Joanne McGrath Cohoon

Must there be so few? Including women in CS

Womens under-representation in academic computer science is described for the U.S. and internationally. Conditions that contribute to this situation are identified, and motivations for increasing womens participation in computer science are discussed According to recent research in the US., effective interventions at the undergraduate level include: actively recruiting women, encouraging women to persist, and mentoring for the purpose of overcoming under-representation. The latter two practices are easily implemented.

Benchmarking Gender Differences in Volunteer Computing Projects

Volunteer Computing (VC) uses the computational resources of volunteers with Internet-connected personal computers to address fundamental problems in science. Docking Home (D@H) is a VC project targeting drug discovery through high throughput docking simulations i.e., by docking small molecules (ligands) into target proteins associated to diseases. Currently there are more than 27,000 volunteers (and 70,000 computers) worldwide supporting D@H. Similar to national trends in STEM fields, in general, the huge majority of volunteers engaged in VC projects, and in D@H in particular, are Caucasian males. This paper aims to characterize the current VC community supporting D@H and uses the information to define strategies that can help attract and retain female and ethnic minority volunteers.

Educating Diverse Computing Students at the University of Virginia

Through curricular reform, outreach programs, and other diversity initiatives, the percentage of women undergraduate computing majors at the University of Virginia has increased from 8 to 21 percent over the past 10 years.

Gender, Commercialization and Thought Leadership in Computing: Examining Women’s Participation in Information Technology Patenting and Conference Paper Authorship

Few studies have investigated gendered patterns in IT patenting or authorship, but understanding female participation in these areas is important if we are to increase women’s meaningful participation in recognized and rewarded aspects of IT innovation. This chapter reports findings from two studies: one on female rates of patenting and one on female authorship of computing conference papers. In short, we demonstrate that while women’s participation remains low, especially in terms of patenting, important increases have been made over time. We also examine variation in these rates of patenting and authorship across companies and across conferences, ultimately identifying some important implications for increasing women’s meaningful participation in key commercial and intellectual aspects of computing.

Teaching teachers to teach diverse students in computer science

The goal of this panel is to engage the computing education community in perspectives on developing and delivering diversity-focused faculty professional development. Panel session attendees will gain an understanding of the role and importance of diversity-focused professional development and knowledge about the critical instructional components that affect successful online and face-to-face professional development available to them and their colleagues. The panel is comprised of scholars who are both researchers and educators. They provide a range of experience developing and delivering professional development to high school, community college, undergraduate and graduate school computing faculty.

Pedagogy for engaging diverse students in computing: four effective methods (abstract only)

Four research-supported teaching methods can make your computing courses more effective through improved student learning, comprehension, and motivation. This workshop introduces and provides experience with those four methods: 1. Collaborative learning, e.g., pair programming or peer led team learning; 2. Examples and exercises in contexts that appeal to a broad range of students; 3. Computing skills developed through practice; 4. Developing spatial rotation abilities. The presenters are among leading researchers and award-winning practitioners. J. McGrath Cohoon: Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT); Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Virginia; conducts nationwide empirical studies of gender and computing. Jim Cohoon: Computer Science professor at the University of Virginia; IEEE Computer Science highest education award recipient, and author of award-winning introductory textbooks. Susan Horwitz: Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin - Madison; lead PI on an NSF grant that pioneered and evaluated use of Peer-Led Team Learning in introductory Computer-Science courses; recipient of University teaching awards. Seth Reichelson: award-winning high school Computer Science teacher; nationally recognized for his approach to high school computing courses in general and AP Computer Science in particular. Laura Jones: teaches in a public elementary school, writes frequently about girls and STEM careers, founded and directed the GEMS clubs (Girls Excelling in Math and Science) in 1995. Workshop participants will learn from these presenters how to employ the pedagogical methods for engaging and retaining diverse students in computer science courses. .A laptop is optional.

Mini workshop — How to organize a professional development workshop for high school CS teachers

This mini-workshop will follow a “train-the-trainer” model. Experts will provide guidance and resources for college computing faculty who wish to organize workshops for high school computer science teachers. These workshops will enable the teachers to attract more and diverse students to their computer science classes, which will add to the college-bound population of students prepared for and interested in a computing major.

ACM-W's new programs for recruiting and retaining women in computing

This special session will provide an overview of the programs that ACMs executive committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W) coordinates for the recruitment and retention of women in computing. The overview will include projects in all areas of ACM-W with special focus on those projects impacting the educational environment.

Action and Intention: Considering the Relationship between Educational Software and Gendered Career Interests

Educational software can be a valuable tool for teaching and learning at the pre-college level, where the foundation is laid for entry into technology-related fields like computer science and engineering. Like all technology, the promise of educational software to advance learning and spark career interest in these areas also comes with the potential for unintended and unwanted consequences. One of these consequences is gendered outcomes in learning and career interest. Oversight of gender issues in the design and application of educational software, as well as the way it used by teachers in the classroom, can result in technology-based educational experiences that are more appealing to boys than girls, and that ultimately reinforce the gender imbalance in science and technology majors. As a first step toward understanding how educational software design and teacher implementation can achieve and promote gender balance, this paper brings together research from education, sociology, psychology, and computing to explore the interaction between gender and technology education