PGE/DIS Women and IT Video Project

University Of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

The Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County UMBC) will: 1) Create a four-minute, high quality video presenting diverse images of successful women in science and technology careers and targeting girls and young women ages 12 - 20. 2) Develop a speakers program involving female UMBC students and faculty and representatives from the business community, who will use the video as an exciting entree to a discussion of women's opportunities in science and technology careers. 3) Once the video is completed, evaluate a speaker's success, with and without the video, in educating a total of 1500 middle, high school, and community students about the opportunities for careers in IT and related science fields, with a focus on women. 4) Develop guidelines for integrating the video and speaker into any venue, including classrooms, after-school and summer programs, assemblies, career fairs, programs for college freshmen, and other programs for young people. Unlike the traditional videos currently available on the topic, this brief, high-intensity video will engage the emotions and interests of young people. Rather than presenting talking heads, this video will combine vibrant rock or pop music, striking color, and flash images and text to create energy and excitement around the topic of women's career possibilities in IT. The video is modeled upon a high-quality, four-minute music video developed by General Motors and used, with permission, as a template for feedback and evaluation by a diverse group of 102 middle school, high school, and community college students ranging in age from 13 to 26. Over 90% of these students, both male and female, believed creating a short video about women and IT modeled on the GM video was an excellent idea. Video Press, a small for-profit arm of the University of Maryland, College Park, and winner of an Oscar for its production "King Gimp" will develop the video under the guidance of the Video Project Committee (VPC). The VPC members represent UMBC faculty and staff and the video project subcommittee of Center's advisory board. Once the video is completed, the project team will work with an external evaluator to assess the effectiveness of the video in enhancing a speaker's success in educating students about career opportunities for women in IT and related fields. A booklet will be developed to support the use of the video and be distributed with 100 videos statewide for additional evaluation. VPC members will disseminate the video and guidelines for use nationally and internationally through the Maryland public school system, Maryland community colleges, national and international listservs, journals, radio and television, local and national conferences, and an internationally recognized website. The External Advisory Board is composed of high level executives from the following companies: T. Rowe Price Investment Technologies; Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development; Maryland State Department of Education; Northrop Grumman; Saraf Software Solutions; Hewlett Packard's Digital Village Project; SM Consulting; Allfirst Bank; the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC); and an entrepreneur and Founder/CEO of WomenCONNECT.com. Maryland Public Television will serve in an advisory capacity on this project. Additional partners in this project include Meade Middle School, Pine Grove Middle School, Parkville High School and Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science, and the Community College of Baltimore County. The Maryland Association of Community Colleges will support the program through the dissemination and assessment of the video project to all 16 community colleges in the state. Summer Days Math and Science Camp for Girls, Inc. will assess the video as a recruiting tool. The Director of the Center for Social and Community Research at Loyola College in Maryland will independently evaluate the project.