Abstract: Less than 20% of undergraduates earning a degree in engineering are women, and even more alarming is minority women earn a mere 3.1% of those degrees. This paper reports on a qualitative study examining Latinas’ identity development toward and in undergraduate engineering and computer science studies using a sociocultural theory of learning. Three major themes emerged from the data analysis: 1) Engineering support clusters as affinity spaces contributing to development of engineering identities; 2) Mexican or Mexican-American family contributing to persistence in engineering; and 3) Equity in access to engineering education. Engineering support clusters and Mexican heritage family support were vital in developing and sustaining Latinas’ engineering identity. Additionally, data supported the idea that Latinas at the research site experienced gender and ethnic equity in their access to engineering education. The authors call for a more gender-inclusive engineering education and situating education experiences in more effective learning approaches (i.e., critical thinking in community and cultural contexts), which deserves attention in order to move engineering away from a ubiquitous view of inflexibility regarding women in engineering.

Abstract: Through support from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the El Paso Community College (EPCC) began a program to collaborate on adoption of Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) at EPCC. The NCWIT-funded effort aims to transfer this effective retention practice to the EPCC in order to establish early connections with female students, create community, and provide activities that improve students’ problem-solving skills. PLTL provides an active learning experience for students and creates leadership roles for undergraduates. For the peer leaders, the experience of working with faculty and guiding their peers through a challenging course is rewarding, and they learn communication, teaching, leadership, and interpersonal skills. Peer leaders become more confident about their career path,= and many continue to be involved in the department through undergraduate research positions. This is important for retention and advancement efforts, since the peer-leading experience influences the students’ motivation to attend graduate school. This paper describes how the UTEP-EPCC partnership was structured, how the practice was transferred, and the challenges that were encountered. It also presents the evaluation results.

Abstract: In order to develop the engineers of the future, engineering departments need to embrace innovative, student-centered practices. The development and sustained growth of organizational improvement practices like those needed to improve engineering education depend upon an institutions’ or departments’ collective and individualized attention to human resources, leadership, knowledge development, revenue development and opportunities for continuous engagement. The literature in engineering education related to sustainability and curricular change indicates initial training and dissemination is necessary though not sufficient for change to take root, that all change agents need mentoring, collaboration opportunities, and venues for sharing their work, that innovative practices may vary across settings, and that a systemic effort needs continuous attention to remain robust. The paper provides CAHSI as an example of sustained innovation, and details the ways in which CAHSI was designed for sustained impact in engineering education across partnering Hispanic Serving Institutions. The paper highlights programmatic considerations and evaluation design, and describes how the results can inform leadership regarding progress and needs for sustaining change.

Abstract: The number of Latinas earning computing degrees and entering technical careers is stubbornly low. This study uses Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain’s (1998) concepts of identity and figured worlds to explore the experiences of 22 Latina undergraduates in computing majors. Using semi-structured, focus group interviews, this paper describes participants’ identity production as empowered computer scientists. Results indicate that Latinas faced many cultural constraints within the landscape of computing, including isolation, marginalization and microaggressions, yet they also described practices and relationships that helped them to persist in their majors. Successful disciplinary performances and access to Latina role models were pivotal in students’ adoption of empowered identities. Study participants challenged the notion of computing as a competitive, individualistic enterprise that permeated the local and global computing communities in which they operated. Instead, they developed identities as engaged, community-oriented computer scientists and enacted these identities through their everyday practices in their departments and in the local community.

Abstract: Educational programs are dynamic and context dependent; their impact should thus be analyzed to illuminate their locally situated elements of success. The purpose of projects like Women in Academic Computing (WiAC) is to perfect small initiatives that can be scaled up to serve additional communities of scholars. However, before attempting to scale up it is necessary to pay attention to the nuances of local instantiations of WiC because these shape the kinds of identity and career trajectories that open up for undergraduates pursuing careers in computing. This paper details how the local instantiations of two WiAC communities, located in different institutions and enacted with different forms of leadership around how to include minority women in the field of computing, contributed to students’ trajectories toward becoming computer scientists. The results indicate that ideas about multiple, successful inbound trajectories exist for academic computing. Each of these trajectories has promise for leading to inclusiveness in computing and should be investigated across communities striving to increase the numbers of women in the field.

Abstract: The affinity research group (ARG) model is a set of practices built on a cooperative team framework to support the creation and maintenance of dynamic and inclusive research groups in which students learn and apply the knowledge and skills required for research and cooperative work. Using situated learning theory, we conducted a qualitative study of current and former ARG members to understand the potential of the ARG for preparing students for graduate school and professional research careers.