Nicte Aguillon Jimenez is majoring in Computer Sciences and getting a certificate in Gender & Women’s Studies.
1.Why did you choose GWS?
I first became interested in Women’s issues when I was in high school. The rise of the feminist movement in Mexico made me aware of all the misogyny within my culture, and I quickly started researching ways in which I could contribute to female empowerment. I came to UW-Madison with the idea of taking a couple of GWS classes to get a grasp of the field and understand the fundamentals. I thoroughly enjoyed my first class and decided to declare a certificate in GWS because I wanted to explore topics of Gender, Sexuality, Race, Class, and their intersections on a deeper level.
2. Has GWS changed your approach to your involvement (on or off campus) during college? If so, how?
In every GWS class I have taken, the first topic is always Intersectionality. Intersectionality refers to how people’s identities intersect with each other and shape how they experience the world. Intersectionality is a framework I aspire to have in every aspect of my life, including my professional career. Thanks to this mentality, I won a scholarship to build a voice version of a Menstrual and Sexual Health Chatbot in collaboration with the African Languages Lab. This voice version will be developed primarily in African languages to reach young girls and women in underserved communities. GWS gave me the ability to scratch beyond the surface and add an intersectionality lens to everything I work with, and I am eager to continue with this mentality in future endeavors.
3. How has GWS shaped your future plans?
GWS has empowered me and constantly reminds me why it’s important that I, as an immigrant woman of color, enter the male-dominated space that is the tech industry. I believe in using technology to advance equality for marginalized groups, as well as increasing minority representation to make better quality products. Thanks to GWS, I want to focus my career on increasing accessibility to and developing tools that empower other people and bridge gaps in inequality in terms of gender, class, and race, among others.