1. Linda J. Sax, Professor, GSEIS/UCLA
Gender and Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Undergraduate Computer Science: A Research-Practice Partnership
Linda J. Sax, Professor, GSEIS/UCLA

2. Women Overrepresented Across All Fields, but Underrepresented in STEM

3. Need to Consider Differences Across STEM Fields
Biological
Science
Mathematics
Physical
Sciences
Engineering
Computer
Science

4. Women’s Relative Representation in STEM Varies by Field

5. Why Focus on Computer Science?
Computer-related careers among the fastest growing and highest paying occupations
Global demand for individuals with computer science training (valuable in any field)
Diversity matters – in college and beyond

6. % of Computing Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to Women (1987-2014)
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2016

7. % of Computing Bachelor’s Degrees Awarded to URM Students (1987-2014)
Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2016
URM defined as American Indian/Alaskan Native, Black, and Hispanic

8. The BRAID Initiative Building Recruiting and Inclusion for Diversity
15 universities that are committed to promoting gender and racial/ethnic diversity in undergraduate computing
Key leaders: Computer science department chairs
BRAID department strategies include:
Revamping introductory courses
Promoting interdisciplinary CS
Building student community
K-12 outreach

9. Evolution of a Research-Practice Partnership
Leadership
Initial Funders
Research Sponsors
Over $2 million in support

10. Goals of BRAID Research
To better understand…
Student exposure to and engagement in best practices in CS
The impact of computing experiences (especially in introductory courses) on desired student outcomes, including:
computing confidence
sense of belonging in computing
interest in computing careers
Longer-term major pathways and career plans of intro course students
How all of this varies by gender and race/ethnicity

11. Data Collected at Multiple Levels
Institutional Enrollment Data
Department Chairs
Introductory Course
Instructors
CS Majors & Minors
Intro CS Students

12. Close Collaboration with Institutions
Key allies: Computer science department chairs
Provide information on department activities
Provide access to student and faculty s for surveys
Help to advertise surveys
Participate in annual interviews with research team
Serve as conduit to institutional registrars
Handle local IRB approvals
Attend annual BRAID Summit

13. Working with Institutions: Effective Research Strategies
Be clear
Avoid too much detail in requesting data; get to the point!
Be mindful of unique institutional cultures
Communication strategy will differ between smaller campus with quick decision-making vs. larger campus with multiple channels
Adapt to variations in what constitutes computing; not one size fits all
Build trust
Identify common goals but also distinguish responsibilities
Share results along the way

14. Intro CS Students: What Are We Learning?
CS intro course students are more diverse than CS degree earners
More women
More URM students (especially among women)
Women and URMs…
Tend to have less prior programming experience
Tend to take intro CS later than majority students
Strong predictors of sense of belonging in computing include:
Having a strong sense of one’s computing abilities, particularly for URM students
Feeling supported by the computing department
With longitudinal data, we are now examining the impact of intro course experiences on a broad range of student outcomes
Emphasis on differences by gender and race/ethnicity

15. Broad Research Goals
To conduct research to identify student experiences and institutional practices that successfully contribute to diversity in CS
To disseminate these results to computing departments, research and policy community, and the tech industry
To engage in new research that is continuously informed by evolving practice

16. More information: https://braidresearch.gseis.ucla.edu/
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