Who's Not at the Table?: Building Research Capacity for Underserved Communities in Engineering

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This workshop proposal focuses on developing a national agenda for research in broadening participation in engineering by those who self-identify as persons with disabilities, veterans, low income/first generation or members of the LGBTQ community. The effort to increase the numbers of students who study computer science and engineering is a national imperative. Furthermore, there is a need to ensure this workforce is representative of the nation's populations as a diverse workforce will spark greater innovation and creativity through the incorporation of multiple perspectives and experiences in the creation of technology. Efforts to create a more diverse workforce have often focused on interventions to recruit and retain under-represented populations. As a result progress has not occurred at a substantial rate as these efforts tend to be localized and not easily scaled. What is needed is greater research in understanding the various factors that impede and influence the full participation of these underserved groups. The project will convene a workshop of thought leaders, including scholars, practitioners, policy makers and others from a broad spectrum of social science disciplines. Brought together from across the nation, the participants will seek to develop an understanding of how best to increase research capacity to better understand why these groups are so underrepresented in the computer science and engineering workforce. Participants will identify existing research and new research possibilities regarding computing and engineering participation by persons from the specified under-served groups. The goal is to help define the national agenda for areas of research in the field of broadening participation for these targeted populations in the engineering and computer science workforce.