Women and Information Technology

Science, Technology & Society Initiative
@ the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Quick Facts:
Only 5% of high school graduates indicate an interest in computing.
-CAITE

People

W. Richards Adrion, PI
Professor, Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA & Co-Director, CITI

Deborah Boisvert, co-PI
Director, BATEC,
University of Massachusetts Boston

Lori Clarke, co-PI
Professor, Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst & Co-Chair, CRA-W

Jane Fountain, co-PI
Professor, Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA & Director, National Center for Digital Government, the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, and the Women in the Information Age (WITIA) Project

Priscilla Grocer, co-PI
Professor & Chair, Computer Information Systems, Bristol Community College, USA & Director, CITI SE Collaborative

Adrienne Smith
Dean, School of Engineering Technologies, Springfield Technical Community College, USA

Renee Fall , Program Manager CITI and CAITE

Women and Information Technology

Members of the Science, Technology & Society Initiative are currently engaged in two projects related to women and information technology: Women in the Information Age and a Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education. Brief descriptions of each project are below.

Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is leading a Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education (CAITE) to design and carry out comprehensive programs that address under representation in information technology (IT) education and the workforce. CAITE will focus on women and minorities in groups that are underrepresented in the Massachusetts innovation economy; that is, economically, academically, and socially disadvantaged residents.The project will pilot a series of outreach programs supported by educational pathways in three regions (one rural, one suburban, and one urban). CAITE will identify best practices and disseminate, deploy, extend and institutionalize these best practices statewide and nationally. Community colleges are the centerpiece of CAITE because of the central role they play in reaching out to underserved populations and in serving as a gateway to careers and further higher education.This project will build a broad alliance built on its leadership in and partnership with the Commonwealth Information Technology Initiative (CITI), the Boston Area Advanced Technological Education Center (BATEC), regional Louis Stokes Alliances and NSF EGEP programs, and other partnerships and initiatives focused on information technology education and STEM pipeline issues. http://caite.info/ and http://www.takeitgoanywhere.org

Women in the Information Age

The Women in the Information Age Project at the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst asks if women are under-represented as users and designers of today's technologies. In time, we intend for this site to actively create a community of researchers, managers and policy-makers with an interest in this issue. http://www.witia.net

For additional STS Research Clusters, visit our Research Page.

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