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We know. Being a change leader for girls and women in tech is hard work. NCWIT strives to make your to-do list a little less daunting by equipping you with resources to help you implement systemic change, raise awareness, and reach out to critical populations. Don’t reinvent the wheel, recycle practices that do not work or that exacerbate problems, or move forward based on faulty assumptions! Let more than 160 research-based resources, available for FREE at www.ncwit.org/resources, guide you towards setting and achieving your goals.
There’s a Resource for That
NCWIT resources are not only free, but they are also adaptable to your goals and audience.
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Get your facts straight. Updated for 2017, “Women and Information Technology (IT): By the Numbers” [ncwit.org/bythenumbers] presents the most compelling statistics on women’s participation in technology on a single page.
Interrupt bias. What (if anything) would you do or say in academic or industry settings? There can be benefits and costs to intervening. Before you act, assess the situation, and consider how your relationships and roles affect how you intervene. Use “Interrupting Bias in Academic Settings” [ncwit.org/biasacademic] and “Interrupting Bias in Industry Settings” [ncwit.org/biasindustry] to help you practice ways to interrupt bias in real-life situations.
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Involve men as advocates and allies. Why? For one, increasing diverse participation is not a women’s issue or an issue that is only relevant to women and other underrepresented groups. Diversity and inclusivity are business issues, and they are human issues. People of all genders are held to restrictive standards around gender, racial, and other identities that limit their potential and the kinds of things they are able to do. Use the “Male Allies and Advocates Toolkit” to support workplace efforts to engage male allies and advocates in diversity and inclusion initiatives [ncwit.org/ma-toolkit].
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Recruit and retain strategically in postsecondary education. Extension Services for Undergraduate Programs (ES-UP) recommends a strategic, sustainable approach for attracting and retaining women that focuses on revising educational systems for an inclusive experience for all students, as opposed to changing the students to fit these systems. Use this interactive tool to explore the components of an effective, strategic plan [ncwit.org/esup-model].
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Start at home. Families and parents can provide early computing-related experiences. “Top 10 Ways Families Can Encourage Girls’ Interest in Computing” provides ways that you, as a family member, can encourage the girls in your life to study, and have a career in, computer science and related technology fields. [ncwit.org/top10families]
These resources are only a small sampling of free tips and tools available from NCWIT. Filter for your needs, and find hundreds more at www.ncwit.org/resources.
Get Social With It
#NCWITresourcemonth is back! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter throughout July, where we’re dropping nuggets of wisdom for parents, educators, policymakers, social science researchers… and others! Because no matter who you are, YOU can be a change leader for girls and #womenintech.
Tell Us About It
Do you have a story to share about using NCWIT resources or about rallying hearts and minds for creating change for girls and women in tech? Email us at [email protected], and give us your preferred phone number, so that we can chat about your experiences.
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