ABSTRACT: 2014 ELATE Institutional Action Project Poster Symposium
Project Title: Teaching Reforms Increasing Diversity and Equity in Stem (TIDES)
Name and Institution: Janice R. Naegele, Wesleyan University
Collaborators: Ishita Mukerji, Dean of Natural Sciences and Math, James Lipton, Vice Chair, Computer
Science, Antonio Farias, Chief Diversity Officer, Francis Starr, Professor of Physics, Gary Shaw, Professor of
History and Manolis Kaparakis, Director of the Quantitative Reasoning Center, and Information Technology
Services.
Background, Challenge or Opportunity: President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
(PCAST) forecast that ‘one million more’ STEM graduates will be needed in the next ten years for the U.S. to
remain a global leader in science and engineering. To meet the workforce demands in the
computer/information science disciplines, the nation’s college graduates will require a bachelor’s degree in a
STEM field and strength in computer science. Reaching this goal requires broadening the participation of
students from underrepresented minorities (URM), the major sources of talent and the fastest growing
undergraduate population in higher education. National Science Foundation (2013) data shows that URM
account for only 18% of the baccalaureate degrees in science and engineering. Additionally, women,
comprising almost 60% of all U.S. college undergraduates, are underrepresented in the STEM disciplines of
computer science, math, and physics. And, despite the fact that women now outnumber men in college,
between 2001 and 2010, the number of women earning degrees CS decreased by 39%. At Wesleyan
University, our enrollment statistics support these trends and show that URM and women have higher
attrition rates from STEM classes compared with other academic fields.
Purpose/Objectives: Faculty who teach in a culturally sensitive manner can lead to higher retention rates. By
empowering STEM faculty to adopt evidence-based and culturally sensitive pedagogies and by increasing
interdisciplinary courses with a strong computing focus, we aim to increase the number of URM and women
students with competence in CS. We propose professional development opportunities and workshops in a
pilot study over a three-year period to enhance teaching methods designed to recruit and retain prospective
URM and women majors in Computer Science (CS). Our specific objectives are to:
1) Increase the number of underrepresented minority (URM) and women students with knowledge of and
competence in computer programming.
2) Increase the number of women and URM students majoring in CS.
3) Increase faculty and graduate student competence in student-based pedagogical methods that
emphasize problem solving and application of computational methods to real world data.
4) Enhance multicultural competencies in faculty advising and mentoring capabilities for URM and women
students in math and computer science majors.
Methods/Approach: We will achieve our goals through an institutional grant mechanism for interdisciplinary
courses that incorporate programming and analytical skills. To be successful for this grant mechanism, faculty
and graduate student will take several pedagogy workshops focusing on implementing culturally sensitive
student-based learning activities. We will also host a seminar series focusing on implicit bias and stereotype
threat and feature these topics at roundtable discussion groups on campus.
Outcomes and Evaluation: We will track the number of new interdisciplinary and CS courses and enrollments
in them by URM and women. We will evaluate the demographics of CS majors. As part of the pedagogical
training, we will quantify faculty participation in workshops, and provide videotaping in classes with feedback
about pedagogy. Additionally, we will run student focus groups and hire an external evaluator to assess
teaching changes and provide feedback for improvements.
TIDES: TEACHING & INCREASING
DIVERSITY & EQUITY IN STEM
Presented at 2014 ELATE® Leaders Forum
JANICE R. NAEGELE AND ISHITA MUKERJI, DIVISION OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, MIDDLETOWN, CT
Outcomes and Evaluation
The Challenge
The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and
Technology predicted that the United States will
need one million more STEM graduates in the next
10 years, to remain a global leader in science and
engineering. Increasing undergraduate training in
computer science can help to meet the workforce
demands. The fastest growing undergraduate
populations in higher education - and the most
talented- are women and under-represented
minorities (URM).
Facts
Women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds comprise
nearly 60% of all U.S. college undergraduates. Yet,
the representation of URM and women in STEM
fields remains low. URM and women also have
higher attrition rates from STEM classes compared
with other academic fields.

Track number of new interdisciplinary courses/year

Evaluate demographics of computer science
majors

Quantify faculty participation and application of
tools and strategies taught in pedagogy workshops

Videotape classes and have them evaluated

Run student focus groups

Hire external evaluator to assess changes in
teaching and provide feedback

Disseminate results at the institutional and
National level through publications and at
conferences.
Additional collaborators
Testable theories
Purpose
Studies have identified instructional reform that is culturally sensitive
to the life experiences of students can have a significant impact on
participation, retention, and graduation of URM groups. To achieve a
significant education impact it is necessary to make widespread and
deep changes in teaching and advising practices, and to involve
departmental chairs and faculty leaders.
Wesleyan University’s Center for Faculty Career Development
workshops and training give faculty the skills and confidence they
need to incorporate culturally-sensitive practices into their teaching.
Goals
Our goals are to increase the number of URM and women
computer science majors and to increase computer
programming skills in all students, by providing faculty with
the innovative teaching strategies and training in implicit bias
and multi-cultural awareness.
Methods
 Grants to stimulate new computer programming
modules in courses across the curriculum
 Problem sets in existing computer science
courses to improve retention and course
satisfaction
 Pedagogy workshop training for faculty focusing
on innovative teaching and active learning
strategies.
 Keynote talks on implicit bias, stereotype threat,
and multi-cultural awareness
 Measure impact of teaching approaches and
training on recruitment and retention.
Culturally sensitive teaching practices, diversifying
the demographics1 and interventions addressing
faculty racial and gender bias2,3 may help to increase
participation among URM and women in science.
1. Ruth Weissman, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost
2. James Lipton, Vice Chair, Computer Science. Professor Lipton
will work with Computer Science faculty to support greater
implementation
3. Gary Shaw, Professor of History
4. Manolis Kaparakis, Quantititative Analysis Center
5. Antonio Farias, Chief Diversity Officer. Mr Farias will run
workshops on stereotype threat, implicit bias and cultural
competencies.
Literature Cited
1. Dasgupta, N (2011) In group experts and peers as social vaccines
who inoculate the self-concept: the stereotype inoculation model.
Psychological Inquiry, 22: 231-246.
2. Cheryan S, Plaut VC, Handron C, Hudson L (2013) The
stereotypical computer scientist: gendered media representations
as a barrier to inclusion for woman. Sex Roles 69: 58-71.
3. Ceci SJ and Williams WM (2011) Understanding current causes of
women’s underrepresentation in science. PNAS 108(8): 3157-3162.
4. Moss-Racusin CA, Dovidio JF, Brescoll VL, Graham MJ,
Handelsman J (2012) Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor
male students. PNAS 109(41): 16474-16479.