Our work in this theme will focus on developing building confidence through developing the by developing skills and expertise of our members. We will achieve this by organising a number of inward and outward facing activities, which will create several opportunities to strengthen technical skills and develop leadership and other soft skills.

Activities

• Networking opportunities:

  Networking, while a critical component of career progression, is rarely taught to students. This creates a lot of uncertainty around this important skill. We will introduce a number of networking opportunities that specifically cater to our female students and staff, with an aim to increase their confidence, motivation, and willingness to engage in professional networking on a regular basis.

  • Industry-led panel discussions and networking events
  • Annual Ada Lovelace Lecture - inspirational talks in computing from women CS role models who have made significant contributions to the field.
  • In 2023 it will be held on 24th May by Carrie Anne Philbin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_Anne_Philbin

• External partnerships:

  Similar to networking, we will seek to create opportunities for our students and staff to step outside academic walls and engage with stakeholders from across different sectors. We anticipate that this ‘real-world’ experience will empower them to find wider support networks both nationally and internationally.

  • Identify partnerships with charities, internal university departments, and local schools (CREUs and Student Experience Directorate) to work with.

• Public discourse and tackling misconception:

  While our agenda focuses on female participation in Computing in a Higher Education Institutional context, evidence shows that many of the challenges that women face, especially around confidence, start much earlier. Therefore, engaging in public discourse around women in Computing will enable our members to act as community champions who inspire a younger generation of female computer scientists.

  • Our members (staff and students) will engage in public discourse and tackle misconceptions with the aim of changing the perceptions of some parents and communities about computing for women.
  • Establish a well-funded school outreach programme. Our focus of the outreach programme will initially be girls only.
  • Provide opportunities for our students to develop teaching, communication skills, and presentation skills through tailored training and opportunities to practice these skills, such as delivering sessions on: problem-solving, doing puzzles, logical thinking, and building websites for local schools. In the future, these activities can be incorporated as a part of employability modules. Our students will act as key influencers and role models in the field in our local schools.
  • Participate in science festivals.

• Mentorship scheme:

  Creating ‘safe spaces’ for career advice and mentorship is a key enabler for women. The Women++ network will create several mentorship opportunities for both students and staff, helping them make better-informed career choices and consequently increasing their confidence about these choices.

Activities

• Inclusive membership of the Women++ Community: All women and non-binary students or staff are de facto members of Women++ in Computing Society, while others have to actively subscribe and unsubscribe to the mailing list and communication channels. De facto members have to actively unsubscribe if they do not wish to be part of this group.
• Workshops to shift 'micro-cultures': In synergy with Theme #4 (below), we will identify ways to shift culture (micro cultures) on attitude and perceptions of women in male-dominated cohorts. This may be through workshops during induction and at various points during the three terms. The focus will be on diversity of thoughts.
• Socially-mediated learning opportunities: Based on findings in Theme #4 (below), and in collaboration with our colleagues across the Department, we will seek to develop recommendations for best practice in curricular design and delivery in ways that promote group-based activities and 'safe and inclusive spaces' in our lectures and labs.
• Extracurricular and cocurricular social spaces: We will organize social activities to promote a sense of belonging. This could range from "let's have coffee and cake," potluck, celebration events (Xmas, Ramadan, Eid, Dewalis) to having a safe (non-judgmental) environment to discuss challenges. There will be times when this will only be for our members.

Our work in this theme will focus on community building and supporting the social wellbeing of our members. Our focus in this theme will be to implement an evidence-based approach to delivering CS education in a way that empowers women and reinforces their sense of belonging in the field. For example, ideas of 'socially-mediated learning' which focus on creating a friendly atmosphere in computing labs are known to improve students' attitudes toward computer science, especially in women and under-represented minorities in CS [citation]. Evidence that provides guidelines for effective socially-mediated learning will take center stage in our work in this theme. Activities that are planned in this theme will have close synergy with Themes #3 and #4 below.

There are two main inequalities that this group will initially address. First is to increase diversity within the student cohort and second to increase the number of women academics (currently only 11%) in the department, and create a supportive environment through mentoring and placing support structures for women to progress at senior level e.g. Professorial and/or to Senior Management positions.

Activities

• Addressing recruitment and retention challenges: We will try to understand our recruitment strategy and identify ways we can increase women in our student cohort. Prior experience in programming is not an indicator for success in CS (Margolis and Fisher, 2002). Prior high achievement can be an indicator, but other factors can also play a role in recruitment: community service, leadership potential, creativity and design, and sporting achievement, for example.
• Designing a summer intensive program for preparing students for Stage 1. If they pass the summer program, they can get into Stage 1.
• Women academics are assigned mentors to understand their needs and identify and place support structures for their progression.
• In workload models, participating in Women++ society-related activities is recognized.
• Participating in Women++ society-related activities is reflected in the promotion criteria.
• Identify selected mentors with coaching skills for Women++ academics.
• Explore barriers (informed by Theme #4) that Women++ have for their progress and well-being. Explore mechanisms for increasing flexibility in the attendance policy as this could enhance well-being and retention of some women in our department.
• Explore the gender pay gap by working closely with UCU and ACM SIGCSE community as this is a perceived barrier for Women++ academics.

Activities

• Establish a research group in Computing Education Research.
• Incorporating research-informed, engaging, and innovative curricula in our education.
• Work closely with colleagues and the ACM SIGCSE community to identify socially-mediated learning approaches and ways of designing curricula that are inclusive. Increase activities like pair-programming and group activities that encourage participation and discussion while developing the core technical skills.
• Organize research seminars by women academics and professionals in women in computing areas. Integrate these seminars into the Computer Science Department's vignettes. We are aiming to be present there at least once a Term.
• Work closely with the SIGCSE community to identify research that can inform teaching, curriculum design, and the learning environment to feed into #2a (above).
• Research to identify barriers and challenges faced by female students and female staff. Conduct research to understand perceptions and attitudes of the cohort that can inform cultural change in #2 (above). There may be gender differences that may impact on female experience.
• Learn from case studies where trends of low participation in CS were reversed and build into themes #2 and #3.
• Develop personas of female (inspirational) students of their journey from Stage 1/Foundation to how they are placed in the industry.
• Research literature on inclusive curriculum design.
• Look at success stories within the university and consider how it can be replicated in the mainstream degrees (e.g. HCID).
• Form strategic alliances in research capacity with ACM SIGCSE and UCD that investigate gender inequalities.
• We will collaborate with other Schools within City University.

Building a research infrastructure in CSE, improving our presence in ACM SIGCSE communities, informing and building a foundation for changes for the above three themes: