Ethnicity and Gender in Academia Ann Q. Gates Associate Professor Computer Science The University of Texas at El Paso

Questions Addressed What was my path to academia? What does the data tell us about ethnicity and gender? What are the causes and solutions (perspective students and faculty)? How can we accelerate change? Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead

What was my path to academia? ChildhoodEducation BS in Math: 1971 BS in Math: 1971 Master’s in CS: 1990 Master’s in CS: 1990 Ph.D. in CS: 1995 Ph.D. in CS: 1995Family Husband (33 years) Husband (33 years) Children (3) Children (3)Work Programmer/ teacher Programmer/ teacher Head Computer Science Head Computer Science IEEE-CS BOG IEEE-CS BOG Research students (5 Ph.D., 3 Master’s, 3 UG) Research students (5 Ph.D., 3 Master’s, 3 UG)

Taulbee Survey Ethnicity of Current Faculty CS&CE n = 5179

Taulbee Survey Gender of Current Faculty CS&CE n = 5179

Fall 2003: Percentage distribution of all full- time faculty and instructional staff all program areas and institution types U.S. Dept. Education, National Center for Education Statistics: NSOPF:04 Representative sample of 35,000 (1.2M faculty)

Fall 2003: Percentage distribution of all full- time faculty and instructional staff all program areas and institution types U.S. Dept. Education, National Center for Education Statistics: NSOPF:04

What are the causes (students)? [SR04, CL00, S05] (Hispanics) Academic performance more influential on decision to leave than with Whites Lack of self-belief of efficacy Isolation Unrealistic goal setting

What are the solutions (students)? [R94] (Hispanics) Engage students as role models Interact with faculty outside classroom Foster student culture Involve students in learning Help students clarify and maintain goals

Advantages to Obtaining an Advanced Degree Challenging projects that you can pursue Training in research Ability to advance state-of-the-art Enhances stature and engenders respect More responsibility and independence Lifestyle

What are the causes (faculty)? [T02, J93, O93, R97] (women) Dissatisfaction with working conditions whereas white male report salary and professional opportunities Non-collegial and non-collaborative climates within the departments Social isolation Difficulty balancing teaching, research and service Lack of: guidance on tenure expectations and realities; guidance on tenure expectations and realities; respect from colleagues respect from colleagues support from peers and the administration support from peers and the administration

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. --Margaret Mead Accelerating Change

NSF ADVANCE: Institutional Transformation for Faculty Diversity Initiative for institutional change with the goal of serving as a model for other institutions Purpose: increase the representation and advancement of women, including underrepresented minorities, in academic science and engineering careers. Change

ADVANCE Components Policy and recruitment process Faculty support and retention policies Faculty support and retention policies Recruitment efforts Recruitment efforts Research support Research support Faculty development process Mentoring program Mentoring program IMPACT program: achieving balance IMPACT program: achieving balance Collaborative leadership process Recruitment Recruitment Retention Retention Evaluation process Change

Computing Alliance of HSIs Programs Industry Partners Academic Partners Social Science Network Private Sector Partners GOAL: Increase the number of Hispanics who pursue and complete baccalaureate and advanced degrees in computing areas. Create unified voice Consolidate resources

Parting Words Persevere There will be difficult times. There will be difficult times. Find support within your department and university as well as outside the university Find support within your department and university as well as outside the university

Parting Words Persevere There will be difficult times. There will be difficult times. Find support within your department and university as well as outside the university Find support within your department and university as well as outside the university Make a difference Evangelize Evangelize Bring up those around you Bring up those around you

Parting Words Persevere There will be difficult times. There will be difficult times. Find support within your department and university as well as outside the university Find support within your department and university as well as outside the university Make a difference Evangelize Evangelize Bring up those around you Bring up those around you Quality, Quality, Quality

References [CL00] Cabrera, A.F. and S.M. LaNasa, (eds.), Understanding the College Choice of Disadvantaged Students. New Directions for Institutional Research, No San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, [R94] Rodriguez, C., “Keeping Minority Undergraduates in Science and Engineering,” 19th Annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Tucson, AZ, November [S05] Shin, H. “School Enrollment—Social and Economic Characteristics of Students: October 2003,” Current Population Reports, US Census Bureau, May [SR04] Swail, W.S., Redd, K.E., and L.W. Perna, Retaining Minority Students in Higher Education: A Framework for Success. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, [T02] Townsend, G., “People who Make a Difference: Mentors and Role Models,” ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 34(2), June 2002, pp. 57 – 61.