IT Leadership: Women in IT Panel Discussion

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11/17/2015 Added

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"Women in IT-A grassroots movement" panel discussion presented at the IT Leadership Conference Nov. 16, 2015. Featuring: Jan Deeds, director UNL Women's Center; Leen-Kiat Soh, UNL Computer Science and Engineering faculty; Sandra Flasnik, Coordinator for Diversity and Inclusion, UNO College of Information Science and Technology; and Sally Wei, Coordinator of Engineering Education and Outreach, UNL, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools.

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[00:00:02.871]Hi everyone, I'm Jenny Thoegersen,
[00:00:04.373]I'm Assistant Professor and Data Curation Librarian
[00:00:07.283]at UNL Libraries here.
[00:00:08.964]And I'm also Co-President of Lincoln Coding Women,
[00:00:12.334]which is a group committed to supporting
[00:00:14.303]an inclusive environment for exploring and using technology
[00:00:17.419]and to encourage newcomers
[00:00:18.776]to engage actively with technology.
[00:00:21.789]It is my pleasure to be the moderator for this panel.
[00:00:26.765]As Florence mentioned before,
[00:00:29.524]there are many different stats related to women in IT
[00:00:34.059]that we can definitely improve.
[00:00:35.549]One of the ones that I think is really telling,
[00:00:40.253]that Girls Who Code mentions, is that
[00:00:42.075]in middle school 74% of girls express an interest in STEM.
[00:00:46.869]But when choosing a college major,
[00:00:48.399]just point four percent of high school girls
[00:00:50.852]select computer science.
[00:00:53.178]So, today we have a panel on
[00:00:55.199]Women in IT, a Grassroots Movement.
[00:00:57.868]And our panel is very diverse.
[00:01:00.131]First we have Sandy Vlasnik, she's a lecturer for
[00:01:02.985]the College of Information Science and Technology at UNL.
[00:01:05.855]In addition to her role as a lecturer for the College,
[00:01:08.702]she serves as the Coordinator for Diversity and Inclusion
[00:01:11.672]and leads members, and sorry,
[00:01:13.786]and leads UNL women in IT Engagement Link,
[00:01:16.603]a group of faculty, staff, students and community members
[00:01:18.872]with the goal to increase the number of women
[00:01:21.472]choosing information technology
[00:01:22.862]as an area of study and career.
[00:01:24.714]While supporting students currently enrolled
[00:01:26.750]in Information Technology degree programs.
[00:01:30.772]Next we have Sally Wei.
[00:01:32.633]She currently serves as a coordinator
[00:01:34.077]for K through 12 Engineering Education and Outreach
[00:01:36.813]for the College of Engineering
[00:01:38.316]and has a joint appointment with the
[00:01:39.602]Center for Research on
[00:01:40.883]Children, Youth, Families and Schools.
[00:01:42.947]She also serves as
[00:01:43.774]UNL's Project Lead the Way Affiliate Director.
[00:01:46.643]She has worked more than 20 years in the computer industry
[00:01:49.330]for companies such as Hewlett Packard and AT&T.
[00:01:52.271]She earned a BS in Computer Science
[00:01:54.243]from the University of Illinois,
[00:01:55.733]an MS in Electrical Engineering from
[00:01:58.526]the University of Colorado.
[00:02:00.045]And recently a Masters of Art in Teaching
[00:02:02.348]from Union Graduate College in New York.
[00:02:05.285]Her MAT thesis focused on engaging females in STEM.
[00:02:11.031]Next to her is Leen-Kiat Soh.
[00:02:12.862]He's an Associate Professor in the
[00:02:14.230]Department of Computer Science and Engineering here at UNL.
[00:02:17.472]And he is a faculty member of the Diversity Committee
[00:02:19.876]and the Computing for All Student Organization.
[00:02:22.407]He has been an active member of the CSE Department's effort
[00:02:24.795]to increase diversity of students
[00:02:26.313]participating in computing.
[00:02:28.215]He served on the NCWIT's
[00:02:30.336]Academic Alliance executive committee,
[00:02:32.651]and has since worked on improving
[00:02:34.183]K through 12 CS education.
[00:02:36.409]And finally, we have Jan Deeds.
[00:02:38.299]She's an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer,
[00:02:40.828]sorry (chuckles),
[00:02:41.483]she has been the Director of UNL's Computer Center
[00:02:43.989]and Associate Director of Student Involvement since 1998.
[00:02:47.859]She serves on the Chancellor's Commission
[00:02:50.095]on the Status of Women,
[00:02:51.513]and advises eight student organizations.
[00:02:54.172]She has a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology
[00:02:56.186]and a PhD in Educational Administration.
[00:02:59.369]So, let's all give our panel a warm welcome.
[00:03:02.707](clapping)
[00:03:09.420]So, to start off our first question is
[00:03:12.090]what kind of outreach or accommodations
[00:03:14.810]are necessary to become more inclusive?
[00:03:17.047]Sandy, would you like to start us off with that?
[00:03:19.333]Well, sure.
[00:03:20.385]I'm excited about the programs that we're
[00:03:23.658]developing at the University of Nebraska at Omaha,
[00:03:27.456]to make all students feel like they're welcome
[00:03:30.365]when they walk in the door.
[00:03:31.618]The environment is friendly,
[00:03:35.099]there's been studies that shown just the environment itself
[00:03:36.923]can make a big difference on--
[00:03:40.512]Thank you.
[00:03:41.130]On if students feel welcome or not.
[00:03:44.987]Things like the right kind of posters,
[00:03:47.020]if they're not too, maybe video game-oriented,
[00:03:50.308]that can help the students feel more comfortable.
[00:03:53.552]Maybe if it's not all about Star Wars and Star Trek,
[00:03:55.415]although I personally love
[00:03:56.633]Star Wars and Star Trek (chuckles).
[00:03:58.569]It sometimes can make
[00:03:59.487]some people feel a little bit excluded.
[00:04:03.228]We also believe that you have to start very young.
[00:04:07.461]Our program, one of the programs that we're very proud of
[00:04:09.402]at the University of Nebraska at Omaha
[00:04:10.986]is our eighth and ninth grade Immersion Camp.
[00:04:13.372]And this is for eighth and ninth grade girls,
[00:04:15.426]and this'll be our third year offering the program.
[00:04:19.242]Due to generous grants that we've received
[00:04:21.466]this is offered at no cost to the girls.
[00:04:23.469]And they also bring an educator with them.
[00:04:27.229]In the last couple of years we were able
[00:04:30.362]to host 30 students at a time.
[00:04:32.114]Our goal for next year is to have two sessions
[00:04:35.208]so we can double that number.
[00:04:37.527]It is a little bit difficult to double the number
[00:04:39.707]at each session, though, because we do try
[00:04:41.710]to accommodate both the student and their teacher.
[00:04:44.530]And the nice thing about bringing the teachers in
[00:04:48.050]is that they can not only do some workshops
[00:04:49.654]with the students but they can have
[00:04:51.339]their own separate workshops
[00:04:52.741]where they can learn some new curriculum ideas
[00:04:55.879]and ways to bring computer science into the classroom
[00:04:59.931]to make it friendly and welcoming for all students.
[00:05:04.328]So, I could talk about a lot of our exciting programs but,
[00:05:07.714]that's one of 'em that we've had a great success with.
[00:05:11.660]The first year we had about 70 applicants
[00:05:12.985]all across the state of Nebraska.
[00:05:15.608]And the second year was over a hundred.
[00:05:18.110]We were able to add a summer program
[00:05:20.220]for some of the students that were not able to attend
[00:05:23.474]during our school year Immersion,
[00:05:25.971]so we're building on that program in the next summer, too.
[00:05:29.120]So, starting young, and that's okay.
[00:05:33.095]Eighth and ninth grade's okay, but sometimes
[00:05:34.781]by the time they reach that age they've
[00:05:36.199]already kind of ruled it out.
[00:05:38.788]So, younger is even better, we'll get there.
[00:05:42.304]We also are a member of NCWIT's Academic Alliance
[00:05:45.245]and have been for about five years.
[00:05:46.830]We are a co-coordinator of the
[00:05:49.434]Aspirations and Computing Award for high school girls.
[00:05:52.617]Very excited, just had our applications come in
[00:05:56.192]for this year's award.
[00:05:59.361]It doesn't recognize accomplishments of students,
[00:06:02.485]it recognizes their aspirations.
[00:06:04.804]And if we can encourage them when they're aspiring
[00:06:08.025]to learn about computer science,
[00:06:09.477]we feel that that will have a big impact on them.
[00:06:12.627]So, those are the two things we're doing right now
[00:06:15.074]for the younger students and then we also have programs
[00:06:16.720]in place to help support our current students
[00:06:20.200]that are in the College.
[00:06:21.209]And we've had pretty good success.
[00:06:22.895]If the students choose our programs they do tend to stay.
[00:06:25.682]So, we're very proud of that also.
[00:06:27.135]But we want to have that inclusive environment
[00:06:30.544]and have female instructors and professors
[00:06:34.756]in front of the students and interacting with the students.
[00:06:37.031]And we have a great mentoring program
[00:06:39.483]officially set up, too, where we pair our students
[00:06:42.237]with members from the community.
[00:06:44.225]And we have about 40 pairs this year,
[00:06:46.509]which has been very, very successful, too.
[00:06:48.345]So, with that I think I can turn it over to another panelist
[00:06:51.700]to add to that.
[00:06:52.851]Yeah, thank you so much Sandy.
[00:06:53.886]I really like the idea of encouraging,
[00:06:56.412]celebrating aspirations.
[00:06:58.576]And Sally, is there anything you'd like to add
[00:07:00.029]in the realm of outreach and accommodations?
[00:07:05.251]Well yes, in terms of outreach
[00:07:08.248]we're doing a number of different things.
[00:07:11.118]One of the programs that
[00:07:13.648]we just started actually last spring was,
[00:07:15.349]it's called Engineering Ambassadors Network.
[00:07:17.451]It's a nationwide network of universities that have
[00:07:20.978]engineering ambassadors that go out
[00:07:22.808]to the K12 community to do outreach.
[00:07:25.855]They start out with an engineering presentation,
[00:07:27.698]a TED-style talk, it's NSF funded.
[00:07:31.365]We had a workshop teaching
[00:07:32.921]the undergraduate students how to do TED-style talks.
[00:07:37.602]And then they go into the schools and do
[00:07:41.271]the presentation which is on an engineering topic,
[00:07:43.886]such as roller coasters, or something the kids
[00:07:46.005]can really identify with.
[00:07:47.825]And then we have a paired hands,
[00:07:49.259]hands-on activity with them.
[00:07:52.494]The group is probably 60%, well I know it's 60% women.
[00:07:57.544]Last spring it was 70%,
[00:07:59.141]we actually tried to recruit more guys (laughs).
[00:08:02.695]Which is not indicative of the percentages
[00:08:04.714]of women in engineering.
[00:08:07.871]But it's been very successful in terms of getting
[00:08:11.808]not just kids interested in engineering
[00:08:15.830]but the girls as well.
[00:08:16.946]We really try to take it down, as Sandy talked about,
[00:08:19.994]to the young kids.
[00:08:22.213]I firmly believe, and research also shows
[00:08:23.907]that you really need to start young.
[00:08:25.825]So, we actually take it down to the elementary schools.
[00:08:30.715]The third and fourth grade girls are just
[00:08:34.443]really excited to be doing these activities.
[00:08:37.220]And then we need to figure out
[00:08:38.325]what happens to them in middle school.
[00:08:40.613]Maybe we can talk about that with another question (laughs).
[00:08:45.453]It's really important to get the girls interested.
[00:08:47.556]And the observations I have when we got to the schools
[00:08:49.808]is that when we put them in groups
[00:08:52.061]and they're self-selected into groups,
[00:08:53.329]the girls tend to gravitate
[00:08:54.932]into groups of girls by themselves,
[00:08:57.918]and the boys with the boys.
[00:08:59.554]And in the really itty bitty years, K through two,
[00:09:02.791]it doesn't matter, they seem to be going in a co-ed group.
[00:09:06.768]Probably around third or fourth grade and that's when
[00:09:08.983]the girls decide whether they like math or science.
[00:09:12.429]Is when they start noticing that they wanna be with girls
[00:09:16.535]and they like working in groups.
[00:09:18.345]So, there's a number of things that you can do
[00:09:21.307]with the kids to
[00:09:25.305]really focus on the girls.
[00:09:28.042]The girls are very social so they want to be able
[00:09:31.581]to discuss and talk about things.
[00:09:36.036]I have many more things to say but--
[00:09:37.354](laughing)
[00:09:38.840]Jan, is there anything
[00:09:39.592]you would like to add on that?
[00:09:41.275]Oh my, yes. Yes indeed.
[00:09:43.529]My degree is in Education Administration.
[00:09:46.333]My work has been in,
[00:09:48.576]I've studied men and masculinities in fact,
[00:09:50.726]which people say
[00:09:51.764]"You're the Women's Center Director, that's odd."
[00:09:54.039]But I also acknowledge that gender, surprise,
[00:09:57.798]everyone has a gender, right?
[00:10:00.351]But men don't generally, aren't generally asked
[00:10:02.538]to think how does your gender affect you?
[00:10:04.724]and what people expect from you or how you
[00:10:07.612]are interacting in a group.
[00:10:09.070]It's just invisible in times and it's a lot.
[00:10:12.187]So, what my suggestion is,
[00:10:14.453]and whenever I work with classes or (mumbles) I say
[00:10:18.993]" We need to teach men, we need to talk with boys
[00:10:21.663]"About working with girls and boys."
[00:10:23.534]We need to address those things that make it,
[00:10:27.449]that people, we do unintentionally sometimes
[00:10:30.334]that set it up so boys and girls in the third grade
[00:10:32.846]think that they shouldn't
[00:10:33.762]talk to teach other or like each other.
[00:10:35.967]We need to acknowledge that something's happening
[00:10:38.873]in our socialization that's making it difficult
[00:10:41.289]for boys and girls to interact with each other,
[00:10:43.476]or to know that it's okay to do that.
[00:10:45.895]There are some basic educational skills,
[00:10:48.198]there's some interpersonal skills that are really valuable
[00:10:51.659]to offer to people.
[00:10:52.771]Because when you go out into the work force, surprise,
[00:10:55.124]you're working with men and women both.
[00:10:56.476]And so, we need to offer those skills.
[00:10:59.510]My husband is a graduate of
[00:11:02.215]Computer Science here in 1978,
[00:11:04.525]and he says that there were like two women
[00:11:06.376]in his entire cohort.
[00:11:07.892]And so, the opportunity to practice working with women?
[00:11:11.479]Pretty minimal and the idea of how to,
[00:11:14.423]he also was in a lot of single sex activities.
[00:11:18.439]So, he didn't really learn how to talk with women.
[00:11:21.093]He's happy he's married to a counselor now,
[00:11:22.945]so we've sort of taught him some--
[00:11:24.413](laughing)
[00:11:25.331]He's the person in his job that,
[00:11:27.417]he's the scientist that everybody talks to
[00:11:29.904]because he listens well, he knows how to communicate well
[00:11:33.308]cuz he's developed some extra skills.
[00:11:35.244]Not to assume that you don't, but I'm just saying.
[00:11:37.732]That's an important thing
[00:11:39.118]that we don't often include in education.
[00:11:41.453]If you're learning technical skills, technical education,
[00:11:44.374]we don't always think about interpersonal needs as well.
[00:11:46.744]So, I'm here to advocate for that.
[00:11:50.642]Is there anything else anyone
[00:11:51.383]would like to add about outreach, to be more inclusive?
[00:11:57.609]Hi.
[00:11:58.826]I think for outreach our department's trying to do
[00:12:04.510]suite of outward activities for, I think,
[00:12:06.809]three main principles.
[00:12:08.269]One is to inform,
[00:12:10.288]to look at the teachers, working with the local district
[00:12:14.148]RPS for example
[00:12:15.808]to get CS education out there.
[00:12:18.235]Inform the parents, inform the counselors
[00:12:20.472]about misconception about computer science,
[00:12:24.043]and about women in computer science.
[00:12:25.979]And then another one is advocate.
[00:12:27.964]How to get local industry for example,
[00:12:30.084]we have I think a vibrant, active
[00:12:32.447](mumbles) code agreement in Lincoln,
[00:12:34.867]to get more participation of women in computing.
[00:12:39.031]So, this can advocate (mumbles) campaign
[00:12:42.769]to go with IS.
[00:12:44.859]I think started with (mumbles)...
[00:12:48.559]Give me your name.
[00:12:50.999]What's your name?
[00:12:51.713]Amy, Amy Metzger.
[00:12:53.566]Sorry.
[00:12:54.820]I guess you know Amy, I thought about this (mumbles)
[00:12:57.700]for a while now.
[00:12:58.610]And so it's important to advocate for
[00:13:01.289]wide diversity employment in computing.
[00:13:03.329]So another ones is, the third principle is to encourage.
[00:13:06.840]Encourage girls, young girls.
[00:13:10.593]Not just K five, but also in the school,
[00:13:12.408]it's very important to engage them at that time.
[00:13:14.861]And for example, what Sandy's been doing with
[00:13:19.081]the explanation that everyone is very, very important.
[00:13:22.487]We're happy to be co-coordinator with the event this year.
[00:13:26.395]And but also other things important to have hands-on
[00:13:30.815]experience for female students, young female students,
[00:13:35.581]that this is not exclusive.
[00:13:39.666]Programming is not exclusive.
[00:13:42.066]Programming is not some geeky, white male students
[00:13:45.725]working on that, no it's not.
[00:13:47.742]Programming is about problem solving.
[00:13:49.474]It's not just sitting there, staring at the computer, no.
[00:13:54.097]It's problem solving, it's actually
[00:13:55.899]solving real-world problems interacting with other people.
[00:13:58.588]So, all these things.
[00:14:00.708]So, that's three principles, inform, advocate and encourage.
[00:14:03.225]I think it's important.
[00:14:04.466]And we have learned quite a bit of activities with,
[00:14:06.563]for example, we had a Code Camp in summer
[00:14:10.084]inviting students come in, immersive as well.
[00:14:12.322]They stay here for three days.
[00:14:14.376]And then also we have,
[00:14:15.859]used to be we have a mentoring program
[00:14:19.251]going to middle school and high school
[00:14:22.055]to get undergrad students mentoring
[00:14:29.642]K five, elementary
[00:14:32.084]and secondary schools students.
[00:14:34.744]We also have campus visits for them to tag along
[00:14:37.104]our undergrad female students
[00:14:39.640]for entire day to go to classes,
[00:14:41.943]to go to library, go to cafeteria, eating there, too.
[00:14:44.755]So they understand what it's about
[00:14:46.266]to be a female student in computer science
[00:14:48.169]or (mumbles) Department.
[00:14:50.489]So, I think these things for us to
[00:14:53.339]overall educate not just the students
[00:14:56.513]also the parents, the schools,
[00:14:59.439]district and then statewide for example,
[00:15:02.039]that we need more women participation in computing.
[00:15:05.893]It is also something that's doable,
[00:15:08.813]not something exclusive to only male students only.
[00:15:12.816]So, I think that's important.
[00:15:15.271]Thank you.
[00:15:16.357]So, we talked about how we're gonna outreach
[00:15:17.691]to be more inclusive, and
[00:15:20.413]Jan and Sally you both touched on the idea
[00:15:22.097]that interpersonal skills are an important part of,
[00:15:25.651]between men and women and across diversity
[00:15:28.891]of making a more welcoming environment.
[00:15:30.842]But what other changes do we need to make
[00:15:32.461]to learn the experiences and work environments
[00:15:34.957]to be more inclusive?
[00:15:38.040]Sally, would you like to start?
[00:15:39.522]First? (chuckles) Sure.
[00:15:44.709]I think for the learning experience for
[00:15:48.533]teachers, educators, anybody involved in outreach
[00:15:51.920]or out-of-school providers, the environment,
[00:15:56.215]Sandy talked about the environment,
[00:15:57.327]is really, really important.
[00:15:59.273]Confidence is one of the key
[00:16:02.902]issues in girls in particular.
[00:16:05.442]And I will mostly focus probably on K 12.
[00:16:09.361]It's actually the greatest factor
[00:16:10.967]in keeping girls out of STEM,
[00:16:12.947]is the lack of confidence and the lack of the ability
[00:16:14.551]that they can do something.
[00:16:15.936]So, anything that you can do in the environment
[00:16:17.955]to make it more positive, more encouraging,
[00:16:21.677]more nurturing for the girls.
[00:16:24.430]Also, girls like, as I mentioned, a sense of community.
[00:16:27.184]They like to work in small groups.
[00:16:30.486]They like to, they like to talk (chuckles).
[00:16:33.392]As Florence said "I don't know how many words we have
[00:16:36.097]"Versus the amount of words that men have."
[00:16:39.493]But the more times
[00:16:40.548]that they can collaborate and do team work,
[00:16:42.368]because that is really
[00:16:43.640]what engineering is in the real world.
[00:16:45.341]We never work isolated in a vacuum.
[00:16:48.029]We work in teams and we work in teams
[00:16:49.647]that we may not necessarily get along with other people,
[00:16:51.783]but that's just the way it is.
[00:16:53.619]So, that would be a good environment
[00:16:55.271]to bring the girls into
[00:16:58.290]and they're comfortable with that.
[00:17:00.320]As Leen-Kiat said, more hands-on activities,
[00:17:02.524]projects, more writing.
[00:17:06.225]They like to, it would be nice if we could connect
[00:17:09.603]what they're doing to the real world.
[00:17:11.527]Because for girls it needs to be relevant.
[00:17:15.607]So, they need to have it mean something to them personally.
[00:17:19.866]You can't teach them just out of a book.
[00:17:22.308]They wanna actually get their hands involved.
[00:17:26.074]And give them more exposure to female role models.
[00:17:29.917]As you mentioned, posters in a room
[00:17:34.179]should also have females and minorities in it
[00:17:38.012]so they can, so the boys and the girls can both
[00:17:40.115]see that this is just normal.
[00:17:43.325]Florence talked about the, what does she call it?
[00:17:47.155]She called it, unconscious bias.
[00:17:51.279]And those just creep in, so if we can just
[00:17:55.563]put as much of that out there with the posters
[00:17:58.824]and having the boys see the role models.
[00:18:01.077]And the textbooks, too.
[00:18:02.561]To have female role models.
[00:18:05.594]Some of that unconscious bias may not be eliminated,
[00:18:08.118]but can be contained.
[00:18:11.189]In the College of Engineering we've gotten something,
[00:18:15.493]we've categorized our outreach activities into,
[00:18:18.532]and maybe I should have talked about this
[00:18:19.723]with the last question but...
[00:18:22.382]Two categories, one is short-term inspirational
[00:18:26.378]and the other is long-term relational.
[00:18:28.228]Most outreach activities these days
[00:18:30.165]are typically short-term inspirational.
[00:18:34.572]And even a two-week summer camp
[00:18:35.772]can be categorized as short-term.
[00:18:37.975]In the time of a life of a student,
[00:18:41.298]it can just be an instant in time.
[00:18:44.361]It generates excitement, enthusiasm, interest,
[00:18:46.486]and then they go home
[00:18:48.072]and probably don't even think about it.
[00:18:49.958]Unless it's really,
[00:18:53.220]unless the kid is really interested in it.
[00:18:55.948]The long-term relational programs keep the kids engaged.
[00:18:59.671]And those would be some of the curricular...
[00:19:04.144]The actual curriculum in the formal classroom,
[00:19:06.179]such as Project Lead the Way,
[00:19:07.331]which is a K 12 STEM curriculum.
[00:19:10.694]Also, Boston Museum of Science has a really good curriculum.
[00:19:13.459]Its K five, it's called Engineering is Elementary.
[00:19:17.333]And it's really, really excellent but it doesn't continue.
[00:19:19.964]So, we need to really sustain that growth and that interest
[00:19:23.703]in the kids through middle school, which are key years,
[00:19:27.125]and into high school.
[00:19:29.886]So, it may not be,
[00:19:32.903]and then we also have these informal
[00:19:35.963]like Girls Who code, and Techbridge, First Robotics.
[00:19:40.275]And these'll keep kids interested
[00:19:41.743]for a longer period of time.
[00:19:43.129]So, they would be considered more long-term relational.
[00:19:46.689]So, as a college of engineering we need to balance
[00:19:50.647]both short-term inspirational activities
[00:19:52.725]and long-term relational so that we can nurture
[00:19:56.613]and sustain the student's interest.
[00:20:00.076]So that a student that's interested and energized
[00:20:02.588]by something that's short-term inspirational,
[00:20:04.356]we can connect them to something that's more
[00:20:06.242]long-term relational.
[00:20:07.812]And those are the kinds of things
[00:20:08.829]that we're working at the College.
[00:20:17.324]Jan you go ahead and then Sandy.
[00:20:18.893]Okay, alright.
[00:20:20.874]One of the things that the Women's Center did last year,
[00:20:23.984]we collaborated with a student named Jenny May,
[00:20:26.537]who helped coordinate a workshop, a STEM workshop,
[00:20:29.524]at the very beginning of the semester in September.
[00:20:32.493]And from that experience we developed,
[00:20:35.744]we identified some people who were interested
[00:20:37.881]in participating in a weekly STEM sort of discussion group.
[00:20:41.289]Not really a support group, but of course it evolved
[00:20:43.309]into that a little bit, for women who were in STEM
[00:20:45.762]across a variety of disciplines.
[00:20:49.546]And so, one of the things that I thought was
[00:20:51.749]most interesting from that is they asked,
[00:20:54.459]the facilitator asked the women for suggestions
[00:20:58.007]for their colleagues, recommendations
[00:21:00.480]for their classmates and faculty
[00:21:02.684]to make them be, to help them be
[00:21:05.597]more successful in the classroom.
[00:21:07.776]And so, here are a couple of things
[00:21:08.892]I thought were very interesting.
[00:21:11.219]In the first place they wanna make sure that
[00:21:12.814]people ask everyone's opinion in it
[00:21:15.385]when you're doing a group discussion, a group project.
[00:21:18.639]One of the things that we know is that
[00:21:19.992]even men who are aware of gender imbalance
[00:21:23.646]and who are very conscious of that
[00:21:25.314]and work really hard for gender equity,
[00:21:27.518]if you were to count in conversations,
[00:21:30.105]if you were to count how many times
[00:21:31.239]men speak in a group versus women speak in a group,
[00:21:34.276]we think women talk more,
[00:21:35.529]but men actually speak more in a group.
[00:21:38.599]They sort of dominate the conversation.
[00:21:40.853]Even men who are conscious of this.
[00:21:42.838]And so, that's just again that unconscious
[00:21:45.878]way of dealing with things.
[00:21:46.926]So, recognizing that and putting some things in place
[00:21:49.631]where you're consciously saying
[00:21:51.349]"Okay, let's go around the circle, and everybody
[00:21:54.121]"say their thought."
[00:21:55.071]If you just do it that way rather than
[00:21:56.356]okay, who has an opinion?
[00:21:58.405]Women are gonna not be heard as much.
[00:22:00.328]Also, quiet people aren't gonna be heard as much,
[00:22:02.631]introverts won't be heard as much.
[00:22:03.949]So, it works for everybody.
[00:22:07.163]And do a reality check they said,
[00:22:08.923]so again, if you check in with each other
[00:22:11.810]and if you think that you're trying
[00:22:13.262]to make your group or your class feel welcome
[00:22:15.966]and men and women both have opinions
[00:22:17.517]and are able to express themselves,
[00:22:19.643]do a little check on that, find out from people.
[00:22:22.772]Do a quiet survey or something
[00:22:26.592]about the things that you think,
[00:22:28.049]the way that you think the group is functioning,
[00:22:30.984]check in with each other and see if that's right.
[00:22:32.655]Or notice each other's behavior.
[00:22:34.423]Teach each other to sort of give feedback to each other.
[00:22:37.027]I noticed that when Sally made a comment,
[00:22:40.524]that nobody said anything.
[00:22:42.000]But then when you said it, everybody said
[00:22:43.903]that was a great idea.
[00:22:44.904]And so as a third person I can notice that and say
[00:22:47.257]"But that was Sally's idea to begin with,
[00:22:49.395]"So, I just wanna make sure she gets,
[00:22:51.363]"We acknowledge that she had a great idea."
[00:22:53.166]If you notice that, because
[00:22:54.300]that's a very subtle thing that happens in groups a lot.
[00:22:57.779]So, noticing that and doing reality checks with each other.
[00:23:01.528]Respecting each other, focusing on the joint purpose
[00:23:03.545]that's bringing you there.
[00:23:04.747]So, women students are very worried
[00:23:06.767]about being perceived as potential dates
[00:23:09.696]rather than just colleagues and friends and classmates.
[00:23:14.276]So, if you're having a group meeting,
[00:23:16.659]working on a group project,
[00:23:18.213]that the focus is on the project
[00:23:19.601]and remembering what the project is,
[00:23:21.642]that that makes them feel much more relaxed
[00:23:23.372]and relieved if the conversation doesn't go
[00:23:25.892]into the social aspects as much.
[00:23:28.512]So, helping students know that.
[00:23:31.989]Also, acknowledging and modeling,
[00:23:33.569]that we don't think a woman who takes charge is bossy,
[00:23:36.790]she's just a good leader.
[00:23:38.810]We have to think some of us have that,
[00:23:41.105]we grew up in this fishbowl, we don't notice the water
[00:23:44.033]cuz we're all in the water, but there is a natural,
[00:23:48.762]not a natural, there's a trained instinct
[00:23:50.848]that we sometimes think that women who take charge
[00:23:53.461]are just being bossy.
[00:23:54.698]Whereas look, he's a real leader.
[00:23:56.699]Check your prejudices there kind of
[00:23:58.886]and help everybody in your class recognize.
[00:24:03.301]And sometimes people are bossy, men and women both,
[00:24:05.858]so there's some borderlines there.
[00:24:07.831]But in terms of just your natural respect for each other,
[00:24:11.053]that's really important.
[00:24:12.521]And the final thing was that
[00:24:14.240]the women really wanted to be treated
[00:24:16.355]like classmates and co-workers.
[00:24:18.328]As friends and not potential girlfriends.
[00:24:19.964]So, noticing that is important.
[00:24:22.468]And also, in terms of your TAs may also,
[00:24:25.571]if you have a female TA, she may also
[00:24:27.458]not be treated with respect the way that she should be.
[00:24:30.946]So, as a faculty person noticing that
[00:24:34.175]and sort of reinforcing in your classroom
[00:24:36.036]trying to set up ways that discussions happen.
[00:24:38.872]That you acknowledge there's a gender imbalance
[00:24:41.326]and work to sort of mediate that.
[00:24:44.624]I have other ideas, too, but I'll start with that.
[00:24:47.456](laughing)
[00:24:50.020]Well, I just have a couple things to add
[00:24:51.373]as far as changing the curriculum.
[00:24:53.042]And Sally, when you said that girls want it to be meaningful
[00:24:56.112]and they wanna make a difference,
[00:24:59.068]when we did our Code Crush,
[00:25:01.436]is what we call our immersion camp,
[00:25:02.972]the first year we approached Henry Doorly Zoo,
[00:25:05.275]which, if you're from Nebraska,
[00:25:07.345]you've heard of how great Henry Doorly Zoo is,
[00:25:09.636]and I, oh let's take the girls down to Henry Doorly Zoo.
[00:25:11.716]And that's great to show off the city and how great it is,
[00:25:14.529]but to make it a learning experience
[00:25:17.073]we worked with the zoo to set up a back tour.
[00:25:19.310]And it wasn't just your normal back tour.
[00:25:21.096]It was how does the zoo use IT?
[00:25:23.779]And it was very exciting for the girls to see,
[00:25:26.002]you know the diet, all the things they have to track,
[00:25:29.370]the health of the animals and what's going on.
[00:25:32.313]It was a great experience cuz they could see IT
[00:25:35.082]in a way that maybe they hadn't thought of it before.
[00:25:37.434]That maybe they don't have to sit in a cubicle somewhere,
[00:25:40.804]not that there's anything wrong with that,
[00:25:42.580]but that there are more opportunities
[00:25:44.243]and ways to expose the girls to
[00:25:47.533]to IT in unique ways.
[00:25:50.103]And then on another note, for our college courses,
[00:25:54.951]we need to do some work on our curriculum
[00:25:57.327]and we're aware of it at our college.
[00:26:00.658]One of the things that students
[00:26:02.517]can find intimidating walking in the door
[00:26:04.360]is that they don't know the language yet.
[00:26:05.889]They don't know the terminology,
[00:26:07.007]they don't know the acronyms.
[00:26:08.676]And so they feel like they can't do it
[00:26:10.461]just because they don't know the language yet.
[00:26:13.081]So, one of the things we've looked at doing is relabeling
[00:26:16.191]or just labeling and sort of organizing
[00:26:18.106]our CS one class into sections,
[00:26:21.378]where you have some for experienced students
[00:26:23.062]and some for not-as-experienced students.
[00:26:25.800]And it has nothing to do with ability,
[00:26:27.518]it just has to do with what they may have been exposed to
[00:26:31.128]in the classroom in high school.
[00:26:32.190]And if they're not from one of the
[00:26:35.845]West Omaha districts, or the Magnet schools,
[00:26:39.066]maybe they're from rural Nebraska
[00:26:40.469]or some area that doesn't have the exposure,
[00:26:42.772]they don't have the class sizes
[00:26:44.007]to offer some of those classes.
[00:26:45.809]It gives some of those students
[00:26:46.743]a chance to feel like okay, I'm not the only one,
[00:26:49.907]and at the end of the class everyone's at the same level.
[00:26:52.617]And they've all had the same experience
[00:26:54.511]by the time they're finished and they're ready
[00:26:56.507]to go on to the next class.
[00:26:57.824]But it just kind of opens up that comfort level
[00:27:00.144]and it's okay to ask questions and it's a safe environment.
[00:27:03.848]So anyway, that's one thing that we're looking at.
[00:27:08.522]So, I wanted to ask
[00:27:10.125]what efforts you are currently leading or have led
[00:27:13.428]in inclusivity, in diversity?
[00:27:16.867]Leen-Kiat would you like to start?
[00:27:19.504]Okay.
[00:27:22.435]Well first I wanted to ask,
[00:27:24.599]one of things in terms of informing students
[00:27:26.919]about computer science
[00:27:28.599]and women computing is to get
[00:27:31.974]more role models for them.
[00:27:34.073]Kids for example, they look up to role models.
[00:27:36.276]If all the models are all male people,
[00:27:40.690]in the field,
[00:27:41.450]they say "Well, this is not only for me,
[00:27:42.902]"This is for somebody else."
[00:27:45.160]So, one of the things the department is doing now
[00:27:47.992]is to try to come up with a, is working on a,
[00:27:52.567]a project for the women in IT in Nebraska.
[00:27:56.336]Cuz (mumbles) you have some pioneers from Nebraska
[00:28:00.070]who went out and blazed the trails
[00:28:02.645]in IT, in computing.
[00:28:04.977]For example we just inducted our first
[00:28:06.800]female IT person to our
[00:28:10.378]Hall of Fame Computing,
[00:28:13.258]Patricia Worth, last week.
[00:28:17.369]And so, just one of the things we've done.
[00:28:20.002]And then another one is
[00:28:23.124]during CS Education Week,
[00:28:25.326]the entire week during December,
[00:28:29.548]around the second week of December,
[00:28:32.116]as part of the local CSTA chapter's activities
[00:28:34.604]we have this event
[00:28:37.190]to promote computing in schools.
[00:28:40.345]And in the past we have done Hour of Code,
[00:28:43.799]and this year we will doing Hour of Code again
[00:28:46.069]on December 5th at Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:28:50.341]We want to invite parents and students as well,
[00:28:54.181]K12 students, to campus to play with the code.
[00:28:59.070]And the other idea is
[00:29:01.740]we want to make sure that coding is not intimidating,
[00:29:04.944]is for everyone.
[00:29:07.613]So, by broadening participation in computing we
[00:29:14.145]we also are increasing,
[00:29:15.742]and promoting diversity in computing as a result.
[00:29:18.763]And I think that...
[00:29:21.884]But this is just one event, one year.
[00:29:24.721]And after that event there should be follow-ups
[00:29:29.234]during the year,
[00:29:30.445]before the next Education Week.
[00:29:33.249]So, there are things that we are trying to do
[00:29:35.168]to promote our campus.
[00:29:36.169]Our Department have CSE Day
[00:29:39.740]inviting (mumbles) teams from different schools
[00:29:44.113]in the area to come on campus.
[00:29:48.647]But it's getting, I'll say this,
[00:29:52.629]I don't want to sound discouraging,
[00:29:55.279]but the teams usually are made of
[00:29:59.051]male students.
[00:30:01.052]So, in the past we also have tried
[00:30:03.355]to include design teams.
[00:30:05.842]Design teams work 20, 20.
[00:30:08.645]Imagine yourself in 20, 20 work
[00:30:11.691]the cool applications there will be,
[00:30:12.935]they're going to come up with,
[00:30:14.604]for the society in 2020.
[00:30:16.857]And this industry goes back to
[00:30:21.156]female students tend to want to have,
[00:30:22.848]go into studies, to have their projects
[00:30:24.834]related to social impact.
[00:30:26.953]Not just some games, be with games
[00:30:29.156]or be with something engineering problem,
[00:30:31.156]but they want something like that.
[00:30:32.778]So, we are also trying to do that as well.
[00:30:36.266]So, we just have a few minutes left.
[00:30:37.785]Is there anything else anyone would like to add?
[00:30:42.837]Last thoughts?
[00:30:47.481]I have something.
[00:30:50.077](mumbles) I was a member
[00:30:52.171]on the committee for a while
[00:30:55.491]and the four key reasons
[00:30:58.954]for why we have,
[00:31:00.514]cuz if you look at the graph for women
[00:31:01.867]participation in the 1980's,
[00:31:03.853]at one point we reached 30-some percent,
[00:31:05.404]38% or so.
[00:31:06.775]And then since then that's been dropping.
[00:31:08.942]And then even though other STEM disciplines
[00:31:10.529]even though participation is going up,
[00:31:12.197]always just keeps dropping and dropping
[00:31:13.733]and now we're about 15, five to 15%
[00:31:16.069]inducted into institutions.
[00:31:17.939]And four things,
[00:31:20.934]one is this media and popular culture
[00:31:23.362]showing that computing is masculine and geeky.
[00:31:27.584]And then then playing fences.
[00:31:29.086]Sometimes it's hard to be
[00:31:30.521]the only girl in the classroom.
[00:31:34.536]In our lives families, communities and role models,
[00:31:36.697]sometimes even the family and the parents,
[00:31:38.733]the counselor say "Oh, this is not for you.
[00:31:40.601]"Is only for these guys."
[00:31:42.871]And so, it's just unequal opportunity in early experiences.
[00:31:46.026]We believe that if you expose students,
[00:31:50.896]any gender, any race,
[00:31:52.554]early to computer science for example,
[00:31:54.137]they will develop
[00:31:58.278]accuracy in it.
[00:31:59.987]And then finally, the fourth one is
[00:32:02.348]computing curriculum is often
[00:32:05.201]disconnected from student interest environments
[00:32:07.421]that are uncomfortable for girls.
[00:32:09.657]And for example, the social impact of projects...
[00:32:15.082]Projects, talking about project for them
[00:32:18.692]in sense of related to social impact
[00:32:20.455]could be as good, if not better,
[00:32:23.876]than the project that involves enduring problems.
[00:32:27.673]I think these four things...
[00:32:30.736]If we work on addressing that
[00:32:32.137]I think we'll see results down the road.
[00:32:38.912]I just wanted to add, I know when Florence spoke earlier
[00:32:41.583]she talked about having a hundred men
[00:32:43.953]at a thousand person conference.
[00:32:47.501]One of the things that we've been promoting
[00:32:49.232]at the University for the last about five or six years,
[00:32:51.346]is attendance at the Grace Hopper Celebration of
[00:32:53.465]Women in Computing, and I know Lincoln sent
[00:32:55.994]several students this year, too.
[00:32:57.271]But, when I went to my first Grace Hopper conference
[00:32:59.974]three years ago I was blown away.
[00:33:01.543]It's just the best positive experience.
[00:33:04.564]The students come back, their lives are changed.
[00:33:08.160]Part of the reason it is so exciting is the role models
[00:33:10.722]and the women leaders that speak.
[00:33:14.525]Three years ago I went in Minneapolis
[00:33:16.439]and there were 5,000 attendees.
[00:33:18.972]Last year in Phoenix there were 8,000,
[00:33:21.448]and of that only about 500 men.
[00:33:24.557]So, talk about good percentages for us.
[00:33:27.541]And this last year in Houston,
[00:33:29.300]12,000 attendees.
[00:33:31.750]And they even had to reschedule next year's
[00:33:33.369]to go back to Houston because the location
[00:33:35.254]they were going to go wasn't large enough
[00:33:37.694]to handle the conference of the size they're expecting.
[00:33:40.061]So, it's things like that.
[00:33:42.031]And it takes funding to send students.
[00:33:45.808]Especially in Nebraska it takes private funding
[00:33:47.506]to send students when you're targeting by sex or race.
[00:33:51.899]So, we've had to work pretty hard
[00:33:52.895]to raise some funds for that.
[00:33:54.597]But those kinds of things are just,
[00:33:57.952]you can't measure the impact that they have
[00:33:59.737]on the student's life.
[00:34:02.491]Leen-Kiat you have something?
[00:34:03.844]As a tidbit because I was there this time as well,
[00:34:07.761]and for the first time I couldn't find a bathroom.
[00:34:09.684](laughing)
[00:34:11.736]Cuz there was so many bathrooms,
[00:34:15.040]cuz they have equal number of men's
[00:34:16.543]and the women's bathroom,
[00:34:18.279]but also they blocked the men
[00:34:21.092]with the lady in front of them, no men in there.
[00:34:24.087]So, I kept walking around, walking around--
[00:34:25.806](laughing)
[00:34:27.475]I was about to go in.
[00:34:28.759]But that, I mean I,
[00:34:30.695]it's inspirational, I was, wow.
[00:34:35.168]Started to think of, it changed me as well.
[00:34:37.688]So, I was thinking of Grace Hopper's (mumbles).
[00:34:39.940]Also, I encourage
[00:34:42.426]female faculty, male faculty members
[00:34:44.256]to also attend.
[00:34:45.515]I think this is very eye-opening as well.
[00:34:47.284]I learned a lot from that conference.
[00:34:49.837]Alright, I want to, one more thing?
[00:34:52.784]I just wanted to reiterate that you need to start young.
[00:34:55.388]Research really shows that middle school's too old.
[00:35:00.076]Girls have lost their interest in math and science
[00:35:02.313]by third or fourth grade.
[00:35:03.689]So, really you need to start young.
[00:35:07.872]So, if you're a grandparent or a parent
[00:35:09.313]and you have little kids,
[00:35:10.682]that's the thing to think about, too.
[00:35:11.850]Not just in your classroom or in your professional work.
[00:35:15.172]I mean that's part of my life, is I'm always looking
[00:35:18.021]with all kinds of situations about gender roles
[00:35:20.761]and having conversations with people.
[00:35:22.681]So, if you are interested in consulting
[00:35:24.901]about your class or anything,
[00:35:26.553]that's what the Women's Center's for,
[00:35:28.072]that's what I'm here for.
[00:35:31.109]Alright, thank you guys so much.
[00:35:32.377]Let's all thank our panel.
[00:35:33.579](clapping)

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IT Leadership: Women in IT Panel Discussion

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