Diversity and the

Diversity Committeein the

UVA Computer Science Department

Wes Weimer

Outline

● Why care about diversity● Science and Psychology● UVA Stats

● UVA CS Diversity Committee● Activities● Real Research● Join Us!

Why Care?

● Let's deconstruct things a bit ...

One Argument For Relevance

Engineering is design under constraint, an inherently creative activity.● Bill Wulf paraphrased

● We thus desire as many viewpoints as possible when solving a difficult problem.

● However, Anchoring Bias exists: the human brain is biased in favor of your initial estimation (e.g., the product of your experience) and thus we benefit from people with different experiences.

Anchoring Bias

● I tell you I am generating a random number, show it to you, and then ask you what percentage of African countries are in the UN. ● I show you 65: your median answer is 45%.● I show you 10: your median answer is 25%.

● I ask you to do math quickly:● 1x2x3x4x5x6x7x8: your median answer is 512● 8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1: your median answer is 2250

Anchoring Bias Citations● Quattrone, G.A., Lawrence, C.P., Finkel, S.E., &

Andrus, D.C. (1981). Explorations in anchoring: The effects of prior range, anchor extremity, and suggestive hints. Manuscript, Stanford University.

● Strack, F. & Mussweiler, T. (1997). Explaining the enigmatic anchoring effect: Mechanisms of selective accessibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 437-446.

● Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. 1974. Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185:1124--1131.

Diversity

● Thus if we are intentionally or systematically excluding talented people from other backgrounds, we are hurting our overall creativity (research productivity).

● Thus we want to recruit and retain the best people, regardless of background.● Merit first ● Do not bias against a background you dislike or are

not familiar with (i.e., treat all backgrounds equally)

Gender Statistics

● Gender is only one aspect of diversity ...● At the undergraduate level, considering 2,012

“person X is in intro class Y” observations at UVA between 2008 and 2010 ...

● The ratio of male to female students in each class is about 2.18 : 1.00. Equivalently, about 68% of undergrads are male and 32% are female. Measured differently, 22% of all students in the major are female.

● Quick Quiz. We have about 100 CS grad students. Name every female.

Question

● US Census: as of 2009, 50.8% of Virginia persons are female; 50.7% of US persons are female.

● So why are only 32% of students in UVA CS classes (or 22% of students in the UVA CS major) female?

E. Spertus. Why are there so few female computer scientists? MIT AI Lab Technical Report 1315, pages 1-112, 1991.

UVA CS 1 Attraction Rates2005-06 to 2010-11

“Null Hypothesis”

● Possibility: Phenotypical sex differences between males and females make males better suited to tasks associated with computer science; persons of both sexes are thus accurately selecting the fields at which they are most efficient.

Null Hypothesis Rejected

● Problem: it's not true.● Difference between the means is dwarfed by the

differences between individuals chosen at random; in a statistically significant manner you should not use gender to bias a selection of talent.

● Very few non-reproductive, non-Olympic tasks admit non-trivial sex differences. Example: ● Parsons TD, Larson P, Kratz K, Thiebaux M,

Bluestein B, Buckwalter JG, Rizzo AA. Sex differences in mental rotation and spatial rotation in a virtual environment. Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(4):555-62.

Starting Young

Recruitment

● What if only 25% of students in UVA SEAS classes are female but 32% of students in UVA CS classes are?● T. Camp. The incredible shrinking pipeline.

Communications of the ACM, v40. 103-110. 1997

● Female interest, access to computing, societal pressures, etc.

Primary School & Junior High

● American Association of University Women. Shortchanging Girls: Shortchanging America: A nationwide poll that assesses self-esteem, educational experiences, interest in math and science, and career aspirations in girls and boys age 9-15. 1994.

Recruitment (2)

● L. Carter. Why students with an apparent aptitude for computer science don't chose to major in computer science. SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 27-31, 2006.

● G. Scragg and J. Smith. A study of barrier to women in undergraduate computer science. SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 82-86, 1998.

Retention● Are males more likely to complete CS PhD

programs than females? ● Margolis, J., Fisher, A., and Miller, F. 1999. Caring

About Connections: Gender and Computing. IEEE Technology and Society.

● P. Clance and S. Imes. The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention. Psychotherapy Theory, Research and Practice. 15(3), 1978.

● Mentoring, advisor bias, societal pressures, ...

Unlocking the Clubhouse

● Jane Margolis, Allan Fisher. Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. MIT Press, 2001.

So What Can We Do?

● The CS department formed a standing committee to investigate issues related to diversity and propose actions.● This is non-trivial: three to four faculty members

receive “service” credit (e.g., for tenure)● It has 4 members: twice as many as we officially

assign to dealing with the Systems Staff, the same number as CS graduate admissions, and the same number as the CS graduate program.

● Other faculty have individual activities as well (e.g., Dave Evans, Aaron Bloomfield, etc.)

● The Computer Science Department at the University of Virginia is committed to an environment where a diversity of capable, inspired individuals congregate, interact and collaborate, to learn and advance knowledge, without barriers.

● We embrace this vision because:● We wish to be leaders and role models in reaping and

sharing the benefits of diversity.● We seek to enhance the intellectual and creative

environment of our department.● We expect to produce happier, more capable and more

broadly educated computer science graduates.

Step 1: Measurement

● We must be able to assess the current state if we want non-anecdotal evidence for any change

● Thus, we deployed at set of seven IRB-sanctioned questionnaires that track undergraduates who become CS/CpE majors throughout their four years.

● Thus far: responses from over 1,019 students

Local DC Activities● Support and Help Fund the ACM-W

● Example: Created a “by students for student” pamphlet given to registering majors

● Distinguished Speaker Series: Liskov!● Instituting Fireside Chats

● As a means for students to get to know the faculty better.

● Bill & Anita, Wes & Kim, Mary Lou & Bill, Mark & Malathi. Typical attendance: 40-50.

● Collaborate with PVCC on Piedmont Futures' Computer Technology Career Academy● 53 kids, 50% female or minority; Google funded

High School Outreach & Recruitment

● DC Members give presentations in local schools about computer science and women in computing. The DC chair worked with the state's Commonwealth Scholars Program to discuss opportunities, particularly for women and minorities, in Engineering and Science – targeting eighth and fifth graders in surrounding communities.

● DC chair also speaks to NOVA and Tidewater schools (1500 high school seniors per year).

National Outreach

● Attend national-level diversity activities, primarily through the National Center for Women in Technology.

● UVA is considered by NCWIT principals to be “a flagship program in the country in diversity”, much to the surprise of many in the UVA CS Department. ● Although only 22% of students in the program are

women ...● The national average is closer to 10-15%.

Institutional Outreach

● The DC constructed a self-assessment for the dean's office on diversity in the department, covering what has been accomplished and what remains to be done in the near and medium term.

● The DC met with the Dean of Admissions. The DC and Dean Roberts collaborated to better educate admissions emissaries to high schools about opportunities for women and minorities in computing.

Scholarly Activities

● Jim Cohoon, Mary Lou Soffa and Joanne Cohoon received a joint NSF grant to enhance the computing experience of first year undergraduates and to conduct workshops for high school teachers of computing.● Example: $1.5 Million for “Tapestry” summer

workshops

● The DC applied for, and received, an unrestricted industrial grant from Google to pursue diversity-related activities.

Real Research

● Ray Buse, Mark Sherriff, Westley Weimer: Female Students Outperform Their Expectations: Perception vs. Reality in Intro Classes. Under submission to SIGCSE. ● 2021 final grades from 1023 students; survey

responses from 1019 students

● H1: Females are actually doing less well than males in intro classes. Rejected.

● H2: Females have different career goals with higher expectations than do males. Rejected.

● H3,4: Systemic bias and mis-estimation.

Reality

● Females are 35% less likely to agree that they are doing well in CS based on the expectations of others. In order for career choice alone to account for that difference, female-preferred careers must CS expectations sixteen time greater than male-preferred ones.

Summary

● Diversity is an important issue because science and engineering are inherently creative processes and human biases influence human creativity.● UVA CS is committed to recruiting and retaining the

best people, regardless of background.

● There are many organizations and individuals involved in diversity activities. ● This leads to grants, research, and actually

improving the world.

● You can join!

Questions?

● Quiz: What property is true of every non-graph image in this presentation?