Because of the exceptional efforts of the Women in IT Community of Practice, the University of Michigan, and Thomson Reuters, elementary school students in Ann Arbor Public Schools got an introduction to coding during the 2017 Hour of Code event, November 27–December 8. The result of their combined work: 80 volunteers signed up to support 72 volunteers assigned to… Read More »
During the summer of 2017, in lieu of a more traditional “summer reads” program, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts launched an experiment in online, interactive, and collaborative explorations of citizenship and diversity in a digital age. Because issues of free speech, safe spaces, inclusion, intellectual diversity, and identity-based marginalization continue to create divisions and challenges… Read More »
Faculty at the School of Information and Washtenaw Community College will collaborate on an open-source course with the goal of encouraging more students to consider a U-M Bachelor of Science in Information (BSI) degree. The two institutions have teamed up to offer WCC students, particularly those underrepresented in STEM fields, an introductory class in the popular programming language… Read More »
University of Michigan-Dearborn has received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement a math and science program for underrepresented youth. The Office of Enrollment Management and Student Life (EMSL) recently received a five-year renewable federal grant to implement an Upward Bound Math and Science Program, which encourages high school students to develop their… Read More »
On October 14, 2017, more than 3,700 women and girls dressed as the iconic Rosie the Riveter—dark blue work clothes, red socks, and the effervescent, red-and-white polka-dot bandana. Together, they set a new world record of the most people dressed as Rosie the Riveter gathered in one place. Kudos to all Michigan IT staff who participated! Here’s what some… Read More »
The university’s third annual Diversity Summit is November 6–10, with a number of central and unit-sponsored events. Be sure to attend these activities.
Computers are everywhere, changing every industry on the planet, but fewer than half of all schools teach computer science. Girls and minorities are severely underrepresented in computer science classes, and in the tech industry. The good news is there are ways to change this situation, and you can help. U-M groups such as the Women in IT Community… Read More »
The exhibit “Hidden Figures: When the Computer Wore a Skirt: NASA’s Human Computers” will run November 11–25, 2017 in the Duderstadt Gallery on North Campus. This exhibit also features: “Hidden Figures of Michigan: Women in Engineering and the Sciences.” The Exhibit Opening Reception will be held on Wednesday, November 15 from 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm in the… Read More »
As more employers turn to sites like LinkedIn and CareerBuilder to recruit talent, job seekers from low-income areas or who have limited education often are left out. Tawanna Dillahunt, assistant professor at the U-M School of Information and College of Engineering, hopes to change that. Dillahunt has received a $499,729 National Science Foundation grant to help improve digital employment… Read More »
Courses to support U-M’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative are available now at no cost to teams or departments. Many of the courses are located at the Administrative Services Building in Learning and Professional Development (LPD). Browse the courses below and talk to your supervisor about registering—space is limited. Learn more and see upcoming sessions at hr.umich.edu/diversity. Business… Read More »
The College of Engineering’s Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) division received a NCWIT Extension Services Transformation (NEXT) Award for excellence in efforts to attract undergraduate women to the field of computing. Sponsored by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and Google, NEXT Awards honor academic departments that show improved outcomes in increasing women’s meaningful participation in computing education. CSE’s… Read More »
Health Information Technology & Services (HITS) is offering two workshops in June. They are open to anyone in the Michigan IT community. Competing Values in the Workplace This workshop introduces the HITS model of customer experience. It offers more than simple platitudes regarding customer service – focusing on practical skills and techniques combined with processes used to intentionally… Read More »
Thursday, April 20; 3-5 pm; Arbor Lakes North Dome. Have you heard the buzz? Jocelyn Anderson and the Women in IT Community of Practice (WIT CoP) Professional Development Subcommittee planned an exciting topic for this week’s meeting: U-M researcher Rada Mihalcea will discuss semantic analysis and what it tells us about gender preferences in social media. Mihalcea, professor of… Read More »
Wednesday, April 19; 5pm–7pm; Bob and Betty Beyster Building (map) Girls Encoded is hosting a panel of industry representatives to discuss women in computing. Come meet with software engineers and researchers in industry, and ask questions and gain insight from successful women in the field. At this event, you will get a chance to hear about the experiences of… Read More »
A consortium of Michigan universities and community colleges — including U-M — was awarded a five-year, $4.25 million grant by the National Science Foundation to help increase participation and graduation rates among underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Derrick Scott, director of inclusion and multicultural engineering programs for the Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach at… Read More »
Around 2010, the meme began to take off as a pervasive mode of digital communication and soon became a source of merchandising and commercialization. Some of it even benefited the meme creators. But however egalitarian the internet was supposed to be, creatives’ ability to profit off their viral content seems to depend on their race. André Brock, who teaches race,… Read More »
The film Hidden Figures has taken not only the box office by storm, but the education world as well. Studies show that female and male students actually perform equally well in mathematics and science on standardized tests, but larger gaps exist between students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds or family income. Research by U-M professor emerita Jacquelynne S. Eccles points… Read More »
In 1990, women held 35% of computing occupations in the U.S. By 2015, that number was reduced to 25%. The goal of the Women in IT CoP is to share knowledge and explore how we can promote diversification in IT at U-M.
The growing high-tech field of conversational computing is popularized by intelligent virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, and the Google Assistant. Interestingly, all of them use a young female voice. Because it has social and emotional dimensions not seen with keyboards and screens, conversational computing is holding a mirror to many of society’s biggest preconceptions… Read More »
Women in IT Community of Practice: Women make up less than 25 percent of the IT workforce in the USA. Minorities make up even less. A new community of practice explores why that is, and how we can promote diversification in IT. The goal of Women in IT is to establish a network of IT professionals to support women’s career… Read More »