By Victoria Brito
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – UTRGV and the National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) are collaborating to create a two-year plan to improve gender equality in computer science at the university.
The center – a non-profit focused on women’s participation in computer-related fields – gave UTRGV $10,000 to help recruit, retain and advance women in the industry.
Project leaders at UTRGV said the money will be used to fund student-oriented spaces, as well as an informal collection of books that address gender inequality in the field and engage a more diverse audience.
The student-oriented space, or common area, will be located within the Department of Computer Science, providing faculty and students a space where they can communicate and spend time together.
To help recruit women to the computer science field, they will create new marketing materials that emphasize the importance of diversity – including a video series to highlight UTRGV computer science faculty, bilingual pamphlets with information on the department, and a poster series to highlight department alumni.
Dr. Megan Strait, UTRGV assistant professor of computer science, and Dr. Rebecca Dohrman, NCWIT extension services consultant, are leading the team of students, faculty and community members.
As of Spring 2019, only 16 percent of students in the computer science department were female. The long-term goal of this two-year partnership, Strait said, is to increase enrollment to the national average of 20 percent.
“The ability for UTRGV to partner with NCWIT means access to the resources, literature and knowledge NCWIT has accumulated over its network,” she said. “It represents a significant resource and avenue to address issues in supporting women in computer science.”
Ana Sánchez Ramos, a senior computer science major from Reynosa, is one of the members of the team. As a woman, she said, she knows all about the importance of inclusion in STEM-related fields.
“Women in computer science, especially Latinas, are important. We use tech products, so why shouldn’t we have a say?” she said. “Why shouldn’t we be part of the development of such products? We understand the needs of the audience because we are part of that audience.”
This partnership can have positive results, she said, because it will help increase the visibility of women pursing computer science courses at UTRGV.
“Women can be, and are, computer scientists,” she said. “This partnership can impact students’ self-esteem and confidence, especially women. When there is a sense of ambient belonging and students are confident in their skills, they perform better and actually enjoy what they do.”
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.
