Interdisciplinary Degree Program in Computing Attracts 57% Female Students

Despite outreach programs, targeted recruitment efforts and scholarships, women continue to account for a disproportionally small fraction of the bachelor’s degrees awarded in computing. That suggests to me that if we’re ever going to change our demographics, we need to look carefully at the product we’re offering. 

Today’s generation of college-bound students grew up immersed in the technology of computing. Instead of being intrigued by how computers work, a 2009 WGBH/ACM report found that today’s students – especially female students – are much more interested in “social interaction” and “making a difference in people's lives”, but also found that those goals are not considered to be compatible with careers in computing.

In response, Santa Clara University has established a new interdisciplinary degree program that emphasizes the relationship between computing and society. The new bachelor’s degree in Web Design and Engineering combines requirements in computing, graphic design, sociology, communication and English. Its goals are to produce graduates (1) who can analyze, design and improve the computa­tion­al infrastructure of the Web, (2) who can develop interactive multimedia content that is appealing, engaging, effective and easy to use, and (3) whose work will be guided by an understanding of and sensitivity to, the social, political, ethical and legal relationships between their work and those that it affects.

The new program is small, but the gender balance has been amazing. In its first year (2009-10), there were eight majors, of which six were women. Twenty-one students have applied for 2010-11; twelve of these (57%) are women. To put these numbers in context, only 17% of the 154 students who applied to our traditional BSCSE program are women. More information about the program is available at http://www.scu.edu/engineering/cse.

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Girl Empowerment and Mentoring (GEM)

This is the second in a series of blogs contributed by winners of the NCWIT Academic Alliance Seed Fund, a Microsoft-funded initiative that awards up to $15,000 to innovative programs that recruit and retain women students in post-secondary computing departments. Read more about the Seed Fund here.

Greetings from the 2nd-annual Girl Empowerment and Mentoring for Computing (GEM) project here at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL)!  The GEM project is designed to inspire middle- and high-school girls to study computing at the college level. These girls enter the GEM contest by submitting a design for the use of computing in the "real world"; women students from the UNL Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department act as big sister "mentors", and CSE faculty act as contest judges.  The winning team members are eligible for scholarships to study computing at UNL.

This year the GEM project has 40 participants from secondary schools, in eight teams, with six mentors.  Each GEM team works on a collaborative wiki essay, and this year's topics include mobile technologies, entertainment technologies, medical technoloies, Wii systems, cloning, educational/instructional technologies, forensic technolgoies, and sensors for human-computer interaction. Our kick-off reception last November welcomed more than 100 guests, including participants and their parents and siblings.  Since  then, several  teams have engaged in active online discussions, writing, and meeting with our mentors.  We also have revamped the GEM website at http://cse.unl.edu/gem. 

The GEM contest deadline is April 1, 2010.  An award ceremony and reception will let us celebrate the winners and their computing inspiration and achievements!

Leen-Kiat Soh is Principal Investigator of the GEM project and Associate Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering department at UNL.

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Harnessing Hacking: Inspiring Girls to get Creative with Computing

The term “hacking” has, over time, had many different interpretations. Most recently, it has been associated with an emerging movement of creative technological design celebrating ingenuity, appropriation, and repurposing, a blend of hardware and software design practices that adopt and adapt systems and components to new ends their originators might never have imagined.

Such problem-based and construction-oriented approaches to science and technology can reach and engage new audiences. We at the University of California at Irvine Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences have been developing and conducting workshops for introducing girls to digital media through crafts-style physical computing. Girls get to “play engineer” by rotating through four roles each class period and wearing a button that says who they are and the great things they can do. Through this effort, we are examining the role that ubiquitous and tangible computing education can play in harnessing creative practices to broaden participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Multi-level mentoring includes professors working with college students working with high school students working with middle school girls.  We are all there together as a team, figuring things out.  Everyone has someone they can learn from and everyone has someone to mentor. In this way, we are able not only to introduce girls to technology but also to reinforce the interest of all teenagers and young adults. 

 For more information, please contact Gillian Hayes, see the project website, or watch us on YouTube. Special thanks to Barb Erickson for her guidance on this project as well as to Microsoft Research, NCWIT, and Google for their support.  And of course, thanks so much to Girls Inc, Sarah Drislane, and the ladies of WICS for their continued hard work!

Gillian Hayes is Assistant Professor in Informatics in the School of Information and Computer Sciences at UC Irvine. Gabriela Marcu will present this work at SIGCSE 2010.

Marcu, G., Kaufman, S.J., Lee J.K., Black, R.W., Dourish, P., Hayes, G.R., Richardson, D.J.  Design and Evaluation of a Computer Science and Engineering Course for Middle School Girls.  Proc SIGCSE 2010.

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Update from The Stern Group, Opening Doors in Washington, D.C.

NCWIT recognizes the importance of establishing a strong presence among legislators and policy-makers in Washington, D.C., and we strive to keep key decision-makers apprised of the issues surrounding diversity and innovation. We do this with the help of The Stern Group, an international advisory firm led by the Honorable Paula Stern. Here are some examples of The Stern Group's work on behalf of NCWITover the course of the last month.

On January 7, 2010, Dr. Paula Stern of The Stern Group addressed the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Policy on behalf of NCWIT (view the webcast). Dr. Stern highlighted three major themes:  jobs, a shrinking talent pool, and education.  Specifically, she pointed out that there are IT-related job opportunities in the U.S. economy now and in the projected future.  She emphasized the need to attract and retain a diverse range of computing talent in order to keep pace with the growth of the information technology industry worldwide.

Furthermore, she spoke of the need to focus education and career counseling on information technology and not simply STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Finally, she stressed the importance of NCWIT’s mission, which is to promote rigorous, engaging, relevant computer science instruction that will attract underrepresented children and women re-entering the workforce in order to build a skilled U.S. information technology cadre.

On January 12, 2010, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) hosted a Roundtable on Practical Approaches to Attracting and Retaining Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Fields at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Ms. Sarah Eversman attended as a representative for NCWIT.

The roundtable discussions included a session on “Congressional Perspectives” from Marcy Gallo, Ph.D, a representative from the House Science and Technology Committee, and legislative assistants on the behalf of Senator Edward Kaufman (D-DE), Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH), and Representative Vernon Ehlers (R-MI).

Marcy Gallo noted that the House Science and Technology Committee is working at present on the reauthorization of the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Act with renewed support for STEM education. Senator Kaufman, who recently published a commentary in Education Week, “STEM Education: A Race to the Top,” is promoting the “Educate to Innovate” campaign that was initiated by President Obama to improve the participation and performance of America’s students in STEM. This campaign will include efforts not only from the Federal Government but also from leading companies, foundations, non-profits, and science and engineering societies to work with young people across America to excel in science and math. Finally, Rep.Vernon Ehlers recently authored a House Resolution designating December 6-12, 2010 as National Computer Science Education Week. “I introduced the resolution with my colleague Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) designating Computer Science Education Week primarily to highlight the shortage of computer scientists in our nation,” said Ehlers. “Computer science is becoming increasingly important and relevant in today’s high-tech jobs, but fewer and fewer students are choosing this course of study. We can help reverse this trend by introducing students to computer science at an early age so they will be prepared for the jobs of the future.”

In another presentation titled, “Women and STEM: How Title IX Can Be a Tool,” Cathy Pieronek provided a general overview of the Title IX Law. She explained that although people tend to associate this piece of legislation with increases in federal funding for women’s collegiate athletics it also mandates certain obligations for colleges and universities receiving funding for STEM education and research. As such, the government could influence the climate for women and minorities in information technology and other STEM related fields by conducting frequent reviews of institutions receiving funding. Reviews, if regularly implemented, could provide a guide to understanding where in the educational process inequities do occur and where changes should occur.Pieronek emphasized the significant influence Title IX may have in helping “to identify aspects of an unfriendly academic climate that includes few role models to inspire younger women that passively (or in some cases actively) discourages women from participating.”

The Stern Group's work to put diversity and innovation in IT in the federal government spotlight would not be possible without the support of people like you. Make a contribution today. You can read more about The Stern Group's work in our D.C. newsletters.

(Thanks to Jane Butterfield, Sarah Eversman and Paula Stern at The Stern Group)

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