Tag Archive: Data Buddies Project
Graduate students in computing doctoral degree programs reported, by far, the highest level of interest in computing researcher positions in industry followed by faculty positions at research universities and research positions in government labs.
A recent Forbes article written by Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College and a former CRA board member, addresses “Why We Need Inclusive Teaching In Every Classroom.” In the article, Klawe interviews Colleen Lewis, a computer science professor at Harvey Mudd, about Lewis’ work to develop, incorporate, and disseminate inclusive teaching practices. Lewis researches issues of diversity and gender in computer science education and collaborates with CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP). In the article, she shares resources and mentions her new project with CERP.
The Data Buddies Survey came to a close at the end of February 2019. CERP wishes to thank all the departments who made data collection possible, with special appreciation extended to departments with at least a 20% response rate.
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.
Data Buddies 2018 came to a close at the end of February 2019 concluding the sixth year of data collection. Since its launch in 2013, the survey has collected approximately 60,000 total responses and 25,000 of these respondents agreed to join CERP’s longitudinal cohorts.
According to the 2017 Data Buddies Survey, significantly higher percentages of students who are underrepresented in computing (29% and above) felt like an outsider in computing than majority men with no disabilities (17%). This lack of a sense of belonging was highest among the students with disabilities who are women or racial/ethnic minorities (45-46%).
Among doctoral students, those with a terminal master’s degree are twice as likely to have first author journal publications than those without a terminal master’s degree. They are also approximately 1.5 times more likely to have first author refereed conference papers, and co-authored journal publications and conference papers.
Undergraduate and graduate students in computing fields were asked to rate how much importance they place on a list of 15 career values. Helping others was rated the highest by both groups of students.
Diversity-focused conferences such as the Grace Hopper Celebration and Richard Tapia Conference provide an opportunity for students who are underrepresented in computing to meet other students and professionals who have similar experiences. Data Buddies Survey data show that students who participated in these conferences feel more confident in their ability to complete their degree in computing than the students who did not participate.
Enrollments in master’s CS degree programs continue to rise. Compared to master’s students in traditional degree programs, online master’s students report lower levels of mentorship support. Departments should consider ways to increase accessibility and visibility of mentorship resources to online students. Examples discussed in main text.
Compared to White and Asian students, who are considered the racial and ethnic majority in computing fields, students who are members of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and students with disabilities (URMD) were 1.5 times more likely to report having seriously considered leaving their graduate program.
