Explore the Data: Women of Color in Computing
PreK-12
Only 7% of all students who took the AP CS A exam were Black, Latinx or Native American/Alaskan Native girls.
Higher Education
Black, Latinx, and Native American/Alaskan Native women earn just 10% of Bachelor’s degrees in computing.
Tech Workforce
Less than 1% of Silicon Valley tech leadership positions are held by Latinx women and less than .5% are held by Black women.
Entrepreneurship
Underrepresented women of color receive less than 1% of all venture funding and represent only 1% of all venture professionals.
Women of Color In Computing: A Researcher-Practitioner Collaborative
The Women of Color in Computing collaborative is an exciting partnership between researchers and practitioners to develop, test, and scale strategies, programs, and interventions to increase the participation and persistence of women of color in the technology ecosystem.
The experience, knowledge, and creativity of women of color is critical to technological innovation and advancement. Yet, much of the research and data on increasing diversity in tech has focused on women people of color, while overlooking underrepresented women of color in computing and their unique obstacles and experiences.
This project will fund and disseminate research on the following priority topic areas:
- Entry, Persistence, and Degree Completion in Computing in Higher Education
- Participation and Retention of Women of Color in the Technology Workforce
- Participation of Women of Color Across the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Ecosystem
Watch Dr. Kim Scott discuss the Women of Color in Computing Collaborative on PBS program Horizonte (KAET, Phoenix, Arizona, September 5, 2018).
What We're Doing
Through this collaborative, academic researchers will work side-by-side with educators, diversity, equity, and inclusion practitioners, tech industry leaders, and venture capitalists to translate emerging research findings into actionable practices and inform strategies which can be scaled broadly to ensure women of color are included as leaders and creators in the rapidly growing technology ecosystem.
Who we are
Principal Investigators
Dr. Allison Scott, Chief Research Officer, Kapor Center
Frieda McAlear, M.Res., Senior Research Associate, Kapor Center
Dr. Kimberly A. Scott, Professor and Founding Executive Director, Center for Gender and Equity in Science and Technology (CGEST), Arizona State University
Advisory Board
Questions?
Please send any questions about the WOC in Computing Research Collaborative to Frieda McAlear, friedam@kaporcenter.org
Please send any questions about the WOC in Computing Research Collaborative to Frieda McAlear, friedam@kaporcenter.org.
Site images courtesy of #WOCinTech Chat, available under Creative Common Attribution - License.