Updates from CRA-W

CRA-WP Welcomes New Board Members; Lori Clarke Becomes Emerita Board Member

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CRA-WP would like to welcome five new members to its Board of Directors: Dan Garcia, Kyla McMullen, Melanie Moses, Jodi Tims, and Gloria Washington. Additionally, Former CRA-WP Co-chair Lori Clarke has retired from the Board and is now an emerita member. Many thanks to Lori for her dedication to the success program and many impactful contributions while on the Board.

  • Dan Garcia is a Teaching Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at UC Berkeley. 
  • Kyla McMullen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering at the University of Florida.
  • Melanie E. Moses is a Professor of Computer Science and Biology at the University of New Mexico and an External Faculty Member at the Santa Fe Institute. 
  • Jodi Tims is the Associate Dean of Network Programs and a Professor of the Practice in the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. 
  • Gloria Washington is currently an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Howard University in Washington, DC.
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Expanding the Research Pipeline – An update on Scaling the Early Research Scholars Program

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By Diba Mirza, Christine Alvarado, Diana Diaz, Renata Revelo, and Cynthia Lee

The Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP), founded by Christine Alvarado in the Computer Science Department at UC San Diego (UCSD), provides authentic research experiences to early undergraduates over one academic year. Since its inception in 2014, the program has transformed the landscape of undergraduate research at UC San Diego by significantly broadening access to research among early students, with over 350 student participants, 60% of whom identify as women or non-binary, and 22% as Black, Latinx, or Native American students. Further, ERSP has retained most participants (97% since the program matured).

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Expanding the Pipeline: Roadmap of CISE’s Efforts to Broaden Participation in Computing Through the Years

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By Jeff Forbes, Allyson Kennedy, Margaret Martonosi, and Fernanda Pembleton

Since the 1970s, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has established programs that focus on increasing the representation of women, Blacks and African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Other Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities in the field through outreach and recruitment efforts. Some of the earlier NSF investments to address broadening participation included programs like Women in Science, Minority Graduate Fellowships, and the Program for Persons with Disabilities, which explicitly focused on broadening participation and paved the way for a modern portfolio of programs that considers the diversity of communities served by NSF-funded work.

By the 2000s, the focus of BPC efforts began to shift from simply increasing representation to also addressing the systemic issues and barriers that contribute to underrepresentation. These efforts included research on the experiences of underrepresented groups in computing and the development of interventions to promote a more inclusive culture in computing education and the workforce. In 2012, the CISE Advisory Committee published the CISE Strategic Plan for Broadening Participation noting that:

It will take more than good intentions or business as usual, however, to reverse longstanding underrepresentation. It will take committed, focused, and sustained efforts on the part of many in the computing community. 

In this article, we present the progress made in Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) and call upon the entire computing community to take on the important goal of addressing underrepresentation in computing disciplines.

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CRA-WP Presents the 2022 CRA-WP Early Career Awards Honoring Skip Ellis and Anita Borg

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The Committee on Widening Participation in Computing Research (CRA-WP) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 Skip Ellis Early Career Award and  Anita Borg Early Career Award. Maya Cakmak of the University of Washington has been selected as the 2022 Anita Borg Early Career Award recipient. The Anita Borg Early Career Award honors […]

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CRA-WP Career Mentoring Workshop: Application Deadline October 12

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Applications are now open for the 2020 CRA-WP Early and Mid-Career Mentoring Workshop! The purpose of the workshop is to provide historically underserved groups in computing research and education with support to further develop your career. Apply today to join sessions on career tracks in education, research and industry/government laboratories, participate in group mentoring, and build one-on-one mentoring relationships with senior researchers. Deadline: October 12.

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Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows Program Now Accepting Applications: October 31 Deadline

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Undergraduate computing departments have long suffered from issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, there has been, to date, no large-scale effort that focuses on addressing issues of systemic racism and bias that directly impact not only students from minoritized groups, but also faculty (as issues of race, gender, and intersectionality impact hiring, promotion, and tenure decisions).

Motivated by this deficiency, the Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows Program was designed to provide a cohort-based professional development program that allows computing faculty and graduate students to 1) learn more about social science topics, such as identity, intersectionality, racism, bias, and discrimination; how these topics impact computing environments (as well as the developed technologies); and policies that address them; 2) develop computing courses related to these topics at their home institutions; 3) identify course module content for current computing courses in the curriculum; and 4) identify and create departmental/school/university initiatives to foster more inclusive and equitable cultures at their home institutions.

More information on the program (including timeline, FAQ, and application) is available at https://identity.cs.duke.edu/fellows.html.

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CRA-WP at the 2020 ACM Richard Tapia Conference

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CRA-WP is excited to join the 2020 ACM Richard Tapia Conference and celebrate diversity in computing! If you are attending, come visit us at our virtual booth– you will have an opportunity to chat with CRA staff and learn more about the programs we offer undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, industry researchers, and government lab researchers.  

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Expanding the Pipeline: CRA-WP Research Mentoring at the 2019 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing – Going Strong and Growing

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By A.J. Bernheim Brush, Tracy Camp, Sheila Castañeda, Andrea Danyluk, Yuqing Melanie Wu

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) appears to be on track to break attendance records every year. The 2019 conference, held in Orlando Florida, saw an increase to more than 25,000 participants, up from around 20,000 in 2018.  As GHC grows, so does the reach of CRA-WP’s programs at GHC for attendees interested in research and research careers. For undergraduate students exploring research for the first time, graduate students embarking on the path to a research career, academic and research professionals furthering their careers, and industry professionals considering a career change, CRA-WP’s programs make a real impact on many GHC participants.

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