Revolutionizing the Face of Technology.SM
Transcription
Revolutionizing the Face of Technology.SM
“Investing in research and education is critical. So is investing in a more diverse workforce. Support for the National Center for Women & Information Technology is key to encouraging young women to study computing and empowering women to play a central role in the technology workforce.” Bill Gates Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation Revolutionizing the Face of Technology. SM in•for•ma•tion tech•nol•ogy 1: all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange and use information in its various forms; 2: the design and use of computers and communications to improve the way we live, learn, work and play. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: It’s the language, the medium, the toolbox of our lives. We use it to communicate and innovate, in our work and in our play. More and more, it is the means we depend on for our individual well-being and our collective progress. Our participation in information technology, as both its creators and its consumers, guarantees that it will be a dynamic force in our future; and technology’s pervasive impact on all our lives makes our participation an imperative. There’s a leak in the information technology pipeline. At all phases of the education and career pipeline, girls and women – from sixth-graders to computer science majors, from telephony engineers to chief technology officers – are opting out. The scale of the problem has reached a critical stage, and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) intends to do something about it. Why is there a Gameboy, and not a Gamegirl? Although girls outnumber boys in sixth-grade math and science classes, they represent only 15 percent of all testtakers in Advanced Placement (AP) computer science – the lowest female representation of any AP test.1 At the college level, where they earn more than half of all bachelor’s degrees, women are conspicuously absent from technology fields of study. In 2005, women accounted for only 22 percent of all degrees in computer and information sciences – down from 37 percent in 1984 – and the percentage is even lower at major research institutions.2 We are missing the input of half our society. Women’s lack of participation in information technology is a phenomenon with deep implications for our country’s preparedness, competitiveness, economic wellbeing, and quality of life. At a time when information technology pervades our work, education, health, entertainment, and safety – and when the U.S. Department of Labor is predicting that more than one million jobs will be added to the information technology workforce by 20143 – women can, and must, play an important role in building a strong, competitive, and creative workforce. Women bring a different life experience and a different perspective to the innovation process, and diversity in innovation leads to the design of products and services that benefit a broader range of people. Research shows that broad participation also benefits business. In a study of Fortune 500 companies released recently, those firms with a higher number of female executives outperformed their peers, delivering return on equity far in excess of those firms with fewer female executives.4 Women are a valuable, untapped resource whose absence can only be measured in jobs not filled, technology not created, and problems not solved. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED WITHOUT WOMEN IS ONE-DIMENSIONAL TECHNOLOGY: TAKE THE EXAMPLE OF SPEECH-RECOGNITION SYSTEMS, THE GENESIS OF OUR MODERN VOICEMAIL. DEVELOPED AND TESTED WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF WOMEN ENGINEERS, THE ORIGINAL SPEECH-RECOGNITION SOFTWARE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE A BROAD RANGE OF OCTAVES – INCLUDING FEMALE VOICES. What does it take to raise a little girl into a young woman who excels in a career in information technology? A study conducted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) found that the majority of girls surveyed want to work in a profession that they perceive touches people’s lives; unfortunately, most girls do not perceive information technology as a profession in which this is likely or even possible.5 In fact, information technology suffers from its image as a predominantly male “clubhouse,6” an arena where men toil long, solitary hours in front of their machines, producing technology for its own sake. Consistent reinforcement of a “geeky” image and a lack of mentors, teachers, and role models in the field only confirms the stereotype of technology as inhospitable or incompatible for women, and is cited as a major reason why girls show dwindling interest in math and science at the high-school level, why female computer science undergraduates express a greater lack of confidence in their skills, and why many professional women leave their jobs even before they can hit their heads on the glass ceiling. Why should we work harder to get women to work in information technology? In the U.S. workforce women make up less than one-third of all programmers, hardware and software engineers, and computing and information systems managers – despite the fact that they hold more than half of all professional occupations overall.7 Of corporate officers at the 500 top technology companies in the U.S., only 11 percent are women.8 Women are a growing technology consumer base: they purchase 66 percent of all home computers and accounted for more than half of the $96 billion spent on consumer electronics in 2003; and female gamers over age 40 spent more time gaming online than men.9 Yet women are not commensurately represented at the design table when these products and services are created. This problem comes at a critical juncture for America. Information technology is a fundamental driver of the American economy, responsible for nearly two-thirds of the increase in U.S. labor productivity since 1995.10 The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the number of new information technology jobs will increase at more than twice the rate of total new jobs by 2014 (31 percent versus 13 percent.11) However, U.S. universities will graduate only half the number of qualified, degreed students needed to fill these jobs.12 THE MISSION OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS TO ENSURE THAT WOMEN ARE FULLY REPRESENTED IN THE INFLUENTIAL WORLD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. THROUGH A NATIONALLY CONNECTED EFFORT OF PROGRAMS, NETWORKS, AND RESEARCH, NCWIT WILL WORK TO GUARANTEE THAT WOMEN’S PERSPECTIVES AND SKILLS CONTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE CREATION AND APPLICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. We need a different approach to resolving the lack of women in information technology, and we need it now. Educators, administrators, industry representatives, and policy-makers have been working passionately and diligently to ameliorate the under-representation of women in information technology, but so far these have been mostly localized efforts without a widespread national impact. Nearly three decades into the development of information technology for mass consumption, women are losing ground in the participation process rather than gaining it. In February 2003, a group of nationally prominent individuals met to conceptualize a different approach. As leaders in the areas of education, government, industry and community, these individuals provided a range of perspectives but shared a common conviction. They agreed that there was a need for a broad, nationally-recognized effort with maximum impact; and that this would require the creation of a national coalition among academic, industry, and social institutions, uniting current efforts in order to accelerate their progress and extend their reach. This new coalition would: • Connect existing programs in education, outreach, and retention, uniting these localized efforts under a national umbrella of support and visibility • Positively change the image of girls and women in information technology, in schools, homes, businesses, and the media • Be a national enterprise run on a business model, with success measured in results • Have the power to implement effective new programs, identify best practices, and disseminate valuable research and data on a national level • Be rooted in tangible goals and sweeping transformation Their solution: the formation of a National Center for Women & Information Technology, to ensure that women’s knowledge and skills are fully represented in the creation, development and consumption of information technology. NCWIT Startup Goals. Strategic Focus Area Year 1 Year 3 Year 5 Create Communities of Practitioners Clearly define the problem. Use primary and secondary research to understand reasons for it. Articulate effective practices. Research programs along the entire pipeline (K-12 through industry careers): launched. Support provided by social science researchers. Identify practices from research findings and use to inform NCWIT Alliances. Populate practices into NCWIT Digital Library. Implemented research findings within NCWIT Alliance member institutions (at least two practices per institution.) Track results. Measure results. Assess progress nationally. Develop NCWIT metrics. Pilot annual NCWIT Scorecard, a barometer of women and IT. Institutionalize NCWIT metrics. Publish annual NCWIT Scorecard. Verified and/or modify metrics by research results of full system model. Expedite dissemination of practices by building and supporting NCWIT Alliances. Commit members to institutional reform. Workforce Alliance & Academic Alliance memberships at critical mass: meeting regularly. Extend existing alliances as appropriate. Establish K-12 and Entrepreneurial Alliances. Maintain regular attendance at NCWIT meetings. Identify at least 15 exemplar institutions (that are meeting their numeric goals) as case studies. Scale results nationally. Communication pieces Website launched. NCWIT Prospectus re-printed. Stat sheet and practices sheets disseminated. Create and launch press campaigns, PR, and outreach. Revamp website. Establish award program. Use practices to inform outreach collateral. IT Image Campaign Pilot awareness campaign: completed. Plan image campaign and spokesperson. Implement image campaign. Washington, D.C. presence: established Influence innovation policy. One major acceleration program funded and underway. Second major acceleration program funded and underway. Broaden the Conversation Accelerate Progress Foundational policy work: launch and measure programs. The NCWIT strategy. Although many organizations cover part of the “women in technology” charter, NCWIT is the only organization to address the end-to-end problem. Instead of replicating all the same constituencies as other organizations, NCWIT leverages and coordinates the work of many efforts – building capacity, reducing duplication, encouraging re-use, and improving efficiency – following a cogent national implementation plan. NCWIT is organized as a national mobilizing agent, forming Alliances with a broadly connected network of partner organizations and individuals to give the overall issue a stronger voice and achieve rapid change. NCWIT is building a culture of evaluative evidence as it pursues this strategy, assuring that all efforts are based on the best social science research available. NCWIT’s strategy is three-pronged: Create and empower national communities of practitioners. NCWIT has formed key Alliances focused on institutional reform at all stages of the education and workforce pipeline. NCWIT builds a sustaining infrastructure for these Alliances to succeed in their work by determining and distributing effective practices, providing technical resources, supporting educational events, and measuring progress through goals and metrics. Over 70 universities, non-profits, and corporations already are members of the NCWIT Academic and Workforce Alliances. Broaden the conversation. NCWIT will spotlight the issue of women and information technology by serving as a national advocate through press, media, and image reform campaigns, and by presenting a strong, united voice in the media, in schools, at home, and in Washington, D.C. Accelerate progress. NCWIT will catalyze the attraction and retention of women to information technology by targeting key opportunities – such as innovation policy, nontraditional educational paths, and identifying and leveraging best practices – that quickly increase the number of women entering IT careers. How NCWIT builds capacity. NCWIT is building organizational capacity for the nation. NCWIT is organized using a distributed core-hub model, a model that encourages efficiency, supports existing programs, unifies like-minded efforts, and leverages consolidated efforts for national impact. NCWIT’s core is responsible for promoting resources, programmatic priorities, support, and visibility on a national level; while NCWIT’s distributed hubs – consisting of academic institutions, businesses, and professional groups – act as the flexible foundation for the creation and application of programs, research, and outreach. NCWIT’s core is responsible for assessing programs and data; disseminating research and statistics; identifying best practices; raising national awareness of weaknesses in the education and career pipeline; spearheading support for technology-related policy issues and establishing an influential voice in Washington, D.C.; generating publicity and marketing for NCWIT’s programs and mission; encouraging industry involvement; raising funds; and assisting with event planning, conferences, and awards to encourage excellence. Although it is a small administrative body, the core acts as an umbrella serving both the hubs and the general population. NCWIT’s hubs are distributed geographically and represent excellence in a broad range of programs. Hubs collect and contribute data for assessment and evaluation, and assist in NCWIT’s management and leadership. Sample hub programs include: advancement of women into senior faculty, computing and information sciences positions; research on women’s barriers to technical careers; identification of promising practices in undergraduate education; identification of promising practices in informal K-12 education; and examination of community colleges as a pipeline for women to earn four-year technology-related degrees. The following organizations constitute many of the national leaders in advancing the participation of women and girls in information technology. Their involvement as hubs is valued for their following areas of focus: Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, Palo Alto, California: for its involvement in undergraduate curriculum, relationships with information technology professionals and prominent events and conferences. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) New York City and nationwide: for its breadth of influence among students, faculty and professionals, its K-12 Alliance and its extensive publications, symposia, and online resources. Colorado Coalition for Gender and IT, statewide: for the University of Colorado's research and assessment group and ATLAS (Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society) Institute, the workforce programs at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the programs for non-traditional students at The Women's College, University of Denver, the Colorado community colleges, the K-12 programs of the Denver Public School System's Computer Magnet Program, and the breadth of Colorado high-tech industries. The Computing Research Association (CRA) and the Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W), Washington D.C. and nationwide: for CRA’s wide network of events and experience with influencing technology policy, and for CRA-W’s emphasis on mentoring and recruitment for women in academic and research careers. Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia: for its societal research concerning women and technology, emphasis on graduate education and faculty advancement, and College of Computing. Girl Scouts of the USA, New York City and nationwide: for its focus on motivating K-12 girls to become interested in technology, its high-profile reputation and national reach, and community contact and experience with influencing policy issues. University of California at Berkeley and Irvine: for their links to community colleges (advancement and recruitment), strong ties to the hi-tech digital coast, high percentage of women faculty in the School of Information and Computer Science and Ada Byron Research Center for Diversity in Computing and Information Technology (Irvine), K-12 outreach programs, and undergraduate curriculum and societal research on gender issues regarding design and technology (Berkeley). Empowering change agents, leveraging success. Forming strong partnerships with academia, industry, other non-profits, and professional organizations is vital to NCWIT’s success. NCWIT Alliances and the NCWIT Social Science Network are central to the NCWIT change agenda. Alliance members act as change agents within their institutions, advise NCWIT regarding needed research programs, and raise the visibility of the issue on a national level. Membership in NCWIT’s Alliances provides many benefits, including: • Participation with colleagues from across the country • Sharing of practices • Discussing challenges and receiving input • Access to NCWIT research and programs • Leverage and national connections across the entire pipeline • Working for the greater good The NCWIT Academic Alliance consists of more than 45 distinguished representatives from the computer science and IT departments of colleges and universities across the country, spanning research universities, community colleges, women's colleges, and minority-serving institutions. Charged with implementing institutional change in higher education, the Academic Alliance provides feedback on NCWIT programs, contributes and adopts effective practices, and serves as a national agent of change. It meets several times per year to compare approaches and provide guidance and mutual support. The Workforce Alliance leads NCWIT's efforts in corporate institutional reform and helps NCWIT gauge its success in achieving workforce gender parity. The Workforce Alliance facilitates ongoing projects, such as research concerning women's career issues; contributes statistical information, promising practices, and ideas for career development and industry programs; provides advice about K-12 and higher-education outreach programs; and supports NCWIT and its own work with annual funding. The Social Science Network plays a key role in determining NCWIT's evaluation techniques and research agenda, and serves as a valuable resource to the Workforce and Academic Alliances. Over 15 social scientists from preeminent institutions nationwide, with expertise in areas of history, policy, anthropology, gender studies, technology, education, and workforce study, provide guidance and research for NCWIT projects and lend their evaluation skills to the determination of best practices. The Network also guides the formation of evaluation procedures and research foundations and identifies and disseminates theories relevant to girls and women and information technology. In 2006 NCWIT is forming a K-12 Alliance and an Entrepreneurial Alliance. Strong leadership. A CEO (based in Colorado) leads NCWIT and each hub provides its own administrative team. NCWIT’s Executive and Leadership Teams and its board of directors -- consisting of representatives from academia, industry, policy and the community -- meet regularly to guide NCWIT’s mission and function. “The IT workforce has lost significant ground in gender diversity in less than a decade. This disturbing information should cause all employers of IT professionals – both in the tech industry and outside it – to revisit their own hiring procedures, consider best practice diversity programs, and support industry efforts to explore this issue in greater detail.” “Untapped Talent: Diversity, Competition, and America’s High Tech Future,” The Information Technology Association of America, June 21, 2005. The right solution. Right now. “At a very fundamental level, men, women, racial minorities and the handicapped have different life experiences. From the perspective of creative engineering, those differences are the fodder for creative, elegant engineered solutions. They are a “gene pool” for creative engineering. To the extent we limit the gene pool for creativity, we limit the set of creative solutions that we will produce. There is a real economic cost to that… an opportunity cost, a cost measured in might-have-beens. “Every time we approach a design problem with a pale male team we run the risk of not finding the elegant solution. Diversity is essential to good engineering. If we don’t have a diverse workforce, we limit the set of life experiences that an engineering team will have and, consequently, we limit the creativity that could be brought to bear. This is a problem that we must solve.” – William Wulf, President, National Academy of Engineering We must recognize: • that women’s participation is essential in building an information technology workforce that is creative, innovative, diverse and responsive. • that it is the responsibility of educational institutions, parents, industry and government to ensure that women have opportunities in information technology. • that current efforts to advance opportunities for women are not keeping pace with our country’s rate of development, and require united efforts of a national scale. • that this is not a women’s issue, because women’s lack of involvement in information technology affects all members of our society. • that this is an issue we cannot wait any longer to address. EXECUTIVE ADVISORY COUNCIL: BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Frances E. Allen Marie Alexander IBM Fellow Emerita President & CEO, Quova, Inc. Kathy Cloninger Michael Borrus CEO, Girl Scouts Executive in Residence, Mohr-Davdow Ventures Linda Dillman Jack Burns Executive Vice President and CIO, Wal-Mart Vice President for Academic Affairs & Research, University of Colorado System Robert Dynes President, University of California Charlie Feld Ronnie Caropreso Senior Vice President, Technology & Operations, Bank of America Executive Vice President of Portfolio Management, EDS Harriet Edelman George Fisher Senior Vice President, Business Transformation & Chief Information Officer, Avon Products, Inc. Former Chairman & CEO, Motorola, Inc. and Eastman Kodak Company Pat Gelsinger Brad Feld Managing Director, Mobius Venture Capital Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Intel Corporation Nick Grouf Shirley Ann Jackson Avis Yates Rivers President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President and CEO, Technology Concepts Group, Inc. Brian Hawkins Lucy Sanders President, EDUCAUSE CEO, National Center for Women & Information Technology Wayne Johnson Kim Silverman Vice President, University Relations Worldwide, Hewlett-Packard Partner and Co-founder, Ops A La Carte LLC Founder, Chairman and CEO, Spot Runner, Inc. Maria Klawe Dean of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Princeton University; President, Association for Computing Machinery Ed Lazowska Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering, University of Washington Michael Lomax President and CEO, United Negro College Fund, Inc. Tom Peters We are grateful for the support of our current Investment Partners: the National Science Foundation, AVAYA, and Microsoft. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Donald K. Peterson Chairman and CEO, Avaya Inc. Richard Rashid Senior Vice President, Microsoft Research Sally K. Ride Former NASA astronaut; Founder and CEO, Sally Ride Science Heidi Roizen Managing Director, Mobius Venture Capital Jerre Stead Chairman of the Board, Information Handling Services Group, Inc. John White Executive Director and CEO, Association for Computing Machinery James Wright President, Dartmouth College William A. Wulf President, National Academy of Engineering ENDNOTES 1 The College Board, 2005. 2 National Center for Education Statistics, 2006. 3 “Occupational Outlook Handbook,” Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004-2005. 4 “The Bottom Line: Connecting Corporate Performance and Gender Diversity,” Catalyst, 2004. 5 Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age, AAUW Educational Foundation on Technology, Gender and Teacher Education, 2000. www.ncwit.org 6 Fisher, Allan and Margolis, Jane: Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing, MIT Press, 2001. 7 Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005. 8 “Women CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies,” Fortune, 2003. 9 Wow! Quick Facts, 2005. 10 Oliner, Stephen D. and Sichel, Daniel E., “The Resurgence of Growth in the Late 1990s: Is Information Technology the Story?,” Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D.C., February 2000. ©2006 National Center for Women & Information Technology. 11 “Occupational employment projections to 2014,” Department of Labor Monthly Labor Review, November 2005. Our thanks to Hagan Communications for their design, copy and guidance on this piece. 12 “Survey of the American Freshman,” Higher Education Research Institute, 2005. NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: GOVERNANCE Board of Directors Marie Alexander is the President and CEO of Quova, Inc. In her 20 years in the high tech industry, Ms. Alexander has held management and executive positions in Engineering, Product Management, Services and Support and Strategic Relationships. She held executive positions at Vantive and Harbinger and prior to her entrepreneurial career, worked as a music therapist focused on adolescent development. Ms. Alexander holds a Bachelor of Music Therapy as well as a Master of Business Information Systems. Michael Borrus is Executive-in-residence at Mohr, Davidow Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, California. Mr. Borrus is also an Adjunct Professor in UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering (on-leave). Mr. Borrus serves on the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Government’s Advanced Technology Program (ATP), several National Research Council Steering Committees, and the faculty committee overseeing U.C. Berkeley’s Management of Technology Program. He is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School, the University of California, Berkeley and Princeton University and a member of the California State Bar. Jack Burns is the Vice President for Academic Affairs & Research for the University of Colorado System. He is also a Professor and active NASA-funded researcher in the Department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences at CU-Boulder. Dr. Burns previously held academic positions at the University of Missouri, New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico. He holds B.S. in Astrophysics from the University of Massachusetts, and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Indiana University. Ronnie Carapreso is a Senior Vice President & Business Unit Executive, Technology and Operations, at Bank of America. As the technology infrastructure executive, Ms. Carapreso oversees the nationwide network of computing platforms for Bank of America. Before joining the Bank in 2002 she was Senior Vice President of Technology Solutions for First Data Corporation. She began her career with IBM and led the development effort of the US Treasury’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. She holds a B.B.A in Business Administration from the University of Denver – Daniels School of Business. Harriet Edelman is Senior Vice President, Business Transformation, and Chief Information Officer for Avon Products, Inc. She is responsible for Avon’s information technology strategy and operations globally, delivering solutions and technology infrastructure serving over four million sales representatives and operations in over 143 countries. Ms. Edelman is a member of Avon’s Operating Committee and serves on the Board of Directors of the Blair Corporation, the Direct Selling Association, the Police Athletic League and Hershey Foods Corporation. Brad Feld is a managing director of Mobius Venture Capital. In 1995, he founded Intensity Ventures, a venture affiliate of SOFTBANK that helped launch and operate software companies. Previously, Mr. Feld served as Chief Technology Officer of AmeriData Technologies following AmeriData’s acquisition of Feld Technologies, one of Boston’s leading software consulting firms founded by Mr. Feld in 1988. He also directed the diversification into software consulting at AmeriData, a $1.5 billion publicly-traded company which was acquired by GE Capital. Mr. Feld serves as director to a number of privately held Internet-related and software companies. He holds S.B. and S.M. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nick Grouf is founder, chairman, and CEO of Spot Runner, Inc., a closely held technology concern based in Los Angeles. Previously Mr. Grouf served as founder, chairman and CEO of PeoplePC, a $200 million company offering computer technology and internet services. Nick also was Founder, President and CEO of Firefly Network, Inc. – acquired by Microsoft in 1998 – which led the development of personalization technologies for the Internet and pioneered the P3P privacy standard. Mr. Grouf spent his early career with McKinsey & Co. and at Goldman Sachs. He holds an M.B.A. from Harvard and a B.A. with Honors from Yale. He sits on several boards, including the Alfred Meyer Foundation. Avis Yates Rivers is President and CEO of Technology Concepts Group, Inc. (TCGI), an e-business solutions provider. Until 1985 she held a number of positions with Exxon Corporation and its New York subsidiaries. She has been named Entrepreneur of the Year, Top-25 African-American Women in Business, and Top 10 Women in Technology. Ms. Yates Rivers holds a BA, Business Administration from City University of New York and is a graduate of the Executive Management Programs at the Amos Tuck School of Business, the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Lucinda Sanders is CEO of the National Center for Women & Information Technology. A recipient of the Bell Labs Fellow Award, Ms. Sanders retired as a CTO and Vice President of R&D at AT&T Bell Labs, Lucent Bell Labs and Avaya Labs. Currently she is Executive in Residence for the ATLAS (Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society) Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder, whose broad mission includes bridging information technology with the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Ms. Sanders holds six patents in the telecommunications area. She serves on the boards of several high-tech companies and a number of non-profit boards. Kim Silverman is Partner and Co-founder of Ops A La Carte LLC. Formerly Ms. Silverman held the positions of Corporate Controller and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at GRIC Communications, Inc., where she was instrumental in developing the company’s automated accounting systems and processes. Ms. Silverman also held positions with Silicon Graphics, Inc., ReadiCare, Inc., and Touche Ross and Company, currently known as Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Ms. Silverman earned her B.S. in Accounting at the University of Colorado and is a Certified Public Accountant. Co-founders Dr. Robert Schnabel is Vice Provost for Academic and Campus Technology and founding director of the ATLAS Institute. A faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder since 1977, he has been active in diversity-related activities, serving on major strategic planning committees for the Multicultural Engineering Program and the Women in Engineering Program in the University’s College of Engineering. Dr. Telle Whitney is President and CEO of the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology. Before accepting the position with the Anita Borg Institute she was part of the founding management team at Malleable Technologies and served as Vice President until it was acquired by PMC-Sierra in June 2000. In 1994, Telle co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference along with Dr. Anita Borg. NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: HUBS Participating Hubs The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) is a nationally recognized organization that believes women have a different perspective and that this perspective matters. ABI accomplishes its mission through four platforms: The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, The Systers online community, The Senior Women’s Summit and the Virtual Development Center. ABI also partners in important initiatives that enhance its mission and support its constituencies. Each program and initiative addresses the ABI mission in a unique way and focuses on specific communities within its constituency. Industry, foundations, institutions and individuals rally around this effort and contribute to ABI’s success. www.anitaborg.org Contact: Cindy Goral, Director of Operations Founded in 1947, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the first society established to promote the educational and scientific aspects of computing and information technology. Today, ACM’s 80,000 worldwide members include leading computer scientists, computing professionals, and students. Through its Special Interest Groups, ACM sponsors and publishes the proceedings of over 85 conferences and symposia each year. The ACM Digital Library provides a bibliographic database of all relevant articles in computing, with over 800,000 citations and growing. In addition to a world-class set of programs for disseminating information and advancing the field of computing and information technology, ACM’s mission includes assessing and influencing the impact of information technologies on all aspects of society. At present ACM is engaged in helping shape U.S. public policy, improving gender equity and diversity and influencing the teaching of computing and information technology. www.acm.org Contact: John White, Executive Director and CEO The Colorado Coalition for Gender & IT (CCGIT) is the "non-traditional pathways" hub of NCWIT, developing and piloting effective practices for recruiting girls and women in secondary schools, community colleges, and workforce centers to undergraduate IT programs in Colorado, and disseminating those practices nationally. CCGIT members include higher education, industry, and foundation partners, bringing together a rich variety of existing programs and research from across the state. CCGIT will leverage the research strength of the University of Colorado; the novel curricular approach used by the ATLAS (Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society) Institute; networking and innovation of the Workforce Programs at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment; the reach and focus of the Women's Foundation of Colorado; the programs for non-traditional students at The Women's College, University of Denver; Colorado community colleges, the K-12 programs of the Denver Public School System's Computer Magnet Program; and the breadth of Colorado high-tech industries. www.colorado.edu Contact: Deborah Keyek-Franssen, Lead IT Initiatives Coordinator www.e-colorado.org Contact: Mary Ann Roe, Coordinator, e-Colorado Learning Portal, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment The Computing Research Association (CRA) is an association of more than 200 North American academic departments of computer science, computer engineering, and related fields; laboratories and centers in industry, government, and academia engaging in basic computing research; and affiliated professional societies. CRA’s mission is to strengthen research and education in the computing fields, expand opportunities for women and minorities and improve public and policymaker understanding of the importance of computing and computing research in our society. The Computer Research Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W) is dedicated to increasing the number of women as well as their degree of success. CRA-W fosters community-building through professional networking, collaboration and recognition of women in computing, and its programs include the Systers Academia electronic network and the Distributed Mentor Project. www.cra.org Contact: Andrew Bernat, Executive Director, CRA www.cra.org/activities/craw/ Contact: Mary Lou Soffa, Hub Director, CRA-W Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), one of the top research universities in the country, shares NCWIT’s commitment to increasing the number of women in computing. With the support of the College of Computing’s Assistant Dean for Diversity, the Dean of the College of Computing, and the top Georgia Tech administration, NCWIT will leverage Georgia Tech’s strength in societal research concerning women and technology and its connections with colleges and universities in Georgia and surrounding states. Programs include: an innovative introductory computing curriculum for undergraduates; the College-level Diversity in Computing Advisory Board; the Technology, Engineering and Computing Summer Camp (for middle-school girls) and Career Conference (for high-school girls); high-school AP-CS teachers workshop and support; the NSF ADVANCE Program for Institutional Transformation (for faculty); and the Center for the Study of Women, Science and Technology. www.gatech.edu Contact: Mary Jean Harrold, NSF ADVANCE Professor of Computing Girl Scouts of the USA* is the world’s pre-eminent organization dedicated solely to girls, where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, girls build character and skills for success in the real world. In partnership with committed adult volunteers, Girl Scouts cultivate their full individual potential. The qualities they develop in Girl Scouting – leadership, values, social conscience and conviction about their own self-worth – serve them all their lives. Girl Scouts believes that girls do have an interest in math, science and technology; however, their interest is not reflected in their academic and career choices. Girl Scouts wants all girls to know that they can succeed in these fields and that their participation is vital in strengthening our new economy. Girl Scouts is working to change the image of technology through projects like GirlFacts and Fair Play; and, under their Girls Go Tech initiative, to cultivate technical, abstract reasoning and analytical problem solving skills in K-12 girls across the nation. www.girlscouts.org Contact: Harriet S. Mosatche, Vice-President of Program Collaborations and Initiatives The University of California (UC) hub will draw upon the vast resources and collective expertise of programs and faculty in one of the nation’s premier university systems. Initial contributions will be centered at UC Irvine and UC Berkeley. UC Irvine’s School of Information and Computer Science and the newly established Ada Byron Center for Diversity in Computing and Information Technology will support NCWIT’s mission with their broad, interdisciplinary curricula and programs specifically addressing the recruitment and retention of women. UC Irvine will leverage existing programs – including ADVANCE for Institutional Transformation (faculty recruitment, retention, and advancement issues) and FOCUS! (math and science teacher training) – as well as several other initiatives, including collaborative programs with local community colleges and school districts, and ongoing information-technology-related outreach programs and summer camps. UC Berkeley’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science are among the leading departments of their kind in the world. These two departments and the Berkeley Expert System Technology Lab (BEST) are collaborating to develop innovative approaches to involving women in software design and studying the impact of women designers on information technology software, and will collaborate with NCWIT in these areas. UC Berkeley also houses the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), which is developing information technology solutions to large-scale problems facing our society. www.abrc.uci.edu Contact: Debra J. Richardson, the Ted and Janice Smith Dean, School of Information and Computer Science www.berkeley.edu Contact: Alice Agogino, Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley *The “Girl Scouts” name, mark and all associated trademarks and logotypes, including the “Trefoil Design” are owned by Girl Scouts of the USA and are used here by permission of GSUSA. NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: ACADEMIC ALLIANCE Current members of the Academic Alliance are: Institution Representative Brown University Carnegie Mellon University Coastline Community College Colorado School of Mines Tom Dean Lenore Blum Sally Kurz Tracy Camp Colorado State University Darrell Whitley Columbia University Cornell University DePauw University Dillard University Duke University Florida State University Georgia Tech Harvard University Dave Waltz Charles Van Loan Jennifer Wofford Gloria Townsend John Wilson Carla Ellis Kathleen Burnett Mark Guzdial Margo Seltzer iCarnegie Inc. Illinois Institute of Technology Indiana University Dr. Marie Dahleh Allan Fisher Cindy Hood Michael Dunn Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab MentorNet Microsoft Research North Carolina A&T State University Ohio State Carol Muller Jane Chu Prey John Kelly Bettina Bair Oregon State Margaret Burnett Penn State Susan Shuman Princeton Purdue University Adam Finkelstein Julie Mariga Susanne Hambrusch Gene Spafford Eydie Lawson Ruth E. Davis Rochester Institute of Technology Santa Clara University Rod Brooks Eric Grimson Title Vice Provost & Past Chair, Department of Computer Science Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science Department Chair, Information Technology Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Professor of Computer Science & Director, Colorado State Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) Director, Center for Computational Learning Systems Joseph C. Ford Professor of Engineering Assistant Dean for Educational Programs Professor, Computer Science Department Chair Division of Natural Sciences and Public Health Professor, Department of Computer Science Associate Dean & Associate Professor, School of Information Studies Director of Collaborative Software Laboratory Herchel Smith Professor of Computer Science & Associate Dean for Computer Science and Engineering Assistant Dean for Academic Programs President & CEO Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Dean, School of Informatics, Oscar R. Ewing Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Computer Science Panasonic Professor of Robotics & Director, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab Associate Head of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science President & CEO Program Manager, External Research & Programs Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor and Diversity Co-chairwoman, Computer Science and Engineering Department Professor of Computer Science, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Assistant Dean for Equity and Diversity, School of Information Sciences and Technology Associate Professor, Computer Science Department Associate Professor, Department of Computer Technology Chair, Computer Science Department Professor, Computer Science Department Associate Dean and Chair, Department of Information Technology Robert W. Peters Professor of Computer Engineering, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Engineering Current members of the Academic Alliance are: Institution Smith College Spelman College Stanford University Texas A&M University of California, Berkeley University of California, Irvine Representative Joe O'Rourke Andrea Lawrence Eric Roberts Nancy Amato Sheila Humphreys Debra J. Richardson Sandy Irani David Redmiles University of California, Los Angeles Jason Cong University of California, San Diego Jeanne Ferrante NPACI University of Colorado, Boulder Elizabeth Jessup University of Illinois, Sam Kamin Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland, Claudia Morrell Baltimore County University of Massachusetts, Lori Clarke Amherst University of Michigan C. Olivia Frost University of Texas J. Moore University of Texas, El Paso Ann Gates University of Utah Martin Berzins University of Virginia Jim Cohoon University of Washington David Notkin University of Wisconsin, Madison Susan Horwitz Virginia Tech Dennis Kafura Scott McCrickard Wellesley College Panagiotis Takis Metaxas Xavier University of Louisiana Marguerite S. Giguette Title Olin Professor & Chair of Computer Science Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Computer Science Professor & past Chair, Computer Science Professor, Parasol Lab, Department of Computer Science Interim Director, Center for Transfer, Reentry, and Student Parents Ted and Janice Smith Family Foundation Dean of the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science Professor, Information and Computer Science Associate Professor, Informatics Chair, Computer Science Department Professor & Associate Dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering Chair, Department of Computer Science Director of Undergraduate Programs Director, Center for Women and Information Technology Professor, Department of Computer Science Associate Dean & Professor, School of Information Admiral B.R. Inman Centennial Chair in Computing Theory Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science Associate Director, The School of Computing Associate Professor of Computer Science Chair, Department of Computer Science Professor of Computer Science Professor and Computer Science Department Head Assistant Professor of Computer Science Associate Professor of Computer Science & Co-Director, Media Arts and Sciences Program Interim Associate Vice President Academic Affairs NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: WORKFORCE ALLIANCE AND SOCIAL SCIENCE NETWORK Current members of the Workforce Alliance are: Company Representative Title Alliance of Technology & Women Bettyjo H. Bouchey National President Avaya Susan Bailey Vice President of Americas Global Accounts, Channels and Alliances Veena Bricker Director, Human Resources Bank of America Jane Kopper Director, Card Operations & Engineering Catalyst Kara Helander Vice President Western Region Cisco Van Dang Vice President, Law and Deputy General Counsel Christine M. Yoshida Ed.D, Manager, Learning and Development Kim Stevenson Infrastructure Portfolio Karen Charles Service Delivery Executive EDS Google Emily Nishi Director, Diversity Programs Robin Jeffries Usability Lead, UI-team Wayne Johnson Vice President, University Relations Worldwide Barbara Waugh Founder, e-Inclusion Kellee Noonan Program Manager, Technical Women's Program Junior Achievement Cherlyn Linden Senior Vice President/CIO of Information Technology IBM Margaret Ashida Director, University Talent Programs Jennifer Topp HR Workforce Diversity Program Manager Women in Technology Initiatives Intel Steve Tolopka Senior Principal Engineer Microsoft Sean Kelley Program Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion Motorola Lynn Zielke Director, IT Project Management Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Cheryl Begandy Corporate Programs and Planning Consultant Sandia National Laboratories Joselyne Gallegos Manager, Information Systems Development Sun Microsystems Linda Park VP, Software Lifecycle Engineering Katy Dickinson Director, Business Process Architecture Jay Littlepage Senior Vice President, Customer Networked Services Carol Mosely Senior VP of Information Systems HP Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Current members of the Social Science Network are: Representative Title Research Area Eleanor Babco Executive Director, Commission on Professionals in Science & Technology Workforce & Workforce Diversity Mary Frank Fox NSF Advance Professor, School of Public Policy Co-director, Center for Study of Women, Science, and Technology, Georgia Tech Sociology/Gender, Science, & Technology Gerhard Sonnert Sociologist of Science, Department of Physics, Harvard University Science & Society Janice Stockard Associate in Research, Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University Cultural Anthropology, Gender, Family & Technology Bill Aspray Professor, School of Informatics, Indiana University History/Policy Genevieve Bell Senior Researcher, Intel Research Cultural Anthropology, Technology Marjorie Bynum Vice President of Workforce Development, Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) Evaluation, IT Workforce Development Research & Strategy Sarah Kuhn Associate Professor, Department of Regional Economic and Social Development and Faculty Associate, Center for Women and Work, University of Massachusetts at Lowell Human/Computer Interaction; IT Workforce Justine Cassell Professor, Media Technology & Society, School of Communication, Northwestern Communication, Gender & Technology Penny Eckert Professor, Department of Linguistics; Director, Program in Feminist Studies, Stanford Linguistics, Ethnography & Feminist Studies Jane Margolis Researcher, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA Social Inequity, Gender, Ethnicity & Education Lecia Barker Lead Research Associate, ATLAS Institute, Evaluation and Research Group, University of Colorado Communication, Education, IT Workforce Research & Evaluation Margaret Eisenhart Professor of Education, Fellow of the American Anthropological Association, University of Colorado Educational Anthropology & Research Methodology Joanne Cohoon Research Assistant Professor, Department of Science, Technology, & Society, University of Virginia Sociology of Gender, Technology & Education; Evaluation Deborah Johnson Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics & Department Chair Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Virginia Ethics, Science & Technology Sylvia Beyer Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin, Parkside Gender & Self-perception in Computing