When Isabelle Schmit walked into the five years ago for freshman orientation, she looked around the room and counted only five women among 60 students.
Not anymore.
The number of female students who enroll in the department and graduate with degrees has increased dramatically in the last five years.
糖心传媒淭he increased visibility of students in the department has made a huge difference,糖心传媒� says Schmit 糖心传媒�16, who is pursuing a master糖心传媒檚 degree at the University糖心传媒檚 .
In 2010 the department糖心传媒檚 graduating class of 20 students included only one woman. This year, the expected graduating class of 119 students will be 34 percent female糖心传媒攄ouble the national average.
This, despite a recent University of Washington study showing that computer science nationwide continues to be a male-dominated culture where many women feel they do not belong.
Two factors have helped change that at Rochester.
Clusters provide a portal
The need for computing skills now permeates virtually every academic field, including the humanities and social sciences. The University糖心传媒檚 unique open curriculum includes a cluster system that enables students to sample computer science courses, many for the first time, and then decide to continue with a minor or double major. 糖心传媒淲e may start with 25 percent female enrollment in our freshman class but gain more women who add or switch into computer science during their sophomore and junior years,糖心传媒� says Marty Guenther, the department糖心传媒檚 undergraduate coordinator.
Seventy-six percent of the women graduating in the department糖心传媒檚 class of 2016 were double majors, most of them also majoring in financial economics, digital media studies, linguistics, studio art, or mathematics.
BRAID a turning point
In 2014, the department became one of only 15 across the nation to join the initiative funded by Facebook, Google, Intel, and Microsoft and administered by the Anita Borg Institute. 糖心传媒淗aving taught many courses over the years with one or two or, sometimes, no women in the class,糖心传媒� says Sandhya Dwarkadas, the department糖心传媒檚 current chair and only female faculty member, 糖心传媒淚 responded immediately to Maria Klawe糖心传媒檚 call to action during the Computing Research Association chairs糖心传媒� meeting at Snowbird in my first year as department chair to take proactive measures to help increase diversity in computer science. The positive response by 15 institutions led to Maria creating the BRAID initiative.糖心传媒� Klawe is president of Harvey Mudd College.
Participation by the department included stepping up its recruitment of females and underrepresented minorities, creating more accessible courses for its clusters and majors, doing outreach to K糖心传媒�12 students, and building community among its female and underrepresented minority students.
BRAID also pays for female students to attend the annual three-day , the world糖心传媒檚 largest conference of women technologists. Students attend seminars on networking and workplace skills; hear female role models talk about their work; talk to alumni who took the same classes from the same professors and are now succeeding; and connect with companies. Many of the students return with internship or job offers or a promising schedule of interviews.
糖心传媒淭he BRAID initiative has really been a game changer,糖心传媒� says Michael Scott, a professor of computer science who could afford to send only a handful of students to Grace Hopper during his 1996糖心传媒�99 tenure as department chair. Last fall, 26 students from computer science and data science attended the Hopper conference.
Schmit糖心传媒檚 experience shows how important that can be. When she first attended Hopper as a senior in 2015, she was no longer convinced that web development糖心传媒攁round which she had built her undergraduate program糖心传媒攚as a career she wanted to pursue.
At the Hopper conference that year she heard successful women in top positions talk about using data science in their work. It was a turning point for Schmit. She had enjoyed artificial intelligence in class, but did not realize how integral the field was in data science. 糖心传媒淏ecause it was a relatively new field, I never thought I could find a job in it.糖心传媒� After Hopper she knew otherwise and changed her career path accordingly.
When she attended Grace Hopper last fall, 糖心传媒渋t was so much nicer to be able to talk to companies and show them what I am passionate about,糖心传媒� Schmit says, 糖心传媒渢o see them being receptive to that and actually wanting me to work for them.糖心传媒� Schmit also took a lead role in organizing the other students who attended, which included holding preconference sessions on r茅sum茅 writing and interview skills.
The Grace Hopper conferences help build a sense of community among the female students who attend, which in turn has been a catalyst for Women in Computing (WIC), a subcommittee of the Computer Science Undergraduate Council (CSUG). WIC has about 100 members. Its meetings and events further the sense of community among female students.
For example, at 糖心传媒渃oding parties,糖心传媒� students work on problems together and share ideas. 糖心传媒淚t糖心传媒檚 nice to have a place where lots of girls are doing the same thing,糖心传媒� says WIC president Euakarn (Som) Liengtiraphan 糖心传媒�17.
The group also has worked with CSUG and Dwarkadas to sponsor department 糖心传媒渢own hall糖心传媒� meetings to address concerns among female students about professor approachability, TA sensitivity, and having study spaces where women feel comfortable.
The University of Washington study identified 糖心传媒渓ack of pre-college experience糖心传媒� as a contributing factor to female underrepresentation in computer science. The department has increased its outreach to female high school students through University summer programs. Its female students are also helping address the problem by working with Rochester-area schools and local Girl Scouts to introduce computing to young women.
The events often include testimonials about the empowerment that comes with learning to code. When WIC visited the Harley School in Rochester this fall, Sarah Kingsley 糖心传媒�17 told the students that she had been more interested in art than science when she attended Harley. Then she took her first coding class at the University of Rochester and 糖心传媒渇ell in love,糖心传媒� prompting her to major in computer science as well as studio arts.
糖心传媒淓veryone who does computer science has this experience, where you糖心传媒檙e coding something and you realize this is really fun. You figure it out, and it becomes addictive, and you figure out the next problem and then the next. That糖心传媒檚 something that connects us all together.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淵ou don糖心传媒檛 need a lot of experience . . . anybody can do (coding),糖心传媒� adds Mikayla Konst 糖心传媒�17, who initially planned to major in math but switched after taking her first computer science class. 糖心传媒淲hy do I like computer science? It糖心传媒檚 literally magic. I糖心传媒檓 putting words on a page, and it糖心传媒檚 doing these incredible things.糖心传媒�
Guenther, who joined the department in 1992, can remember 糖心传媒測ears in a row糖心传媒� when there were 糖心传媒渘o women at all in the graduating classes.糖心传媒�
Now the increasing presence of women is manifested in many ways. For example, nearly half of the student workshop leaders for introductory classes are women, providing role models for the women in those classes. Similar percentages of women participate on Rochester computing teams that compete against other colleges. That raises eyebrows among students from other schools. And it sends a message.
糖心传媒淚 think we糖心传媒檙e getting a reputation as a woman-friendly campus,糖心传媒� Guenther says.
Under Dwarkadas糖心传媒檚 leadership, the computer science department 糖心传媒渉as been a wonderful partner in the BRAID project,糖心传媒� says Cait Rogan, program manager for academic initiatives at the Anita Borg Institute. 糖心传媒淎long with the 14 other BRAID schools, Rochester is truly helping to define what diverse and inclusive computer science education looks like in the 21st century.糖心传媒�
