Mentoring and Role Models Mary Lou Soffa Department of Computer Science

Mentoring? Mentoring has become a “buzz” word in education - what is it? Is a role model a mentor? Mostly to promote the advancement of women and minorities, especially in S & E. Why do only women and minorities need mentoring? Why mentoring is important in computer science? Strategies for mentoring high school students in computer science

What is a mentoring? Mentoring is establishing a very special relationship – is professional (ultimate goal to help someone achieve success) but also personal care about the personal development as well as professional – develops and can last over an extended period of time, with varying intensity - – provides information, help, advice, and contacts – provides encouragement and advocacy

Effective mentoring The teacher-student bonding that although it might not be recognized as mentoring, it is mentoring In general, effective mentoring relationship is characterized by – mutual respect, – trust, – understanding and – empathy – by both mentor and mentee

What is a role model? Someone who is admired for their skills and achievements – Can be a mentor – Don’t have to know them – important for women and minorities – Can be teacher – K-12, undergraduate, graduate, professional

Studies importance of mentoring Researchers have identified mentoring as the most crucial need for success and advancement at all levels and fields Mentoring is a career long activity and involves both mentoring and being mentored. Comes in different forms: – ad hoc – systematic and part of a program or policy

How do we learn to mentor? Education Lesson plans Area content Interest students Mentoring students?? We “parent” like our parents did – no training We “mentor” like our teachers/advisers did – no training!! – I thought about how to mentor – did not mentor like my adviser

Importance of mentoring in CS Students don’t know what computer science is Lack of understanding of skills required Negative perceptions about technology careers – No interaction with humans Negative stereotypical images of computer users – more prominent in high school than elementary school

Why mentoring is important in CS Attitudes and perceptions toward specific careers have an enormous impact on choices that HS students make Importance of shaping positive attitudes

Study Asked students what skills are necessary to be successful in computer science Skills necessary – Keyboarding was first – both boys and girls – Computer skills – Programming – Mathematics

Why mentor girls and minorities in CS Girls rank themselves less qualified than boys regardless of how they are doing Girls do better in collaborative environments Schools offer classes about how to use a computer rather than their use and applications – turn off for girls Ad hoc mentoring is done by “likes”

High school girls in CS Girls comprise fewer than 15 percent of all AP computer science exam-takers – the lowest representation of any AP discipline – Biology 58% – Calculus 40% – Physics 35% – Computer Science 15% High School seniors in 2006 taking SAT – only 1% computer and information science as major 50% decline – in % of all students intending to major in CS were women

Bachelor degrees in CS (2006) Between 1983 and 2006, the share of computer science bachelor’s degrees awarded to women dropped from – 36 to 21 percent overall Bachelors Degrees – – 12% Ph.D. producing institutions go to women Other sciences & mathematics – – Engineering +32.0% (current 16.9%) – Physical Sciences +39.1% (current38.4%) Computer science is only science % falling

Graduate degrees Master’s Degrees: 23% for women - stable Ph.D. degrees: 19% for women (increase from 11% in 1990)- 48% non-resident aliens; Domestic 36%; 2.5% African Americans More M.S. and Ph.D. than B.S. percentage wise - why

Graduate school? % of US CS grads enrolled in grad or professional school after one year – 9.2% of men and 2.9% of women – with a 3.5 GPA its 29.2% of men and only 2.5% of women National Center for Educational Statistics, 1994 Moskal, 2002 If rates continue as in the last 10 years, women will achieve parity with men in earned doctorates across all fields in 2008 across S&E in 2013 in CS&E in 2088 !!

Minorities ( ) BS degrees – total 10,284 – 3.4% African American (261) – 5.4% Hispanic (412) M.S. degrees – total 7,561 – 2.0% African American (132) – 1.6% Hispanic (109) Ph.D. – total (1,599) – 1.2% African American (19) – 1.3% Hispanic (20)

Faculty and Industry Women Women Faculty: – 20% are assistant professors (16% in 1998) – 13% are associate professors – 11% are full professors Women hold more than half of professional positions overall, but fewer than 22% of software engineering positions

Academia - Minorities New hires (188) – 0.6% African American (1) – 1.2% Hispanic (2) Current faculty African AmericanHispanic Full0.5% (8) 1.6% (28) Associate0.9% (11) 2.6% (31) Assistant2.1% (21) 1.9% (19)

What can we do? Mentoring – enormous impact mentors often have on students. Role models: – Many students learn how to behave by observing faculty members and treating them, consciously or unconsciously, as role models. Poor mentoring and role models can cause considerable damage.

What Research tells us Students need a broad overview of the field – what does it do Learning must include both theory an practice Instruction should focus on problem solving and algorithmic thinking Teaching and learning activities should be designed to address common misconceptions about CS

Gender and programming In studies when computer use was associated with programming, gender differences were more prominent and striking than non programming When computer use was associated with problem solving, little gender difference

Mentor – role of encouragement Encouragement important – self confidence – Great job, doing great – any kind of success

Examples Problem solving – Riddles – Fibonacci Rabbits What is programming A program is a set of instructions telling a machine what to do Problem, solution and then solving the solution via computers and programming

Three qualities of exemplary teachers of CS Problem solving approach – examine problems from different angles and perspectives and formulate solutions Real world focus: motivate students by having them create real-world artifacts - essential like between problem, user and solutions Welcoming environment for all students – especially women and minorities – and find creative ways to engage all students with examples and exercises that are relevant to their lives

Strategies of mentoring Teachers and staff Peer to peer Tele-mentoring Outreach

Peer to peer mentoring Students mentor students – Senior students mentor junior students – One on one – Group of students

Telementoring MentorNet Big Sisters/Little Sisters, WICS, Stanford University E-network for women in engineering and science. EECS Summer School for High School Students, MIT GEM-SET: Girls' E-Mentoring in Science, Engineering, and Technology set.org/ Mentor Girls

Role Models

Outreach and mentoring Universities, colleges in area – Students and faculty willing to meet and mentor students – UVA – part of our project – Contact the Department

Resources Gotta Have IT Gotta Have IT is an all-in-one computing resource kit designed with educators' needs in mind. CRA-W – NCWIT – National Center for Women in Information Technology – K-12 Alliance - ACM-W ACM/CRA Coalition to Diversity Computing Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity Conference –

Break out Two questions 1. What do you or your schools do to mentor? Programs? Ad hoc? 2. What strategies do you think might work and you would like to try them?