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Dr. Brianna Blaser:

Dr. Joanna Goode:

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Dr. A. Nicki Washington:

Dr. Joanna Goode:

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Dr Shaundra B Daily:

I will say, honestly, it was something that I kind of fell into. Luckily I was a part of a scholarship program where you had to interview a professor in your field, so I interviewed this professor. He told me he dealt with big things that don’t move. I was like, “Eh, doesn’t sound like fun.” So I did more research on like, “Okay, what is engineering?” I decided to become an electrical engineer, and as I went on, I kept taking on research areas that I thought would be fun that just weren’t, when I actually pursued them.

Fast forward, when I landed in graduate school, the first project that we did at MIT was around dance and robotics. And so we crafted this whole activity where you could put sensors on your body and you could change the animation, you could change the sound, you could change the lighting. You could do all of this cool stuff with movement in your body. And so for me, it was like, “Ooh, maybe I haven’t been doing this through dance, but I’ve been dancing forever now, so I can actually incorporate not just the idea that I want to develop computational technologies, but also these other aspects of myself into the work.” And so from then on, it was like fair game.

Dr. Valerie Barr:

There are a number of avenues that brought me where I am today, part of it is just my upbringing. My mother was very politically active and my father was an electrical engineer and so somehow I am this blend of politically progressive activist, nerdy techie, computer scientist. And then when I went to college, I was studying mathematics and I was advised by a family friend. “The great irony is,” he said, “If you go into pure mathematics, all you can do is teach. But if you go into applied mathematics, you can solve really interesting problems.” So I have become an academic who tries to look at interesting problems. And increasingly, over time, I’ve just become really interested in how we can use technology to make people’s lives better. Because to me, that’s what’s so wonderful about computer science, is that we actually have the capability to really use technology to improve people’s lives.

Dr. Joanna Goode:

I had school district adopted curriculum that was being used. In computer science, I was given the keys to the computer lab and was told, “Good luck.” There was no curriculum available for me. I had to go find something that was available that was the closest match of what I could find. But it wasn’t really the type of materials that I knew would bring the subject alive for students. And so that was the first moment where I thought, “Hey, there’s a real need here for curricular resources just like we’re trying to do in mathematics and other subjects to make sure that it’s inclusive and engaging for students.” So that became one of my impetus to think, “Okay, well what can we do with professional development for computer science teachers so that they can use effective pedagogy, adopt curriculum that is engaging for their students, and be prepared to broaden participation in computing.”

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Dr. Shaundra B. Daily:

I think I was lucky enough that community found me. So when I was at Florida State University and the engineering college is joint with Florida A&M University. And so when I got to the campus my sophomore year, I just had one class. But it was lucky enough that someone said, “Hey, you should come be a part of the National Society of Black Engineers.” And I had never heard of it before, had no experience with it, and I was like, “Huh, that sounds interesting.” So I started going to meetings, became really involved and that’s really where I found my community, not only while I was in school, but they are still my community today. They’re the people that I know they’ll go to bat for me when it matters. So that’s really, as far as community is concerned, I was really lucky in that respect.

Dr. Brianna Blaser:

One of the programs I work with is Access Computing and we’re one of the National Science Foundation Broadening Participation in Computing Alliances. And we specifically have resources for students with disabilities studying computing fields. So we are always looking to find new folks, bring them into our community, our mentoring community, and hook them up with resources to go to conferences or do undergraduate research. And so we work with students from across the country. So I’d love to find more folks and seek out advocates and allies in your community. There’s probably faculty in your department that have some interest in accessibility or broadening participation. Even if they don’t know anything about disability, teach them.

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Dr. Shaundra B. Daily:

So when you’re thinking about diversity and equity, a lot of times people will come at it from one lens, right? So you are Black, you are Latina, you are a woman, you have a disability, right? And we often forget that intersectionality of it is important. So I’m a woman, but I’m also a Black woman. There are Black women with disabilities, there are Black women who are a part of the LGBTQ community, and all of those intersections of our identity are important.

So I think when we’re really thinking about systemic transformation and really making change for STEM as a whole, we really have to be really tuned in to people’s identities, all that they bring to the table. So race and ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, all of those facets of identity that people bring to the table, so that when we’re thinking about any kind of intervention or any kind of policy or any kind of change that we want to make, that we’re really thinking about who we’re impacting and how we’re impacting them based on what they’re walking in the door with. Because everybody brings their own perspectives, their own challenges, their own everything to the table when they walk through that door.

Dr. Valerie Barr:

I think that we have to think more broadly than just computer science students. What we need to think about, in the largest sense, is how do we increase the exposure that students have to computing? Who’s having an opportunity to learn how computing applies in other fields, that students have a chance to really learn core concepts of computing?

So work I’ve been doing in other projects is, for example, you have students who take a psychology class and they have to use statistics. So the students accomplish that, but they don’t walk away with any understanding of what the computing concepts are behind that code. So they can’t replicate that ever again. So to me, that’s a missed opportunity. Students in biology, psychology, the quantitative social sciences, digital humanities, none of those students are really learning core concepts of computing. But those disciplines are all more diverse than computer sciences. So we’re missing a huge opportunity there to broaden the diversity of who learns core concepts of computing.

Within computer science itself, I do think that we have a long way to go to greet students with whatever background they bring to the door, and then give them a pathway into further computer science study.

Dr. A. Nicki Washington:

On the policy side, we’re looking at how do we create systemic change through these organizations, institutions on the post-secondary side, K-12 schools and districts, as well as nonprofits on the K-12 side. So those policies will be embedded in places where, in order to meet standards or accreditation, you have to meet those criteria that we include.

The part that becomes a lot more individual are the practices that a lot of us have. For example, I often use this idea of no hat policies that I used to have for young men in my class. And my argument was always that I’m a woman, I’m from the south. When you’re inside of a building, you’re supposed to take your hat off. And often the people who made those decisions about what is professionally acceptable did not look like me, and no one was in the room. Again, contributing to that thought process. And what does it really change in terms of a student’s ability to learn and effectively get through and navigate a course if they decide to wear a hat?

That’s one example of a practice that we’re trying to get individual educators and leaders to understand, because those individual practices may not seem like big deals, but they are in the grand scheme of things when you have a small group of students who feel like they’re not seen or they’re not validated because when they show up, they have to change who they are to be accepted. And that’s really what AIICE is trying to do, is get everyone to understand that it’s bigger than just the systems, it’s also the people as well. And if we can start to at least impact the people, then hopefully the people will create this groundswell of support that leads to better policies in the systemic level.

Dr. Shaundra B. Daily:

All of the things that you feel like you might have to put away to enter the space is probably the things we need in that space in the first place. So this concept of bringing your whole self, it’s not a cliche thing. It actually means something for you to be different in the room. A lot of times in STEM, it’s assimilation. If you don’t look like this, you’re not a proper STEM person. But it’s all of those things that people end up marginalized about that would actually improve what we’re doing in those spaces. So I would really want people to bring those things into the spaces to really impact the future.