Building an effective computer science student organization: the Carnegie Mellon women@SCS action plan.

TitleBuilding an effective computer science student organization: the Carnegie Mellon women@SCS action plan.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2002
AuthorsFrieze C, Blum L
JournalACM SIGCSE Bulletin
Volume34
Pagination74-78
KeywordsComputer science, Diversity Institute Literature Review, Mentoring, Social support, Special programs, Women
SummaryFrieze and Blum describe the workings of a student organization for women within the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon. The student-run Women@SCS Advisory Council encourages the persistence of women in computer science through a series of social and professional development events.
Extended SummaryThe number of women students in the Carnegie Mellon's computer science department grew rapidly from 1995 and 1999 as a result of high school interventions, the de-emphasis of the importance of prior programming experience, and advantage being given to students with records of community service.In 2000, The Women@SCS Advisory Council was created to ensure these new female students would feel "at home" in the program and would be willing to stay. Frieze and Blum asserted that the creation of such organizations is dependent upon faculty and institutional support (including funding), a hired program coordinator, having set meetings and elected council leaders, a functional and promoting website, and an emphasis on service.Graduate and undergraduate students who were members of the Women@SCS Advisory Council engaged in both professional and social activities, with graduate students less involved in the social aspects. Some of the events included freshman orientation, pairing young students with more senior "big sisters," offering small undergraduate research grants, and offering learning sessions for different computer systems such as Unix. The Council also put on a number of events to give back to the department and community. For two consecutive years, a group of graduate students led a workshop with middle school girls "Is There A Robot In Your Future?" In this and other ways, the Council is helping to bolster involvement of current women in science at Carnegie Mellon as well as future generations.
RecommendationsStudent organizations such as the Women@SCS Advisory Council can help to support the inclusion of underrepresented groups and their continuance in STEM disciplines. The key to these organizations' success is strong commitment from faculty and administration.