Diversity in the Internet2 Community
Discussion and Working Session
Internet2 Member Meeting
Monday, April 22, 2013Laurie Burns McRobbie, Indiana University
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AgendaWelcome and Session Overview
Current ResearchSTEM dataRoot causesWhy it matters
Resources
Member Experiences, Initiatives, Best Practices
Internet2 Actions
U.S. Women as % Total STEM Degrees, 1980 – 2007
David Bressoud, National Center for Education Statistics. 1990–2009. Digest of Education Statistics. US Department of Education. nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
37 19%42 60%49 57% 9 19% 42 44% 24 41%
Reck, IU Dept. of Chemistry, 2013
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Root CausesUnconscious bias
Schemas: Non-conscious Hypotheses
Expectations or stereotypes influence our judgments of others (regardless of our own group).
Gender: Men judging women; women judging women Men and women BOTH downplay the contributions of women
Race/ethnicity Whites judging minorities; minorities judging minorities Whites and minorities
BOTH downplay the contributions of minorities
Unconscious bias is NOT discrimination
Schmelz, CSWA, American Astronomical Society, 2013
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Root CausesUnconscious bias
SchemasYale study
Stereotype threat
Stereotype Threatthe anxiety women face in a situation where they
have the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about women as a group. This anxiety alone can result in documented cases
of lower scores on standardized math tests.
Highly competent women may also face impostor syndrome where they find it impossible to believe in their own competence. They live with a fear of being discovered.
Schmelz, CSWA, American Astronomical Society, 2013
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Root CausesUnconscious bias
SchemasYale study
Stereotype threatMath anxiety Imposter syndromePerceptions about women’s spatial skills
Lack of female role models for identity formation
Nature of computing culture
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College Computing Culture“Lone male geek” stereotype
First year skill levelsMen are more likely to have well-developed skills
in programmingWomen are more likely to have multiple interests,
may have less “time on task” towards programming mastery
First year programming coursesSolo work… and women tend to prefer
collaborative, team-based learning environments
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Why is this important?Equity
IT jobs pay well, opportunities for advancementWage gap is smaller in IT professions
Skilled labor shortages1.4 million IT job openings 2008-2018Two-thirds of these may go unfilled
Health of the IT sector itselfWomen improve technical innovation Women increase a company’s ROI
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Resources Jane Margolis, “Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in
Computing”. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002
AAUW, “Why So Few?” Research report, 2010http://www.aauw.org/research/why-so-few/
NSF Reports on Women in STEM
Girls Scouts Research Reports, Generation STEM, 2012http://www.girlscouts.org/research/publications/stem/
National Center for Women in IT, Resourceshttp://www.ncwit.org/resources
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NCWITNonprofit community with 450 companies,
universities, government agencies, other nonprofits
Focused on increasing women’s participation in technology and computing
K-12, higher education, industry, entrepreneurism
“Community, evidence, and action”
Based in Boulder, CO
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NCWIT PacesettersNCWIT Pacesetters is a fast-track program in which senior executives from startups, corporations, universities, and government commit to increasing their numbers of technical women. Pacesetters organizations work to recruit previously untapped talent pools of technical women and retain women who are at risk of leaving, resulting in "net new" women for their organizations.
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Aetna, AT&T, Bank of America, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Carnegie Mellon University, Cisco Systems, Facebook, Georgia Tech, Google, Intel, Indiana University, Michigan Tech, Microsoft, Purdue, Qualcomm, University of Nebraska, Return Path, Symantec, Syracuse University, University of California at Irvine, University of California Santa Cruz, University of Texas at Austin, University of Virginia, University of Washington, Villanova, Virginia Tech
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Indiana University: ServeIT IT clinic serving area nonprofits
“Technology for social good” Teams of interns Crosses semesters Partnership among multiple schools and with community
stakeholders
Opened January 2011 23 interns; now 46 6 teams; now 10 26 organizations served in past two years
Diversity profile exceeds School’s
http://serveit.soic.indiana.edu
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Indiana University: CEWIT
Staff- Networking, professional development, leadership, advancement, mentoring, WIT
Faculty- networking, CEWIT Salons, promote advancement of women across disciplines, leadership, mentoring, etc.
Students – degree decision support, networking, mentoring, scholarships, activities, WE-SIT
Faculty
StudentsStaff
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Internet2 ActionsForm an official initiative to create visibility
around the issue of diversity in the national networking community Internet2 as a champion and sponsor
Partner with other organizations working in this areaNational Center for Women in IT (NCWIT) Educause?Others?
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Internet2 ActionsProvide a central repository (or links to others)
for member best practices in recruiting and retaining women and minoritiesNSF’s ADVANCE program
http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/advance/index.jsp Information about member initiatives and programs
Explore sponsored programs, such as internships, assessment projects, workshops, etc.
Sponsor regular presentations and discussions at Internet2 Member Meetings and other gatherings