Tag Archive: CRA-WP
Articles relevant to the CRA Committee on Widening Participation in Computing Research (CRA-WP).
Past participants of both the Grad Cohort for URMD and Grad Cohort for Women workshops indicated which of the workshops provided participants with a number of benefits that relate to the goals of the program. Results indicate the majority believe both workshops provide attendees with many intended features.
Teaching is hard — and teaching computer science can be even harder. With the growing need for computer science teachers in the classroom and an increased focus on access to computer science education, the role of the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is more important than ever. With the mission of supporting K–12 teachers in the field, CSTA provides educators with the professional development events and community they need to improve their craft.
This article examines gender and residency/ethnicity differences in PhD specialty areas as reported to the CRA Taulbee Survey from 2012-2018. The Taulbee Survey is conducted each fall and, among other questions, asks doctoral departments of Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Information for data about each PhD they awarded in the previous academic year. The data on each new PhD includes gender, residency/race/ethnicity, and PhD specialty area. A total of 12,968 PhDs were awarded by Taulbee respondents during the 7 year period from 2012-2018.
On April 12-13, CRA-W hosted the 2019 Graduate Cohort for Women (CRA-W Grad Cohort) at the historic Chicago Hilton. The location provided elegance and grandeur as students spent two days in sessions tailored for their graduate student experience, based on their year in the program. Workshop participants had access to other participants, speakers, and the program through the CrowdCompass AttendeeHub mobile app, plus many opportunities to network with peers and senior researchers. They also had opportunities to meet and talk to potential employers during the workshop.
CERP evaluated the 2018 CRA-W Grace Hopper Research Scholars program using a pre/post methodology, wherein program participants were surveyed prior to the event and then immediately following the conclusion of the Grace Hopper Celebration. Results indicate that program participants reported statistically significant increases in their perceived mentorship support.
The CRA Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline concluded its fall 2018 Data Buddies Survey. The survey was modified to provide additional insight on student experiences in computing degree programs. These new data will be used in annual reporting and program evaluation.
Convention tells us that research involves a selection of topic, literature review, framework development, refining/defining your research question, developing a design, collecting data, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions, but at a community college the formality cannot always be used as a rule, but as a guideline for developing a realistic, learning opportunity. Community college participation in undergraduate research is an important part of education, but can easily fall by the wayside to address life challenges often faced by community college students. However, given the opportunity to participate, research can be a rewarding and valuable skill that should be afforded to more students.
Find out what participants thought about the 2018 CRA-W Grad Cohort for Women in this recently released video. In testimonials collected at the end of the workshop, a resounding theme was the participants’ renewed motivation to complete their Ph.D.
The 2018 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) broke its attendance records again, with more than 20,000 participants gathering in Houston, Texas, from September 26th through September 28th, and CRA-W also broke its attendance records with a variety of programs for GHC attendees interested in research. From talks, panels, and mentoring circles to the CRA-W Research Scholars Program to poster presentations and sponsorship of other sessions, CRA-W played an important role at the conference.
The 2018 ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference, presented by CMD-IT, was held September 19-22 in Orlando, Florida. The Tapia conferences bring together undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers, and professionals in computing from all backgrounds and ethnicities.
In 2018, CRA launched the Grad Cohort for Underrepresented Minorities + Persons with Disabilities (Grad Cohort URMD) workshop. CERP found that compared to before the workshop, participants reported stronger knowledge about a number of professional skills after attending Grad Cohort URMD. Applications for the 2019 workshop will open October 2018.
