Community College Computing Programs' Unique Contexts for Promoting Gender Equity
- Conference
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2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD)
- Location
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New Orleans , Louisiana
- Publication Date
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February 26, 2023
- Start Date
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February 26, 2023
- End Date
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February 28, 2023
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topics
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Diversity and CoNECD Paper Sessions
- Page Count
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23
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--44786
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/44786
- Download Count
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176
Paper Authors
Erin Carll University of Washington
Erin Carll is an evaluator and researcher at the University of Washington Center for Evaluation and Research for STEM Equity. She earned a PhD and MA in Sociology as well as a certificate in demographic methods and a concentration in social statistics from UW. She also earned an MA in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from Columbia University, a BA in Political Science and Russian Studies from Central Connecticut State University, and an AA in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Three Rivers Community College.
Elizabeth Litzler
University of Washington
orcid.org/0000-0003-0626-8473
Elizabeth Litzler, Ph.D., is the director of the University of Washington Center for Evaluation and Research for STEM Equity (UW CERSE) and an affiliate assistant professor of sociology. She has been at UW working on STEM Equity issues for more than 19 years. Dr. Litzler is a member of ASEE, 2020-2021 chair of the ASEE Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and a former board member of the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). Her research interests include the educational climate for students, faculty, and staff in science and engineering, assets based approaches to STEM equity, and gender and race stratification in education and the workforce. She was awarded the 2020 WEPAN Founders Award.
Gretchen Achenbach University of Virginia
Gretchen Achenbach is a research scientist in the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia, and at the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT). She earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her interests focus on science communication and gender issues in computing and technology.
Nancy Binowski County College of Morris
Nancy Binowski is a Professor of Computer Science at the County College of Morris in Randolph, NJ. Prior to joining the faculty ranks, she was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories.
Professor Binowski has dedicated her career to expanding the reach of computing to women and other under-served groups and to engaging her students in industry practices and experiences which can make the world a better place.
Catherine E. Brawner
Research Triangle Educational Consultants
orcid.org/0000-0002-8172-7599
Catherine E. Brawner is President of Research Triangle Educational Consultants. She received her Ph.D.in Educational Research and Policy Analysis from NC State University in 1996. She also has an MBA from Indiana University (Bloomington) and a bachelor's degree from Duke University. Dr. Brawner served as an Extension Services Consultant for NCWIT from the program's inception in 2008 until 2021. In addition to that role, she is also a professional researcher and evaluator, focusing on minoritized populations in higher education STEM disciplines.
Jamie Lee Huber Ward WEPAN, Inc.
Dr. Jamie Huber Ward is the Associate Director of Extension Services and a social scientist with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on issues related to organizational change in higher education; inclusive pedagogy; curriculum reform; post-secondary student experiences; and representations of gender in media.
In her role with Extension Services at NCWIT, Jamie works with the ES Director and core team to implement and analyze research projects designed to increase women’s participation in post-secondary computing programs. This includes working with faculty and staff from a variety of collegiate computing programs to facilitate their local implementation of evidence-based recruitment and retention strategies and translating these successes into resources accessible to post-secondary computing programs on a nationwide scale. She also engages in project management and strategic planning for the Extension Services Program.
Prior to joining NCWIT, Jamie served in various roles in student affairs administration and as a faculty member in several Gender Studies and Communication Studies departments. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, an M.A. in Psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Louisville, and a B.A. in Psychology and English from Illinois College. Jamie has published chapters in edited book collections and in a number of scholarly journals, including: AFFILIA: Journal of Women and Social Work; Kaleidoscope: A Journal of Qualitative Communication Research; Journal of Research in Personality; Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology; and Women and Language. She served as a Women’s Center Committee Pre-Conference Co-Chair for the National Women’s Studies Association from 2013-2015 and is currently a member of the board of directors for WEPAN.
Sherri L Sanders
Sherri Sanders serves as the Director of Higher Education Initiatives and BridgeUP STEM as well as a Senior Research Scientist with the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research focuses on issues within higher education related to gender equity and inclusion; strategic recruitment and retention of underrepresented communities in computing; and sustainable and systemic organizational culture change. Before joining NCWIT in 2017, Dr. Sanders served as a senior administrator at The University of Texas at Austin for twenty-nine years, most recently as the associate vice president for inclusion and equity. While at UT-Austin, Dr. Sanders also served as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy and taught graduate-level classes on college student development theory. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from The University of Texas at Austin; her M.A. in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University; and her B.S. in Psychology from Louisiana State University.
Melissa C Stange
Laurel Ridge Community College
orcid.org/0000-0001-8478-2107
Dr. Melissa C. Stange is a Professor of Computer Science at Laurel Ridge Community College. Dr. Stange has over 30 years of professional technology experience and has been teaching in the community college environment for 17 years. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Management & Decision Sciences from the Walden University, a Master of Science in Computer Science from Nova Southeastern University, Masters of Business Administration from Averett College, Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from Shenandoah University, and an Associates of Applied Science in Data Processing from Chattahoochee Valley Community College. She is a member of the ASEE, IEEE, ACM, ASA, ATMAE, WyCyS societies. She is a Program Evaluator for ABET Computing Accreditation Commission and a FAA licensed sUAS Remote Pilot.
Zhen Wu
Dr. Zhen Wu is a research associate at National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). Her research interests emphasize the meaningful participation of women in computing.
Abstract
Key Words Gender, Computer Science, Information Technology, 2 Year Institution
Introduction Since 2014, women have comprised just one-fifth of those graduating with associate degrees in computing and information systems (CIS) [1]. The CIS gender gap in community colleges (CCs) is particularly concerning from an equity perspective, since these institutions provide crucial access to post-secondary education, including for the socioeconomically disadvantaged, first-generation, older, and Hispanic college students they disproportionately serve [2]. However, little research and programming focuses on supporting gender equity1 within computing programs within CCs. This issue has motivated the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) Extension Services (ES) to expand its programming to CCs. This paper shares initial related lessons that may be useful to others with similar aspirations.
ES helps address the gender gap in computing through its Learning Circles (LC), which provide resources and support to change leader teams (CLT) from institutions working to expand gender equity in their undergraduate computing programs. CLTs attend monthly meetings to discuss research and strategies related to recruiting and retaining women in computing. The teams are supported by an expert consultant as they assess their departmental needs and produce a strategic recruitment and retention plan. ES provides funding to support implementation.
Evaluation feedback suggests that the LCs broadly provide essential structure and resources for developing and implementing strategic recruitment and retention plans. To understand how to better serve CCs in this work, this paper asks: 1) What are the needs of community colleges that are trying to advance gender equity in undergraduate computing? and 2) What NCWIT resources support their gender equity work?
Data & Methods This paper relies on surveys, interviews, and the personal reflections of computing faculty who participated in an LC.
Findings Findings show that CC CLTs emphasize their unique needs and challenges, which require resources and support that are tailored to their context. The teams found several resources useful, particularly the one-on-one guidance of expert ES consultants and staff, as well as a self-assessment and student entry survey, which allowed them to better understand—and convincingly communicate to their colleagues—the state of gender equity in their departments. Some teams also identified student recruitment and retention workbooks and tip sheets as helpful. Top 10 Ways to Recruit Underrepresented Students to Your Undergraduate Computing Program and the Strategic Planning for Retaining Women in Undergraduate Computing workbook are two examples that CLTs mentioned. Finally, the CLTs unanimously reported that the gift funds NCWIT provided were helpful for implementing some of their goals. On the other hand, resources like the Tracking Tool—which schools can use to longitudinally collect and assess enrollment, attrition, retention, and completion data—were designed for 4-year schools and are not yet useful for 2-year institutions.
Endnotes 1In this paper, “gender equity” refers to the conditions in which sufficient policies and practices are in place to support equal outcomes for students regardless of gender.
References [1] J. Ma and S. Baum. “Trends in Community Colleges: Enrollment, Prices, Student Debt, and Completion.” College Board Research: Research Brief, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/trends-community-colleges-research-brief.pdf (accessed July 6, 2021).
Carll, E., & Litzler, E., & Achenbach, G., & Binowski, N., & Brawner, C. E., & Ward, J. L. H., & Sanders, S. L., & Stange, M. C., & Wu, Z. (2023, February), Community College Computing Programs' Unique Contexts for Promoting Gender Equity Paper presented at 2023 Collaborative Network for Computing and Engineering Diversity (CoNECD), New Orleans , Louisiana. 10.18260/1-2--44786
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