Technology Education and Women: Efforts Made at University of Colorado

1. Technology Education and Women: Efforts Made at University of Colorado Lecia Barker University of Colorado at Boulder

2. Overview • Statistics, why it matters • Two or three research projects • Middle school • Undergraduate • Graduate • National Center for Women and IT

3. Low participation in the US • Girls/women comprise: • 13% of advanced placement computer science test takers in secondary school • 28% of all CS bachelors degrees • 18% of all CS doctoral degrees • 20-25% of CS professionals

4. Why should we care? Social issues • Pervasiveness of IT • Innovation and creativity requires diverse ideas • High attrition of women from CS • Research across many studies shows that women’s performance equals men’s in CS, math, when experience factored out • Difficulty fitting into social context, in spite of apparent interest

5. Why should we care? Economic Issues • IT jobs are 3 of the 10 fastest growing Projected • IT job growth far exceeds production of qualified workers • US women earn on the average 77% of salaries earned by men doing the same work

6. Much research & outreach,little progress • Need unified effort • Advocacy with single message • Reason for founding National Center for Women and Information Technology

7. ATLAS Research atUniversity of Colorado Research of Middle School Girls Research of Undergraduate IT Programs

8. Middle school: an age of intense peer pressure • Lifetime of experience tells them that computers are in the male domain • Beginning to see themselves as heterosexual beings • Election: only or one of few girls, “path breakers” • Career aspirations

9. How do we persuade girls? • Recruiting into a high school computer “magnet” • Ethnographic research: observing classrooms, outreach program; interviews • Survey research

10. Typical recruiting practice v. what kids are attracted to • Cool equipment, software, projects • “If you like computers…” • Fail to recruit girls and non-techy boys • Both boys and girls attracted to: • Able to be with friends • Social acceptance, mutual support • Technology for freedom of expression • Lots of physical movement • Enduring relationships with teachers

11. Society of Women Engineers recruiting event • 717 girls, mixed race/ethnicity • 84% of the girls like computers (no differences across groups, age) • 81% believe everyone needs to know how to use them (no differences across groups, age)

12. Race/Ethnicity Yes No White 99% 1% Latina/Hispanic 76%* 24% African-American/Black 93% 7% Asian 83% 17% American Indian 100% - Mixed 99% 1% Other 77% 23% Use of computer at home Latinas significantly less likely to use computer at home

13. Recoded category Percent Professional emergent 50% Science, technology, engineering 13% Traditional for woman 18% Don’t know 19% What do you want to do when you grown up? Latinas significantly more likely to indicate traditional role Youngest girls more likely to report “I don’t know”

14. Implications (need more research) • Latinas: fewer opportunities for informal learning, (confidence and attitude issues) • Recruit the younger girls • Recruiting messages should align girls’ interests with computing (e.g., technology in veterinary medicine)

15. Research at undergraduate level • Study compared classroom climates of CS, IT certificate program • >600 hours classroom observation • Interviews with >170 students • Defensive climate in intro/mid courses • Impersonal, competition • Intimidation for less experienced students (I.e., most of the women) • Women feel conspicuous, isolated, and different

16. Comparing teaching, assessment across programs • CS: lecture, lab • Looking to teacher as fountain of knowledge, expert • CS concepts abstracted from world of experience • Rarely hear other students talk about CS • Lab a non-talkative environment • CS: assessment individualized, secret • Difficult to gauge one’s progress relative to other students

17. More open learning in TAM • All teaching in labs • Mini-lectures followed by hands-on • Requests for help frequent: both students and professors can be experts, novices • Public assessment of assignments • Required to present, provide critique • Heard each other talk in their own terms (not professor’s disciplinary jargon) • Could gauge where they stood

18. What does that have to do with women? • Research shows women prefer collaborative learning environments • Women come into CS with less experience • Perform as well as their male peers • Lose confidence easily because they cannot accurately judge their progress (in addition to the more difficult environment) • Change of pedagogy/learning environment may both attract and retain women

19. Introducing the National Center for Women and IT • Core at University of Colorado-Boulder • Hubs at U California-Irvine and -Berkeley, Georgia Tech, U Oregon, Girl Scouts of the USA, Anita Borg Institute, ACM, CRA and CRA-W • Academic Alliance • Industry Alliance • Social Science Network

20. Goals & Processes • Equal participation of women and men in academic and industrial careers within 20 years • Equal participation at all levels of the education and talent pipeline, from K-12 and undergraduate and graduate study to professional careers • Improved communication • Social change movement

21. Methods for succeeding • Funding and research at all places in the “pipeline” • Research-based best practices • Ongoing measurements of success