Jobs with NCWIT

NCWIT Higher Education Research Associate Job Description

The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit community of nearly 1500 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase girls’ and women’s meaningful and influential participation in computing. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources and tools for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K–12 and higher education through tech industry and entrepreneurial careers.

Through its Academic Alliance, NCWIT engages Higher Education change leaders including deans, department chairs, faculty, and administrators, representing more than 667 Academic Alliance member institutions, through multiple Higher Education Initiatives programs. With the overarching goal of advancing and institutionalizing systemic change within computing departments, NCWIT develops, implements, and evaluates research-based programs, interventions, and resources designed to assist higher education change leaders in adapting and implementing systemic change strategies within their departments to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion of women of intersecting identities. More specifically, Academic Alliance membership provides individual change leaders with on-going access to research-based programs, resources, and communities of practices facilitated by its Higher Education Initiatives social scientists and programming staff. 

A primary focus for this Research Associate position will be working closely with NCWIT’s higher education team to develop and facilitate programs and communities of practices, such as NCWIT’s Learning Circles, and to create research-based resources focused on assisting our Academic Alliance member institutions in implementing strategic and sustainable approaches to creating inclusive organizational cultures. In short, this position involves conducting research; applying that research in real-life higher education settings; facilitating communities of practice; delivering papers and presentations; and developing practical research-based resources and tools. Embedded within all of these responsibilities is the goal of helping computing departments implement research-based practices for creating inclusive cultures and for increasing the meaningful and influential participation of women of intersecting identities in their computing programs. This position will also involve working with the broader NCWIT research team on research, evaluation, and other projects as needed.

Required qualifications include:

• Ph.D. in anthropology, communication, cultural studies, sociology, education, management, social psychology, industrial psychology, or related field;
• expertise in research related to diversity, equity, and inclusion and computing fields (or education, organizations & society more broadly), especially as relates to intersections among gender and gender expression, race, class, sexual orientation, ability, national origin, or immigration status;
• strong academic-literature review skills, writing skills, and demonstrated ability to “translate” and synthesize research articles into language and practical tools for relevant audiences;
• excellent organizational skills and the ability to set and keep deadlines independently while thriving in a distributed team environment;
• ability to adapt to changing project priorities based on program participant needs and external funder requests;
• strong presentation and speaking skills;
• ability to handle confidential information with integrity and sensitivity and ensure compliance with IRB for ethical conduct of research;
• ability to travel within the US as needed.

 Preferred Qualifications: 

• Direct experience working with academic department chairs, faculty, and staff in the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategic DEI plans and the implementation of research-based strategies and interventions;
• Experience with facilitating programs designed to advance systemic organizational culture change;
• Understanding of postsecondary organizational culture and operations;
• Knowledge of organizational change theory and its implementation within institutions of higher education;
• First-hand engagement with academic departments in assessing DEI data and with development of tools to facilitate assessment process;
• Experience creating and utilizing research-based DEI-focused resources and tools;
• Experience writing grant proposals, especially federally funded grants.

 This position will be responsible for the following:

Learning Circles (35%)

• Facilitate NCWIT Learning Circles designed to educate departmental teams of computing faculty, administrators, and staff in the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategic departmental recruitment and retention plans;
• Collaborate with other higher education research scientists in the development, revisions, and deployment of NCWIT’s academic Tech Inclusion Journey systemic change platform;
• Assist the director along with other team members in the recruitment and readiness assessment of departments to participate in Learning Circles;
• Collaborate with other higher education research scientists on the development and revisions of Learning Circle curriculum;
• Conduct one-on-one office hours with Learning Circle departmental change leader team points of contact.

Research-Based Resources (30%)

• Lead the development of new and update existing higher education focused research-based resources in partnership with other higher education research scientists;
• Identify NCWIT Academic Alliance member needs and existing gaps in NCWIT’s higher education resources;
• Review research, synthesize reliable findings and promising practices, and translate research into new higher education resources;
• Collaborate with NCWIT Communications and other relevant staff to develop multi-media formats and other vehicles for sharing research-based practices and advice;
• Facilitate the deployment of the Tech Inclusion Journey to computing departments not participating in Learning Circles.

Academic Alliance Research Scientist Support (20%)

• Advise the Academic Alliance Program Manager on the development and implementation of Alliance programs and services such as the Ambassador program, Meeting of the Minds webinar series, AA Co-Chairs facilitation, and the Higher Education listserv;
• Partner with the Academic Alliance Program Manager to develop and lead the Alliance Summit meeting planning, content development, and implementation;
• Lead the development and implementation of higher education regional initiatives programs;
• Collaborate with the Director of Higher Education Initiatives to provide support for the Academic Alliance Advisory Board implementation.

Paper, Presentations, and Grant Development (10%)

• Collaborate with other team members on the development of external grant funding proposals and on the creation of funder reports;
• Facilitate the team’s creation and submission of papers and presentations to relevant academic and computing audiences. 

 Other (5%)

• Serve on NCWIT Research Team, advance NCWIT’s research agenda, and ensure that Academic Alliance and higher education initiatives programs represent current research foundations and promising practices;
• Represent NCWIT in collaborative projects, events, and outreach with other Broadening Participation in Computing and higher education organizations;
• Attend the weekly all-NCWIT staff meeting;
• Other duties as assigned.

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. A cover letter describing your interest in the position;
2. A current resume/CV;
3. Names and contact information for three (3) or more references who may be contacted during the search process.

For full consideration, please submit all application materials by March 6, 2023.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, applications must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs (search for job #45983).