A robust cybersecurity workforce is critical for protection against a range of malicious attacks. However, it has been noted that there are many vacancies and a shortage of individuals entering the cybersecurity workforce. This workforce shortage has partly been attributed to the lack of diversity in the cybersecurity field, with women, African…

Prior research in student retention emphasizes that building students' connections with the institution and their peers is key. Students from underrepresented populations often lack these connections, making them more prone to dropping out or transferring majors, especially in high-pressure engineering and polytechnic programs. In this article, we…

The opportunity to innovate, experiment, and take chances in the classroom should be accessible to all students regardless of the social identities they hold; however, white women and women of color (WOC) in male-dominated physics, engineering, math and computer science (PEMC) learning environments, and STEM broadly, have been expected to take…

Biological engineering includes a higher representation of women (Yoder, 2015) than most science, technology, engineering, mathematics and information technology fields, while computer science has seen a precipitous decline in women's representation. However, disciplines like biological engineering are becoming more computationally intensive…

Over the last decade the Bay Area region has witnessed a lack of diversity in Silicon Valley technology professions, a subject of current political and popular discourse. The California State University (CSU) system provides accessible higher education; the CSU system approach to accessible higher education affirms the distinctness of regions,…

Women are underrepresented in the STEM workforce areas of architecture, engineering, and computer science. The STEM workforce is a reflection of the STEM educational system. A solution for increasing the number of women in the STEM workforce is to increase the number of students in STEM education. There is research that explains why women do not…

National efforts have been made to increase STEM participation among racially marginalized individuals (Ro & Loya, 2015). However, women, especially African American women, remain underrepresented in STEM fields, particularly in engineering and computer science disciplines. The purpose of this basic interpretive qualitative study was to…

Women continue to be underrepresented in computer science and technology related fields despite their significant contributions. The lack of diversity in technology related fields is problematic as it can result in the perpetuation of negative stereotypes and closed-minded, unchecked biases. As technology tools become integral to our daily lives…

This paper address how we may understand inclusion strategies designed to reduce the gender gap in higher education in engineering and ICT engineering in particular. Based on a case study of a long-term inclusion effort and statistics on recruitment and retainment, we argue that inclusion initiatives which address important inclusion needs and put…

Historically, girls and women have experienced gender disparity in access to, and persistence in, STEM education. Though women comprise 50% of the total workforce, they occupy only 25% of STEM-related occupations. STEM degrees and occupations have been linked to economic prosperity, both for individuals and the nation as a whole. However, women…

The vision of Smart Connected Community (SCC) is to integrate technology to improve economy, safety, education, health and provide equity in the society. Human factor plays a vital role in the SCC in human societal, psychological, physical factors in the technology uses from various aspects. In this research, first, we have studied the impact of…

The purpose of this study was to identify demographic and contextual factors of women who transfer from a community college to a four-year university to complete their bachelor's degree in engineering or computer science (ECS) and determine if differences among these factors impact success. Using the data obtained from the Texas Education Research…

Controversy and fanfare accompanied the announcement in 2010 by Mattel, Inc. of the Barbie® doll's 126th career--computer engineer. Even though women have been and still are in a minority in the information technology (IT) and computer science (CS) fields, enough women voted for the computer engineer as the next career for Barbie® on Mattel's…

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…

Business leaders in Louisiana cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. Louisiana students have made some progress in…