2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)

Undergraduate; Gender; Computer Science
This two-part, interactive presentation is designed for computer science administrators and faculty to learn about and be empowered to make systemic change, and begin to conduct their own needs-assessments. The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) works with academic computing programs to facilitate their implementation of strategic, systemic broadening participation in computing (BPC) efforts based on their own institutional contexts. In Part 1 of this presentation, the presenters—social scientists from NCWIT’s higher education team--will present the NCWIT Undergraduate System Model. This model comprehensively illustrates the systemic components of a computing department where change efforts can be focused to broaden participation in computing (BPC) and situates these components within a process of organizational change. After presenting the model, presenters will walk participants through an interactive activity to consider all of the stakeholders for their BPC efforts and how to effectively communicate with different stakeholder audiences. In preparation for Part 2 of this interactive presentation, presenters will briefly overview NCWIT’s Tech Inclusion Journey® for Undergraduate Programs (TIJ-UP) platform, which is structured by the Undergraduate System Model. The TIJ-UP itslef is a unique, research-based framework and software platform that empowers change in higher education institutions to implement systemic, sustainable approaches to create inclusive cultures. It brings together 15+ years of NCWIT research and experience working with institutions of higher education and addresses typical pitfalls of traditional approaches to diversity and inclusion such as overreliance on “diversity training” and other mandatory “compliance” based efforts, use of “piecemeal” or “checkbox” solutions rather than addressing change at a complex systemic level. Instead, the TIJ-UP employs a strategic, collaborative approach that guides departmental change leaders through a structured three-step journey of self-assessment, consensus building on needs and priorities, and guidance for implementation and evaluation. Each step is informed by research in organizational theory, communities of practice, and diversity in technology, and provides clear and applied explanation of social science concepts. The TIJ-UP attends to intersectionality, focusing on dismantling intersecting systems of oppression to make classrooms and departmental culture more equitable and inclusive. It also encourages users to include a variety of stakeholders in self-assessment and strategic planning, and provides evaluation metrics and resources to help organizations assess the impact of change efforts across intersectional demographic groups. By utilizing the TIJ-UP to support the implementation of BPC efforts in a strategic, systemic manner, faculty, staff, and administrators will be able to recruit, retain, and graduate intersectionally diverse students in their programs more effectively. In Part 2 of this presentation, presenters will proceed to interactively demonstrate how attendees can use NCWIT’s Tech Inclusion Journey® for Undergraduate Programs (TIJ-UP) platform within their home departments to facilitate strategic planning processes for their BPC efforts. Presenters will then engage participants in a step-by-step process on how to effectively use the TIJ-UP and complementary, curated NCWIT evidence-based resource collections for BPC strategic planning. Participants will be given time to interactively explore and discuss the TIJ-UP during the workshop. The workshop will conclude with a question-and-answer session.