Effective Recruiting for Diversity

Women of all colors are underrepresented in most technical disciplines. For example, electrical engineering college graduates have comprised only about ten percent women for many years, and computing graduates only about eighteen percent women, down from about thirty-five percent in the mid-1980s. Gender stereotypes and stereotypes about creators of technology contribute to this underrepresentation. Nevertheless, these prevailing conditions can be overcome to a substantial degree by actively recruiting diverse female students. This panel session will provide an introduction to the reasons for active recruiting, methods for successful active recruiting, examples of effective applications of the recommended methods, and resources to help participants as they attempt to actively recruit underrepresented students to their courses. The panel's focus will be on computing disciplines, but the information applies to other technical disciplines as well.