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Advancing Women in Computer Science

Computer Science Department - DIMACS - Douglass Residential College

Why a Women Focused Initiative

The representation of women in Computer Science (CS) majors and minors has been declining since the 1980s and the percentage of women who graduate with a degree in computer science is the lowest across STEM, lower than math, engineering and the physical sciences, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Rutgers Partnership

DIMACS, the Department of Computer Science, and the Douglass Residential College, are partnering up to undertake an integrated initiative aimed at increasing the percentage of undergraduate women majoring and minoring in Computer Science at Rutgers and elsewhere.

The Initiative

The initiative is based on research results and best-practices that have been developed across the nation, targeting important strategic “pressure points” that are expected to have the highest impact. More specifically, our initiative starts with outreach efforts at the Middle School, where research results show that young female students start to lose interest in CS. It then progresses to outreach at the high school level to encourage women students to take CS classes leading to the College Board AP exam; research results have shown that such preparation can lead to increased success as undergraduates majoring (and minoring) in CS. Finally, at Rutgers, our initiative seeks to revise the Introduction to CS course, which is a critical starting point for the CS major and minor, support the Living Learning Community (LLC) for Women in CS, which provides a community experience that helps women students to build a peer-network and navigate a major with a significant gender gap, and expand co-curricular programming for both the CS LLC and for students taking CS 111 that will better connect learning material to social issues and real-world impact.

Key Components

  1. Revision of CS 111

CS 01:198:111 is the introductory course to the CS major. Research is showing that the course has a critical role in the retention of women students in CS. Indeed, at Rutgers, it is the single point in our curriculum that has the highest loss of women students. Analyzing enrollment data from 2012 through 2017 shows that women students comprise ~25% of CS 111 enrollment. This percentage drops to ~19% by CS 112, the second course in the CS major, and ~16% by graduation. Survey results at Rutgers show that a high percentage of women students taking CS 111 did not intend to major in CS. Thus, while we have a chance to attract such students to continue with the CS major, we are not successfully doing so (although at least the good news is that we are not losing women students who are interested in majoring in CS at a much lower rate).

Research and best practices across the nation are showing that introductory courses such as CS 111 face several challenges; two of the most significant are (1) how to teach a body of students with background ranging from zero knowledge of computer science to ones that could have easily placed out of the course (and possibly even the course beyond), and (2) how to show students connections between the material they are learning with real-world impact and social relevance. CS programs that have addressed these two challenges have had success in increasing the percentage of enrolled women CS students and their retention in the major.

We will explore how we can best revise CS 111 at Rutgers to implement best practices. In particular, we intend to explore a placement mechanism that can help direct students with different levels of knowledge to different sections of CS 111. This will allow us to better teach students with little background, at the same time keep the course interesting and challenging for those with strong backgrounds. While having different pathways through CS 111 will allow us to better teach our students, the goal is to have all students being equally prepared for the second CS course. In addition, we will revise the course syllabus to include assignments that students can more easily connect to the real-world; e.g., assignments that have visual components similar to today’s real-world applications. We will also develop modules for connecting to social issues and real-world challenges as described next.

  1. Modules

As one way to develop new materials to be brought into CS 111 as well as other CS courses at Rutgers, we will develop written modules that can be covered in a day or less. As a way to connect curriculum development to research, we will emphasize topics on social responsibility/ethics, sustainability, medical/health applications, as there is some evidence that exposure to such topics in CS attracts women to CS and maintains their interest and involvement. The evidence is not conclusive, and we will use this initiative to develop ways to test it as part of the Initiative’s Research program. DIMACS has had extensive experience and success with development of such modules and has an experienced cadre of module writers. DIMACS also has an extensive collection of such modules on sustainability and computational thinking developed under NSF funding that we might modify. The modules will be developed, tested, and evaluated as part of this initiative. The modules will be selected and written in consultation with the team revising CS111 and with the Research team. The writers will be chosen from among the DIMACS module writing team and the CS faculty working on CS111 revision.

  1. Workshop

During the first year of the Initiative, we will run a workshop that explores topics that engage women in CS and maintain their engagement. The goal of the workshop will be to develop ideas for topics that might be introduced into CS 111 and also other RU CS courses. We will also seek ideas for modules. We will put some emphasis on social responsibility/ethics, sustainability, and medicine/health, but will seek input and ideas of all kinds from a broad community of people engaged in issues involving women and CS. This too will connect to the Research Program that is discussed below.

While evidence shows the importance of the introductory-level course in retaining women in CS, evidence also indicates that strong peer connections, students’ perceptions of access and equity, exposure to women role models in technology, and mentoring are important to the retention of women who declare an interest in majoring in CS. This initiative targets these factors by creating and expanding current co-curricular programs.
  1. Douglass-SAS-DIMACS Computer Science Living Learning Community
The living learning community is designed to increase the representation of women in the computer science major. First-year undergraduate students enroll in the LLC and are offered a common residential, professional, and academic experience. The LLC includes a structured first-year curriculum that includes the course, “Great Ideas and Applications in Computer Science,” taught by a Rutgers faculty member, and professional development programming for first year students. Currently the LLC includes three cohorts with a total of 61 students. Plans for expansion include increased programming for second year students and for juniors and seniors, increased enrollment for beginning cohorts to twenty-three students in year one, twenty-seven students in year two, and thirty students in year three. The program will ensure ample professional development opportunities to serve the expanded population, develop new programming on the social relevance of computer science, and increase connections with industry role models and recruiters. The Initiative will provide support for an additional graduate student mentor beginning in year 2 (student support and peer community building), a graduate student coordinator beginning in year 1 (program planning and support), expanded professional development opportunities (attendance at Grace Hopper Conference), involvement in undergraduate research (see below), exposure to alumnae and industry professionals, and increased tutoring and mentoring.
  1. Connections to CS 111 (Introduction to Computer Science)
While CS 111 is being revised (see above), co-curricular programming that adds a peer women’s  community, exposes students to real-world workplaces, introduces students to women in technology in academia and industry, and offers programs on the social relevance of CS will be targeted to the students enrolled in CS 111 through the Douglass Project for Rutgers Women in STEM.  This wrap-around programming will feature the accomplishments of women in technology, connect students to professionals in the field, undertake a site visit to a regional tech company, and deliver other programs as offered through Douglass. The goal is to assist with broadening students’ understanding of the career opportunities related to CS within the context of an empowering women’s community.
  1. Undergraduate Research
There is evidence that women are drawn to and continue to be engaged in CS through opportunities to do research. Douglass will continue to support LLC students to do undergraduate research under Project Super, supporting five students each year at a cost of $3,000 each (not charged to this Initiative) in summer stipends. DIMACS has been running a large REU program for many years, with support from NSF and other agencies. There are currently about 30 students from all over the country involved in the program, which provides one-on-one work with a mentor on projects students apply for. We will enhance the DIMACS program by developing more projects that relate CS to sustainability, medical/health applications, and social responsibility – with no cost to the Initiative. The impact on women will be studied as part of the Research Program of the Initiative.
  1. CS Student Outreach to Middle School

Students in USACS (Undergraduate Alliance of Computer Scientists at Rutgers) have created a program for virtually connecting with students in high schools and middle schools to speak with them about what it is like to be a (female) CS student at Rutgers. The Initiative will provide funds to support this effort and connect it to the Reboot effort (described below).

  1. Douglass-DIMACS Computing Corps:

The program brings together undergraduate women intending to major (or majoring) in computer science with middle-school girls. The goals of this program are two-fold: 1- to raise interest in the field of computer science by introducing girls to coding during middle-school and 2- to deepen college students’ identification with the field by serving as mentors to young girls. Seeing oneself as a representative of the field and occupying a position of expertise are strong elements in shaping an identity as a computer scientist. Currently the program serves 61 middle-school students with an involvement of 21 undergraduate students. Plans to expand the program include recruiting up to two new schools, recruiting up to 10 more undergraduate students to serve as mentors, and expanding the full – day workshop from one to two each year. This Initiative will provide funding for equipment, supplies, food and transportation reimbursements. Through this initiative, we will synchronize this activity with the current USACS outreach effort, and connect both of them to the Reboot program.

  1. Sisters Rise UP – RiseUp4CS

Reboot Representation, is a coalition of 14 tech companies who committed $15M over three years toward a goal of doubling the number of Black, Latina, and Native American women earning computing Bachelor’s degrees by 2025.  The Reboot Representation Tech Coalition is housed at the NCWIT and was founded with the support of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company started by Melinda Gates. All funds contributed by the tech companies will go directly to efforts that engage underrepresented women of color.

Rutgers New Brunswick has several links with the NCWIT organization including through the department of Computer Science in the School of Arts and Sciences as well as the Honors College and Douglass Residential College.

Rise Up 4 CS provides help sessions, role models, and engaging computing experiences for underrepresented female students of color who are in Advanced Placement Computer Science courses at local high schools. Students have found the program extremely impactful in terms of having their questions answered, being able to dive deeper into course concepts, and getting to know current undergrads who enjoy computing. The program started at Georgia Tech and currently is led by Barbara Ericson, the main principal investigator at University of Michigan. Sunita Kramer, Assistant Vice Provost, was able to secure support from Reboot Representation. Sangya Varma is the site principal investigator at Rutgers – New Brunswick.

  1. Annual NJ Summit on Scalability

The Annual Summit is a gathering of CS teachers from NJ high school, 2-year colleges, and 4-year colleges and universities to discuss the state of CS education in NJ. We typically also invite people from NJ DOE and some other branches concerned with CS education, as well as people from the industry (e.g., Google). We discuss issues such as the legislation on required CS teaching in high schools, diversity in CS, development of CS curriculum, revision of classes such as 111, etc. This Initiative will provide support to enhance the Summit by addition of topics related to involvement of women in CS, with emphasis on high school and community colleges and how they can transition to CS at Rutgers. The first three summits (2016-2017) have been tremendously successful at engaging educators and administrators from NJ high schools, colleges and universities, state government, and industry to discuss best practices for scaling our CS education programs while seeking to increase diversity in our student body.

National concern regarding the technology pipeline has generated new programs for and research on recruiting and retaining women in CS. This initiative draws on national-level expertise, leading researchers and departments with success in retaining women undergraduates to ensure that the program incorporates current evidence for best practices. At the same time new partnerships may seed new multi-university grant applications and projects. This Initiative will provide funds for travel to the other institutions and visits by people from those institutions to explore ideas and potential collaborations.

  1. Research Strategy: Hypothesis, Questions, and Methodology
General strategies have been put forth by CS educators about how CS is learned, but accompanying research is limited for undergraduates and even more so relative to differences between men and women. A paper by Barr, Harrison, and Conery, for example, offered suggestions that students develop computational thinking as a first course in any CS curriculum, one which applies the understandings and skills to multiple settings. This research for this Initiative is driven by two central questions: 1) What are the underlying reasons why women enrolled in CS 111 and the LLC, and who have expressed interest in pursuing a CS major or double major, [OR why women who are successful in STEM+C fields in high school and have indicated some interest in pursuing a CS major or double major,] decide otherwise at various points of their undergraduate program? 2) What are the factors that are correlated with women’s retention in the CS major? What are ways women can better be encouraged to major in CS, and continue on that path through graduation? The initial idea (to be finalized by the Research Team) is to address these initial questions through the following groups of focused questions:
  1. What are the effects of availability of CS courses in high school for the interest in and declaration of the CS major, both positive and negative?
  2. What factors figure into students’ decisions to declare the CS major during their first and/or second years? Do other fields seem more attractive than CS, or is CS too big a turn-off? (Do students feel pushed out of the CS major or pulled into others?) Why do students choose to major in ITI rather than CS?
  3. What elements of the culture factor into women’s decision to leave or declare the CS major? How do women perceive their interactions with faculty inside and outside the classroom? Do women feel welcomed into CS by faculty? Do women feel welcomed by/connected to their peers? Do women feel there is equity in the classroom (or a double standard) for them in CS classes?
  4. For those women who complete four years of a CS major, what challenges do they feel were most difficult to overcome? What do they identify as reasons why they declared the major and stayed in it? Was it worth it in the long run and why?
  5. For those women fortunate enough to take part in programs designed to support women, such as LLC, Computing Corps, etc., did these programs keep them committed to completing a CS degree? Which co-curricular program elements (peer support, attendance at the Grace Hopper Conference, special courses, exposure to women role models, staff mentoring, connections with industry, mentoring girls, etc.) are correlated with students’ retention in the major?
  6. Does having early research experience as undergraduates, especially those focused on CS and society, sustainability, medicine/health, encourage them to continue in CS?
  7. Do the new topics in CS 111 (such as those in item vi and in particular those resulting from the Modules and the Workshop) encourage more women students to continue in CS?
    8. Extensive research on the current literature on women in CS will be conducted in the first 6 months of the initiative. A central hypothesis for this study is that the environment among CS undergraduates and between faculty and students either encourages women to continue through a CS program, or not. As indicated above, assuming that the hypothesis is valid, the question remains as to which components of the environment are supportive and which are detrimental. What changes can be made or countered? The research will use a mixed-methods designed to investigate these questions including a quasi-experimental contrast focused on matched pairs of male and female students.
  1. Evaluation
The Evaluation will have two pieces to it, formative and summative.  The formative part will consist in documenting that each of the component parts of this initiative are conducted, have the requisite number of participants, and that the CS 111 course is available for all to take.  The evaluator will collect observational and quantitative data and this data will be available to the research team.  Similarly, the data collected by the research team will be available to the evaluator.  The summative evaluation will be conducted at the end of three years of the initiative and will attempt to show that the sum of the activities is greater than the sum of its parts.  Working with the researcher, this information will contribute to the analysis of the effects of the initiative.  Data to be collected will include attitude data, grades, and perseverance in the major.