The objective of this project is to broaden participation of women and underrepresented groups in visualization. The PI proposes to establish an annual two-day workshop and other activities designed to increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups in visualization. Visualization plays a significant role in the exploration and understanding of data across all disciplines with a universal goal: gaining insight into the complex relationships that exist within the data. The need to diversify a field with such far reaching influences by providing career mentoring advice, overviews of past accomplishments, and future research directions in visualization is important. The proposed workshops advances the NSF mission by informing, inspiring and encouraging diverse participants to engage in the multidisciplinary dynamics of visualization and scientific research.
The first supported workshop was held in 2014 at Clemson University in South Carolina. The second workshop will be held in 2016. About 20 participants at the undergraduate, graduate, post-graduate, and early career faculty level will be invited to participate in the workshop. The workshop will be organized as a series of presentations, panels with networking opportunities, and mentoring activities. To encourage collaborations, participants will present their work and explore the work of others during a poster session. Participants will be recruited via a number of different venues including, but not limited to: The Anita Borge Institute/Grace Hopper listserv, association listservs (CRA, CRA-W, CDC, AAPHDCS, Hispanics in Computing, and Women in Machine Learning), Broadening Participation Communities (A4RC, EL Alliance) and discipline-specific mailing lists (IEEE-Vis). Undergraduates will be recruited by on-campus organizations (Women in Science and Engineering and The Charles H. Houston Center). The inclusion of undergraduates will ensure the level of interest in visualization spans across academic and professional domains. Outcomes of the workshops will be assessed by surveying participants at the start and at the end of the workshop.
