McWiCS - McGill Women in Computer Science

What McWiCS - McGill Women in Computer Science does

McWiCS (McGill Women in Computer Science) is a volunteer-run student subcommittee of CSUS (Computer Science Undergraduate Society) at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. It operates as a community, mentorship, and advocacy organization dedicated to supporting and encouraging women and underrepresented students in computer science, rather than as a technology or commercial company. Its programming includes an Industry Mentorship Program pairing students with industry professionals in roughly 30-minute sessions every 2–3 weeks, an annual McWiCS Hackathon, recurring company site tours to employers such as Google and Morgan Stanley, guest speaker events and workshops, and conference scholarships for CAN-CWiC and the Grace Hopper Celebration.

The organization has no proprietary technology platforms. Operations run entirely on existing consumer tools: a CSUS Discord server, a Facebook page (facebook.com/McWiCS), a Linktree hub (linktr.ee/mcgillcsus), a weekly Sunday CSUS listserv, and Squarespace-hosted websites including hackmcwics.ca. Sub-brands include EquiTea (a weekly intersectional discussion gathering on technology, race, mental health, gender, and ability) and the CAN-CWiC Scholarship. McWiCS also participates in the broader CSUS infrastructure that includes a Helpdesk tutoring service in Trottier 3090, clothing merchandise sales, and the McGill Tech Fair, which attracts about 100 companies per semester.

McWiCS is not a revenue-generating entity. All its programs and services are free to participants; the only monetized touchpoint is merchandise sales managed by parent CSUS (items priced $7 to $54). The CSUS Fund provides conference subsidies up to $100 or 50% of conference costs, channeling limited flow-through funds rather than market revenue. McWiCS is governed by an elected student council with rotating volunteer leadership and operates under the oversight of McGill University's student government system.

Name

McWiCS - McGill Women in Computer Science

Legal name

McGill Women in Computer Science (McWiCS)

Website

https://mcgill-csus.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

McWiCS is a volunteer student subcommittee of McGill University's CSUS that runs mentorship, industry site tours, an annual hackathon, and equity programming for women in computer science. All services are free and delivered on campus in Montreal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Montreal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Clothing merchandise sales: CSUS operates a clothing sale of embroidered McGill Computer Science merchandise. While McWiCS is a sub-committee, the broader CSUS sells clothing items (hoodies, crewnecks, t-shirts, toques) ranging from $7 to $54. Revenue supports the CSUS society.
2. CSUS Fund conference subsidies: CSUS operates a fund to financially support undergraduate students for academic enrichment and professional development conferences. Students can receive up to $100 or 50% of conference costs. McWiCS-related conference subsidies (e.g., CAN-CWiC, Grace Hopper) are facilitated through this mechanism.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McWiCS is a student-run subcommittee of CSUS (McGill Computer Science Undergraduate Society) that organizes community programs, mentorship, site tours to tech employers, guest speaker workshops, equity initiatives such as EquiTea, and an annual hackathon for women and underrepresented students in computer science at McGill University. All services are free to participants and funded through sponsorships and parent-society support.

Product overview

McWiCS (McGill Women in Computer Science) is a student-run subcommittee of CSUS (Computer Science Undergraduate Society) at McGill University. It is not a technology company but rather a student organization focused on community building and support for women in computer science. The organization offers mentorship and community programs, organizes site tours to tech companies (Google, Morgan Stanley, and other Montreal companies), hosts guest speaker events and workshops, and runs an annual McWiCS Hackathon. These services are designed to cultivate an inclusive community and expand opportunities for women in the field of computer science.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EquiTea: A recurring weekly gathering during the academic year in which students discuss various matters about technology as it relates to race, mental health, gender, ability, and more
• McWiCS Hackathon
• CAN-CWiC Scholarship

Products and services

• McWiCS Mentorship and Community Programs Programs cultivating a warm, open-minded, diverse, and inclusive community dedicated to supporting and encouraging women in computer science, including mentorship pairings with industry professionals (30-minute sessions every 2-3 weeks) and broader community programming.
• McWiCS Site Tours
• McWiCS Guest Speakers and Workshops
• McWiCS Hackathon
• EquiTea Weekly Gatherings
• CAN-CWiC Conference Scholarship Scholarship program facilitating McGill CS student attendance at the Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing (CAN-CWiC) annual national conference for technical women in Canada, including keynote, workshop, student session, and career fair access.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CAN-CWiC (Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 November 2019CAN-CWiC is an annual national conference for technical women in Canada. McWiCS and CSUS co-sponsor McGill students to attend, providing full registration scholarships and coordinating transportation. The conference features keynotes, workshops, student sessions, and a career fair.
• Google (company tours)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerMcWiCS organizes semester site tours to Google, giving students direct exposure to the company and potential recruitment opportunities. Tours are facilitated as part of McWiCS's industry access mission.
• Morgan Stanley (company tours)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerMcWiCS organizes semester site tours to Morgan Stanley, providing students networking and recruitment exposure in the financial technology sector.
• Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in ComputingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMcWiCS facilitates student attendance at the Grace Hopper Celebration, one of the world's largest women-in-computing conferences with over 15,000 attendees. Multiple McGill students have attended in past years.
• HackMcGillminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHackMcGill is McGill's official hacker collective. McWiCS works alongside HackMcGill as part of the broader McGill tech club ecosystem, with both organizations collaborating on hackathon culture and tech events.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• UC Berkeley WICSE: UC Berkeley's Women in Computer Science and Engineering organization, supporting women and underrepresented students through mentorship, community events, and industry engagement — directly analogous to McWiCS.
• Cornell Women in Computing: Cornell's women-in-CS student organization running mentorship, conferences, and community-building events for CS students — directly comparable to McWiCS as a university WiCS chapter.
• Carnegie Mellon Women@SCS: Carnegie Mellon's women-in-computer-science student organization within the School of Computer Science, running mentorship, speaker events, and community programming — closely comparable to McWiCS as a university-affiliated WiCS chapter.
• Stanford Women in Computer Science (SWiCS): Stanford's student-run women-in-CS community offering mentorship, panels, and recruiting-focused programming for CS undergraduates, directly comparable to McWiCS's mission and structure.
• Harvard Women in Computer Science (WiCS): Harvard's WiCS group, a student-led community offering mentorship, speaker events, and networking for women in CS — a direct peer in mission, structure, and target audience.

Regional players

• University of Toronto Women in Computer Science: UofT's WiCS chapter, the most directly comparable Canadian WiCS community; similar mentorship and conference programming but operating in a different Canadian city, hence regional rather than direct overlap.
• University of Waterloo Women in Computer Science: University of Waterloo's WiCS group for CS students; same women-in-CS mandate at a peer Canadian CS program, comparable in mission but Waterloo's co-op-driven recruiting environment creates a different employer-engagement context.

Broad incumbents

• NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology): A national change-agent organization working to increase women's participation in computing; broader than McWiCS but pursues the same inclusion-in-CS mission through programs, research, and academic alliances.
• Girls Who Code: A national nonprofit focused on closing the gender gap in computing through programs for students; broader in scope and external to any one university, but pursues the same women-in-CS pipeline mission McWiCS supports at the undergrad level.
• AnitaB.org: A large, established nonprofit advancing women in computing through conferences (e.g., Grace Hopper), career resources, and community — overlaps with McWiCS's mission at a national/global scale rather than at a single university.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/McWiCS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcgill-computer-science-undergraduate-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about McWiCS - McGill Women in Computer Science