This project is designed to address significant information technology (IT) workforce needs by determining why so few underrepresented students are enrolling in IT career programs at the college; to create, adapt, and deploy tools to recruit a more diverse IT student body, and to retain and support those students. It also provides teacher training and curriculum revisions and leverages industry partnerships to create new opportunities for students. The student body at the college is very diverse, being composed of 86% underrepresented students. Conversely, IT programs at the college are much less diverse than the general student population, in fact the programs are remarkable for their lack of diversity in terms of ethnicity and gender. Because the college has a history of recruiting, supporting, and graduating students from underrepresented groups, once it is determined why so few students are entering IT career programs, outreach efforts are being modified to recruit underrepresented students into IT programs, and additional support mechanisms are being developed to improve the chances of students of successfully completing their program.
Intellectual Merit: A hallmark of this project is the degree to which it builds on existing initiatives and partnerships. From design to implementation, from evaluation to dissemination, this project builds on the work of other ATE projects and centers. Significant support from business and secondary school partners is creating a collaborative project team. Industry partners are committed to providing resources to facilitate effective and cost efficient communication; to sponsor and participate in career awareness events; to provide access to modern instrumentation and new technologies presently unavailable to many students; to help integrate current industry standards and 21st century workplace competencies into the curriculum; to provide speakers and facilitate information sessions designed to engage underrepresented students; and to facilitate field trips and industry tours. This project is improving student learning by providing secondary school teacher training; leveraging business partnerships to provide students with 21st century workplace experiences and cutting-edge instrumentation; and by aligning curricula with industry standards. This project is designed to be institutionalized upon completion of the proposed activities.
Broader Impacts: At the core of this project is the promotion of a diverse technical workforce capable of addressing significant IT workforce needs. This project fosters and builds upon collaborative relationships to achieve the goal of diversity, and the results of the project are likely to be widely adaptable at other institutions. The project results are being disseminated using a digital project portfolio that is accessible on the World Wide Web.
