Nationwide, women make up 58 percent of all undergraduate enrollments but only 20 percent of the majors in computer sciences. At Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the percentages mirror the national total, but the university is trying to boost the number of women in the field.
Rutgers has announced the establishment of the Computer Science Living-Learning Community for Women. Women accepted into the living-learning community will have access to graduate student mentors, workshops and seminars, and leadership training all aimed at increasing retention among women computer science majors.
Rebecca Wright, a professor of computer science, the director of the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, and the principal investigator for the grant, notes that “Lack of gender diversity is a longstanding problem in the field of computer science, and one that arguably impacts the level of technical innovation possible in computer-based industries, as research has shown that diverse teams produce better results. Additionally, increasing the number of undergraduate women majoring in computer science is one key to filling the predicted future labor shortage in computer science.”
Professor Wright is graduate of Columbia University, where she double majored in computer science and mathematics. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer science from Yale University.
The Computer Science Living-Learning Community for Women is being supported by a two-year, $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.