National Science Foundation Broadening Participation in Engineering CAREER project: Valuing the Social in Engineering and Computing

Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) is a discipline rapidly expanding into many domains of human experience. However, women’s attrition in technical fields is significantly higher than men’s, and women and nonbinary technologists are highly underrepresented in the computing workforce. This project, funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC), aims to investigate how values, attitudes, and behaviors within CSE impact women and non-binary scholars’ inclusion and how cultural elements either reinforce or challenge power inequities. Worse, there is uneven participation of women across CSE subfields, suggesting that subfield cultural values and norms vary. By comparing the cultural dynamics across subfields (Human Computer Interaction and Theory/Algorithms), the project seeks to broaden participation in computing by creating inclusive environments that offer equal opportunities, resources, and respect, ultimately enhancing women’s and non-binary individuals’ involvement and advancement in the field.