Building the Future of Computing Maria M. Klawe Harvey Mudd College

Outline Computing educators are world changers The power of diversity The power of mentoring The power of access Q&A

Computing educator = world changer Leveraging the power of computing is changing society: disciplines, industries, culture, education – Computing educators open the doors of leverage Learning computing changes individuals’ worlds – Luke and Starfish Enterprises – Sarah and MNE Creations

The power of diversity Why recruiting more diverse kinds of people to computing matters – Diverse teams produce better solutions – Intense demand for more graduates with computing knowledge – Everyone deserves access to amazing careers – Supports leveraging of computing in other areas – Improves computing education for everyone

Getting from 10% to 40% at HMC Female students at HMC over all: – 22% in 1997 – 32% in 2006 – 42% in 2010 – 45% in 2012 – Entering class in 2012 is 48% female Female faculty at HMC over all: – About 20% in 1997 – 33% in 2006 – 40% in 2010 – 4 of 5 who got tenure in 2011, 4 of 5 recruited in 2011

What the CS department did… Changed the intro course Eliminated student macho behavior Took first year females to Hopper Provided summer research experiences between first and second year

Changing the intro course Old course: learning to program in Java New course: computational approaches to problem-solving using Python Grouping by prior experience – CS 5 gold, CS 5 black, CS 42 – Elimination of macho behavior for CS 5 and CS 60 Outcomes: everyone loves it, more majors, more non-majors in higher level CS classes

Other examples Threads at Georgia Tech – Devices, Information Networks, Intelligence, Media, Modeling and Simulation, People, Systems and Architecture, Theory Mini-streams at UBC – Social and Human Centred Computing, Scientific Computing, Software Development 20 month second B.Sc. in CS at UBC

The power of mentoring Encouragement to succeed in challenging situations Role models WitsOn Impostor Panel

WitsOn (Women in Tech Share Online) A massive online mentoring project Brought to you by Harvey Mudd College and Piazza

What WitsOn is Six weeks (Oct. 1 to Nov. 11) of online discussions between female undergrads in science and engineering and mentors About 3,500 students and 600 mentors participating from over 100 institutions (15,000 students enrolled) Hosted by Piazza (online study and discussion forum) Mentors and students recruited by HMC

Original goals for WitsOn Provide advice and encouragement to female undergrad students in science and engineering Raise the visibility of HMC and Piazza Media coverage: – NYT, Huffington Post, Chronicle of Higher Ed, USA Today, Businessweek, NewYork Newsday, Daily Nebraskan, RedOrbit – College newpapers at Berkeley, Dartmouth, U. Washington, U. Rochester, Pomona, Wisconsin

What actually happened Most student engagement in “Name your fears” Mentors contributed most of the posts and responses Mentors and students expressed great appreciation for the discussions

Sample topics from students Should I go to grad school? How do I get research opportunities, internships? Dealing with sexism in STEM I’m struggling and not sure I belong in this field; everyone else seems smarter Career in X vs motherhood My undergrad major is in A but I think I’m more interested in B for grad school. My family wants me to go to med school but I don’t want to. What else can I do with a chem degree?

Sample dialogue between S and M’s S: Chem major, family wants med school, what else can I do? M: What else do you like to do? S: I really like CS and programming but I only have a minor M: You can go to grad school in CS with only a minor M: Take more CS courses, work on a hobby programming project S: I go to a tiny college, only one CS prof, but have been programming since middle school M: Can you cross-register at other larger colleges in your area? S: Yes, I can do that! I will. Thank you so much for letting me know about all these other opportunities. I had no idea!

Sample mentor topics Sexism: to intervene or not to intervene Burn-out: a story of coming out the other side Why we shouldn’t hate our obstacles Academia vs industry careers Integrating career and life My path to a satisfying career and happy family

What comes next? BitsOn (Blacks in Tech Share Online)? GritsOn (Grads in Tech Share Online)? LitsOn (Latino/a/s in Tech Share Online)?

Impostor Panel (Kori Inkpen)

Maria Klawe Presidential Impostor Harvey Mudd College

An Impostor’s Career Corporate Director, Broadcom, present Corporate Director, Microsoft, present President, Harvey Mudd College, present Dean of Engineering, Princeton Dean of Science, U. British Columbia VP Student & Acad. Services, UBC Head, Dept. Computer Science, UBC Research manager, IBM Almaden Researcher, IBM Almaden Asst. Professor, CS, U. Toronto Grad studies, CS, U Toronto Asst. Professor, Math, Oakland U Ph.D. Math, U. Alberta, 1977

I feel like an impostor when I… Start doing something new that is – Something successful people do – Something women don’t often do

I have felt like an impostor… 1975: eating in a restaurant, attending a math conference 1980: taking a taxi, staying in a nice hotel, renting a car, giving a talk at Stanford 1990: attending SIGGRAPH, giving a keynote address, doing a press conference 2000: meeting CEOs, Nobel Laureates 2008: meeting billionaires 2009: joining the Microsoft board

Tips for success with impostoritis Practice, practice, practice Accept self-doubt as part of who I am Surround with support Look back as well as ahead

The power of access MOOCs A possible HMC approach to a MOOC for high school students codewar.windward.net on January 26 codewar.windward.net

Let’s change the world! Educate everyone Mentor everyone

Questions and Comments