have to be present only to teach and be present for office hours (usually a couple of hours a week).
- Can one be overqualified? – No. While some say that with a PhD one may be considered to be overqualified, this is no longer the case. Having a PhD will rarely hurt a person’s prospects in today’s economy. By getting a PhD you will likely give have a tremendous advantage at some point in your life, even though it may not be immediate.
- Having a fulfilling and productive experience. After hearing what my students say and based on my own experience, conducting research for a PhD thesis is one of the most fulfilling, productive, and enjoyable times in one’s education. Therefore, reading research papers, contemplating research problems, developing solutions, writing programs, and publishing papers can be very exciting. This is a time to be cherished!
- Bringing happiness and great pride to parents. I have seen so much joy in parents’ eyes when their sons and daughters graduate with a PhD. For example, the father of one of my past female PhD students, who, along with two other daughters, are all medical doctors, told me that attending his daughter’s graduation and seeing his daughter with a PhD in CS was the happiest day of his life.
- Being a doctor and being a role model! With a PhD one gets to be called a “Doctor” and with that title comes much respect from the community. More importantly, we can be role models for our children, family and friends, as well as the general student population.
- Acquiring that priceless, highly coveted green card! For those of us born outside the US, getting that green card is one of the most important events of our life. I frequently see the joy in the eyes of my students when they get their green card.
“The reason for my talk/article is to motivate the students to pursue a PhD for the reasons outlined above. The main point I am trying to make is that one is far better off doing a PhD and not stopping with a BS or MS. It commonly takes two years to complete a MS. The question is why not spend three more years to complete the PhD and enjoy all the aforementioned benefits? Many of my MS students want to get jobs as soon as possible. Many of them take out loans to pursue an MS degree. Because a PhD degree is usually paid for by grants and fellowships in most universities, why not continue on to this degree?” noted Dr. Thuraisingham. “My final advice is to take advantage of this opportunity and finish the PhD in five years. I have benefitted by doing a PhD in so many ways and have had such a varied and fulfilling career,” she concluded. She also added in the end that the discussions during the lecture helped her to address some other aspects, such as (i) a PhD will help with educating students, which is so critical to get more women into CS, and (ii) how to handle the challenging situation for women wanting to do a PhD and at the same time wanting to have babies. Often a woman is almost 30 by the time she finishes her PhD and this is also about the time when her biological clock starts ticking.
Since the inception of the UT Dallas Grace Series in the spring of 2015, a total of thirty-seven inspiring women and men have spoken, including:
- Bhavani Thuraisingham, Louis A. Beecherl Jr. Distinguished Professor, UT Dallas CS Professor, and Executive Director of the UT Dallas Cyber Security Research and Education Institute (CSI) (click here for her story)
- Lily Wu, UT Dallas CS Professor and Director of the Data Communication and Data Management (DCDM) Laboratory (click here for her story)
- I-Ling Yen, UT Dallas CS Professor (click here for her story)
- Ranran Feng, UT Dallas CS Professor (click here for her story)
- Sanda Harabagiu, UT Dallas CS Professor, Erik Jonsson School Research Initiation Chair, and Director of the UT Dallas Human Language Technology Research Institute (HLTRI) (click here for her story)
- Rym Zalila-Wenkstern, UT Dallas CS Professor and Director of the Multi-Agent and Visualization Systems lab(click here for her story)
- Inga H. Musselman, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost for The University of Texas at Dallas (click here for her story)
- Jo Zhang of Fujitsu Laboratories of America (click here to read her story),
- Farokh Bastani, UT Dallas CS Professor, Excellence in Education Chair, and Director of the UT Dallas site of the NSF Net-centric and Cloud Software and Systems Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (NSF NCSS I/UCRC) (click here to read his story)
- Peggy Shadduck, Director of both the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD) STEM Institute and of the Dallas/North Texas STEM Degree Accelerator Program (click here to read her story)
- Lymari Ames of Cisco Systems (click here to read her story)
- Romelia Flores an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor (click here to read her story)
- Jill Blanchar, a Bank of America Information Security Executive (click here to read her story)
- Lisa Frey, State Farm Scrum Master (click here to read her story)
- Kimberly Snipes, USAA, VP, Chief Information Officer (click here to read her story)
- Catherine Walsh, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Loss Prevention for Johnson Controls’ Tyco Retail Solutions
- Nimmi Kannankutty, Deputy Division Director in the Division of Graduate Education (DGE) at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
- Karen Mazidi, UT Dallas CS Professor (click here to view her slides from her Grace Series Talk titled “Discovering Your Strengths”)
- Grace Kaldawi, Senior Software Engineer for Capital One Auto Finance, Amazon Web Services Certified Solutions Architect, and UT Dallas CS Alumnus (click here to read more)
- Sydeaka Watson, Senior Data Scientist at Korelasi Data Insights, LLC, an independent analytics consulting company (click here to read more)
- Ewa Musial, Senior Software Engineer at Blackhawk Network (click here to read more or click here to view slides from her presentation)
- Janell Straach, Rice University CS Professor, former UT Dallas CS professor, and one of the Grace Series founders (click here to read more or click here to view slides from her presentation)
- Uni Yost, CEO/Founder of GoAskJay (click here to read more or click here to view slides from her presentation)
- Smita Bakshi, President, and Co-Founder of zyBooks (click here to read more or click here to view slides from her presentation)
- Bhavani Thuraisingham, Louis A. Beecherl Jr. Distinguished Professor, UT Dallas CS Professor, and Executive Director of the UT Dallas Cyber Security Research and Education Institute (CSI) (click here to watch her talk)
- Betty Stewart, Provost, Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs and tenured Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Texas at Dallas (click here to watch her talk)
- Neeti Khaitan Gupta, President and CEO of Accelerate Consulting Inc. (click here to watch her talk)
- Juliet G. Odima, CSM, CSPO, Executive Director, STEAM Achievers Associate Vice President, and Director, School of Data Science and Analytics, Colaberry Inc. (click here to watch her talk)
- Seda Mauer, Digital Accessibility Consultant at Seda Maurer Consulting (click here to watch her talk)
- Shobana Radhakrishnan, Director of Engineering for Android TV at Google (click here to watch her talk)
- Stephanie Adams, UT Dallas Erik Jonsson School Dean and Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair at The University of Texas at Dallas (click here to watch her talk)
- Elisa Bertino, a Samuel D. Conte Professor of Computer Science Cyber2Slab at Purdue University (click here to watch her talk)
- Fanny Dunagan, CEO & LinkedIn Content Strategist at Pathlynks (click here to watch her talk)
- Tamara Bassam, Program Committee member for the DFW Alliance of Technology and Women (Click here to watch her talk)
- Daphne Yao, Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, Elizabeth and James E. Turner Jr. ’56 Faculty Fellow and CACI Faculty Fellow (click here to watch her talk)
- Maral Mesmakhosroshahi, Deep Learning Researcher at Microsoft, and Founder and President of Iranian Women in Computing, a nonprofit organization supporting Iranian women in tech in the United States (click here to watch her talk)
- Bhavani Thuraisingham, Louis A. Beecherl Jr. Distinguished Professor, UT Dallas CS Professor, and Executive Director of the UT Dallas Cyber Security Research and Education Institute (CSI) (Click here to watch her talk)
ABOUT THE UT DALLAS COMPUTER SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
The UT Dallas Computer Science program is one of the largest Computer Science departments in the United States with over 4,000 bachelors-degree students, more than 1,010 master’s students, 140 Ph.D. students, 52 tenure-track faculty members, and 42 full-time senior lecturers, as of Fall 2021. With the University of Texas at Dallas’ unique history of starting as a graduate institution first, the CS Department is built on a legacy of valuing innovative research and providing advanced training for software engineers and computer scientists.
