Diversity in the Internet2 Community

Discussion and Working Session Internet2 Member MeetingMonday, April 22, 2013Laurie Burns McRobbie, Indiana University

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AgendaWelcome and Session OverviewCurrent Research

STEM dataRoot causesWhy it matters

ResourcesMember Experiences, Initiatives, Best PracticesInternet2 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 formationNature of computing culture

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College Computing Culture“Lone male geek” stereotypeFirst year skill levels

Men are more likely to have well-developed skills in programming

Women 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, 2002AAUW, “Why So Few?” Research report, 2010

http://www.aauw.org/research/why-so-few/NSF Reports on Women in STEMGirls 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

stakeholdersOpened January 2011

23 interns; now 46 6 teams; now 10 26 organizations served in past two years

Diversity profile exceeds School’shttp://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