Work in Progress: Developing and Measuring the Adoption of Identity-Inclusive Computing Tenets
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
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Redefining Inclusivity: Embracing Neurodiversity in Engineering and Computing Education
- Tagged Divisions
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Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/48347
Paper Authors
Brean Elizabeth Prefontaine
Duke University
orcid.org/0000-0002-8332-7150
Dr. Brean Prefontaine is a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University working with the Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AiiCE). Her research currently focuses on (1) the policies and practices impacting computer science students from marginalized identities and (2) how informal STEM environments can provide a space for students to develop a physics identity, and STEM identity more broadly. She earned her B.S. in Physics from Drexel University and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from Michigan State University. Before starting at Duke, she worked for Horizon Research, Inc. as an external evaluator for STEM education projects.
Alicia Nicki Washington
Duke University
orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-6234
Dr. Nicki Washington is a professor of the practice of computer science and gender, sexuality, and feminist studies at Duke University and the author of Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field. She is currently the director of the Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows program and the NSF-funded Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AiiCE). She also serves as senior personnel for the NSF-funded Athena Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Her career in higher education began at Howard University as the first Black female faculty member in the Department of Computer Science. Her professional experience also includes Winthrop University, The Aerospace Corporation, and IBM. She is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University (B.S., ‘00) and North Carolina State University (M.S., ’02; Ph.D., ’05), becoming the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science at the university and 2019 Computer Science Hall of Fame Inductee.
Shaundra Bryant Daily
Duke University
orcid.org/0000-0002-6612-2049
Shaundra B. Daily is a Cue Family professor of practice in Electrical and Computer Engineering & Computer Science at Duke University and Levitan Faculty Fellow, Special Assistant to the Vice Provosts. Prior to joining Duke, she was an associate professor with tenure at the University of Florida in the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering. She also served as an associate professor and interim co-chair in the School of Computing at Clemson University. Her research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of technologies, programs, and curricula to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM fields. Currently, through this work, she is the Backbone Director for the Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education as well as Education and Workforce Director for the Athena AI Institute. Having garnered over $40M in funding from public and private sources to support her collaborative research activities, Daily’s work has been featured in USA Today, Forbes, National Public Radio, and the Chicago Tribune. Daily earned her B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University – Florida State University College of Engineering, and an S.M. and Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab.
Brianna Blaser
University of Washington
orcid.org/0000-0002-0008-1643
Brianna Blaser is a counselor/coordinator at the DO-IT Center at the University of Washington where she works with the AccessEngineering program. She earned a bachelors degree in math and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and a PhD in women studies
Joanna Goode University of Oregon
Valerie B. Barr Union College
Abstract
This work-in-progress paper discusses the design of an instrument that examines how K-16 computing educators, staff, and advocates incorporate the identity-inclusive computing (IIC) tenets developed by the Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AiiCE) into curricula, departmental policies, and individual practices. IIC defines how identity (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic status, and their intersections) impacts and is impacted by computing. This area aims to infuse more social science-related topics into computing, with the goal of fostering more equitable and inclusive academic environments for students from marginalized identities. Using identity-inclusive interventions that decenter students from marginalized groups, the work of AiiCE targets the people (K-16 educators and peers), policies, and practices impacting them.
As IIC continues to grow in the K-16 computing community, AiiCE developed a set of tenets to guide strategic planning, resource allocation, and collective action to increase the representation, power, and protection of marginalized people in computing. The tenets were developed in 2022 and focus on three areas: K-12 and postsecondary policy, professional development, and curricula and pedagogy.
With the release of the tenets to the greater computing community, a means for measuring how IIC is demonstrated was also necessary. This work focuses on the design and development of a novel instrument that captures how the computing community incorporates these IIC tenets (if at all) and/or any barriers preventing the incorporation of more. The instrument includes both closed and open-ended responses, and it was designed and distributed in the fall 2023 semester across various computing and STEM education-based listservs and networks. In this work, we discuss motivation as well as instrument design, development, and preliminary results. We also discuss challenges identified, lessons learned, and next steps for this work, including instrument updates and applications to the greater STEM community.
This instrument serves several important purposes. It is the first of its kind to examine if/how IIC is incorporated into the computing community. Additionally, data from this instrument will provide a baseline for the current state-of-the-field, with respect to equity, justice, and inclusion-centered actions and policy. Finally, it provides a means for assessing the direct and indirect impact of the growing AiiCE network on broadening participation in computing. We anticipate that the results from this survey will better inform the greater computing community of IIC successes, challenges, and growth opportunities. Ultimately, we aim for the broader STEM community to be informed and find benefit from this work to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive STEM academic environments.
Prefontaine, B. E., & Washington, A. N., & Daily, S. B., & Blaser, B., & Goode, J., & Barr, V. B. (2024, June), Work in Progress: Developing and Measuring the Adoption of Identity-Inclusive Computing Tenets Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48347
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