NATIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

NCWIT Extension Services (ES) can assist computing departments in making lasting transformations that bring new voices to the table and change what's possible. Using research-based tools, processes, and best practices, the ES approach develops a strategic foundation for increasing women's participation in undergraduate and graduate computing programs. Our resources help academic change agents build consensus and action from the inside out, creating momentum for measurable, sustainable change.

Sustainable change happens when educational systems are revised to fit people, rather than changing people to fit systems that are often biased. Organizational change is by necessity customized, with resources keyed to specific departments and institutions, helping computing faculty strategically reimagine recruitment, retention, and evaluation. Increasing course participation and graduation rates is just part of the story. We help faculty change leaders make lasting, systematic change by securing strategic buy-in and participation from colleagues, department chairs, student affairs, and students themselves. Diversity and inclusion become central to departmental culture, not merely an add-on.

ES works with departments of computing through:
One-on-One Consulting, where a department is individually paired with a specific Extension Services Consultant (ESC)
Learning Circles, which is consulting formed around online learning communities
ES-Grad, which focuses on doctoral computing programs
The interactive diagram of NCWIT's strategic recruitment and retention approach helps faculty members design their own plan.
The FAQ page describes NCWIT's collaborative evaluation tools that help faculty determine how to use scarce resources.
Computing faculty can use the NCWIT Tracking Tool to connect to Academic Alliance members. The online evaluation tool helps academic departments evaluate student recruitment and retention efforts, collecting and charting enrollment and outcome data by major.

NCWIT Extension Services (ES) provides customized consultation to academic departments to help improve their strategic recruitment and retention of women students in their majors. To recognize the achievements of these outstanding departments, NCWIT has established the NCWIT Extension Services Transformation (NEXT) Awards.

The NEXT Awards celebrate past and present ES clients for excellence in recruiting and retaining women in computing education. The awards reflect and reward practices that NCWIT recognizes as having the most significant impact on the long-term goal of increasing the number of women in information technology and other computing-related fields. Departments receiving a NEXT Award show significant positive outcomes in women's enrollment and graduation rates, and have excellent potential for building on these gains. Both small and large departments are encouraged to apply.

NCWIT Counselors for Computing (C4C) provides professional school counselors with information and resources they can use to support ALL students as they explore computer science education and careers. C4C is designed to positively influence school counselors' understanding, perceptions, and actions related to computer science education and careers, particularly as it relates to increasing girls' participation in computing. NCWIT offers custom and local professional development around computing education and careers at no cost.

Through C4C, NCWIT offers professional development, ranging in length from one-hour webinars, to one-day workshops, to two-and-a-half-day institutes that include advanced leadership development.

Change leaders benefit from engaging with others who are equally committed to the mission of an inclusive tech environment. Listen. Educate. Support. Mobilize. Envision new ways of changing what's possible. Alliances offer collaborative group connections, helping advocates of every size and scale sustain and grow the momentum of inclusion.

NCWIT Academic Alliance: Bringing together more than 2,300 distinguished representatives from more than 550 colleges and universities nationwide, the Academic Alliance (AA) focuses on local barriers to attracting and graduating women in postsecondary computing. By adopting research-based practices, members create a framework to address the human dimensions of the educational setting-small steps that make the classroom a place for everyone. Together, they shape solutions to change socio-educational systems.

NCWIT Affinity Alliance: The work of changing cultures to ensure all technical voices can be heard is done not only in the workplace and the school, but by organizations who support technical women and girls directly. These change leader organizations connect to NCWIT and each other through the Affinity Alliance. Together, these members magnify and multiply their impact by putting NCWIT resources into action and by publicizing their own work and the work of other members of the NCWIT Community. Many organizations share NCWIT's mission of advancing women in technology but aren't directly involved in employing or educating them. Affinity Alliance members are united through new connections, resources, solutions, and support.

NCWIT Entrepreneurial Alliance: Since 2010, the Entrepreneurial Alliance (EA) has focused on small and growing companies with much to gain from intentional cultures of change. We help members build inclusive technical cultures from the ground up, developing research-based strategies for recruiting and advancing technical women. The result: an internal dynamic in which innovation can flourish, powerful new ideas reach the marketplace faster, and team members work to their fullest capabilities. Advance the dynamic in which high-performance ideas flourish. Our research-based strategies help small and growing companies recruit, retain, and advance technical women, bringing new possibilities to the marketplace.

NCWIT K-12 Alliance: The NCWIT K-12 Alliance is dedicated to creating access to an authentic, inclusive computing education for every girl, everywhere. The alliance leverages the influence and diversity of its members to create outreach programs and resources that recruit, retain, and advance more girls into computing nationwide. By working together to make sure every voice is heard, alliance members make a larger and more immediate difference than if they acted alone. Bringing together more than 400 national and local organizations, the alliance serves multiple stakeholders, including girls (and an increasing number of boys) and adult influencers, such as counselors, formal and informal educators, and families. This connected group raises clear solutions that change what's possible and propel diversity and inclusion.

NCWIT Workforce Alliance: The NCWIT Workforce Alliance (WA) focuses on making corporate cultures in technology more inclusive, where every voice is heard and anything is possible. A diverse, inclusive environment enables employees to innovate and do the best work of their lives. NCWIT has the research, data, toolkits, and systematic approach that can help companies of all sizes thrive. Be a force for voices of change. The NCWIT Workforce Alliance focuses on internal corporate cultures to create more inclusive environments, build stronger technical teams, and enhance technical innovation.

Sit With Me (SWM) is a fun, creative way to get talking. With its iconic red chair, Sit With Me events allow everyone-men and women, technical and nontechnical-to participate in a meaningful exchange that puts more seats at the table so more voices, and ideas, can be heard. SWM is a national advocacy campaign that celebrates women's contributions to technology through local events. Businesses and post-secondary education institutions use the SWM platform to host dialogues about how technical women are changing what's possible in technology. These events create a safe and open space for teams to reflect on the value of diversity and inclusion while allies get to show their support for women.

When everyone sees the value of what women bring to technology, creating an inclusive environment for women to thrive becomes a shared goal. Open the door, pull up a chair, and host your own Sit With Me event.

“The RED CHAIR (it was so wonderful, it gets capital letters!) was the perfect feature to include. The young ladies got the sense that their passion for technology is truly needed in the world.”
~ Senior Corporate Executive

EngageCSEdu is a living collection of peer-reviewed course materials from the CS community. It contains author-submitted materials and those that were "seeded"* via a nationwide search of US colleges and universities with openly available CS1/CS2 materials. All materials that are accepted into the collection make use of at least on "Engagement Practice:" evidence-based practices for engaging all students, including women and underrepresented minorities in computing. Many things influence whether a student chooses to study computing but having a great experience in introductory courses is key.

EngageCSEdu offers:
thousands of unique course materials - including lecture notes, homework assignments, and projects - submitted by faculty nationwide and peer-reviewed by CS educators and experts in student engagement;
a searchable collection for easily locating materials according to knowledge area, programming language, and more;
examples, definitions, and resources related to engagement practices to ensure a more inclusive, appealing learning experience for CS students, including women and other underrepresented groups.

The NCWIT EngageCSEdu Engagement Excellence Awards recognize faculty who are making a difference in their introductory computer science classrooms through excellent and engaging curriculum, contributing the best of the best to the EngageCSEdu collection. EngageCSEdu is a growing, peer-reviewed collection created by faculty across the country that employ a number of "engagement practices" that research suggests are likely to engage students, especially women and other underrepresented groups.

TECHNOLOchicas (TC) is a campaign of the NCWIT K-12 Alliance to increase the visibility of Latinas in technology, normalize technology as a career for young Latinas and their families, and provide resources and experiences to highlight pathways into computing. Started as a collaboration with the Televisa Foundation, TECHNOLOchicas launched in 2015 and NCWIT is currently planning for the launch of TECHNOLOchicas 4.0 in late 2019.

“There is a huge space for Latinas to make a difference with their unique diverse backgrounds
in any of the disciplines they choose to focus on.”
~ TECHNOLOchica Janet Barrientos

The NCWIT Summit is the world's largest annual convening of Change Leaders for diversity and inclusion in computing. Each May, nearly 1,000 educators, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and social scientists from across industries and disciplines (men and women) participate in the NCWIT Summit. NCWIT member representatives, notable field experts, and renowned guests present and learn about leading-edge practices, give and receive encouragement, and network and form partnerships.

The NCWIT Summit has been changing the culture for girls and women in technology since 2009.

NCWIT provides free, online research-based resources for reform at every level to help individuals implement change, raise awareness, and reach out to critical populations. These resources are frequently cited by national media outlets and widely distributed through outreach events and members' networks.

Whether you're in a classroom or a boardroom, NCWIT can help you kick-start or deepen your inclusive culture. Take advantage of hundreds of free and easy-to-use resources for K-12, higher education, and corporations that support your effort to raise awareness, increase knowledge, and empower action to make sure every voice is heard.