BPC-AE: An Extension to Widening the Research Pipeline

Computing Research Association, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This funding supports extension of the Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) alliance between the Computing Research Association?s Committee on the Status of Women (CRA-W) and the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC). The CRA-W/CDC alliance will be expanded to include the Colorado Coalition for Gender and IT and the BPC Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education in an effort to create programs to build a bridge in the information technology pipeline from community college to four-year undergraduate programs. The extension supports continuation of the highly effective Distributed Mentoring Program and Collaborative Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program run jointly by CRA-W and CDC. Two new variations will be introduced, the Community College Mentoring Program and Multidisciplinary Collaborative Research Experiences for Undergraduates. Discipline-Specific Workshops and the Distinguished Lecture Series will continue to support events to recruit undergraduates to apply to graduate school and add a version to encourage community college women and minorities to pursue bachelors degrees in computing. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the strong team of computing researchers and leaders who direct the many activities. These leaders provide expertise, role models, and champion efforts that have been proven to be effective in addressing under-representation in computing. The alliance partners? commitment to extensive and effective evaluation of the overall alliance and the individual program portfolio provides the community with important data about effectiveness and the development of best practices for programs involving interventions that increase participation in computing as a discipline. The broader impacts of the project include attracting and retaining women and under-represented minorities into computer science and engineering. The project has the potential to produce new models for developing a more diverse group of students and faculty members and to advance discovery and understanding while promoting learning in the information technology disciplines. The project will also provide a better technically educated workforce to meet national security and economic priorities.