Special Projects (CNS): National Center for Women and Information Technology

鼓励和使更多的妇女能够选择信息技术职业对国家来说是一个令人信服的解决方案？的创新，全球竞争力和劳动力的可持续性。然而，实现妇女的贡献取决于克服长期的社会和文化进程的复杂性，这些进程限制了妇女参与计算。供应方面的因素影响到有兴趣学习计算机或从事信息技术职业的女孩和妇女的人数。需求方面的因素降低了本组织吸引和留住妇女努力的效力。此外，关于性别和技术的文化陈规定型观念的广泛影响表明，妇女和影响她们的人不太可能像男子那样有创造计算机技术的天赋或兴趣。这些刻板印象导致女孩，父母，辅导员和教育工作者忽视或拒绝将计算作为一种职业，并忽视了强化问题的教育系统。三年前成立了全国妇女和信息技术中心，以创新和系统的方式解决这些问题，在头三年里，全国妇女和信息技术中心建立了一个基于联盟的基础设施，目标是联合目前的所有努力，加快进展，扩大影响范围。国家妇女信息技术中心目前正在寻求推广资金，以推动这一国家基础设施的利用。妇女信息技术全国委员会由100多个著名的公司、学术机构、政府机构和非营利组织组成，它们合作增加妇女对信息技术的参与。四个联盟致力于整个教育和职业管道沿着IT改革，包括K-12教育、大学水平的推广和课程改革、企业招聘和保留以及创业企业。联盟成员分享他们的改革努力，学习和试验最佳实践，回收有效的东西，抛弃无效的东西，影响政策，参与IT形象和改革活动，并作为当地的变革推动者。一流的材料和资源为人们提供了工具，以提高其组织内部的认识，接触目标人群，实施和评估改革，并分享其成果。NCWIT还积极与其他几个知名组织合作，利用研究驱动的营销活动改善计算的公众形象。广泛、持续的内部和外部评估使全国妇女培训和培训中心的方法和努力得到改进，并形成了一种反省和自我分析的文化。参与计算。妇女信息和培训中心的基础设施已经到位，联盟正在扩大，联盟成员渴望在其地方组织中实施干预措施，并与全国社区分享成果。NCWIT已经建立了一个强大的和备受尊敬的努力，已经参与了广泛的计算社区，形成了一种基于循证实践的文化。妇女信息技术全国委员会是唯一一个建立国家能力建设基础设施的组织，其重点是整个信息技术教育管道的改革以及信息技术组织的文化。中国参与信息技术对国家有着深远的影响。信息和计算技术不仅以前所未有的方式渗透到我们日常生活的各个方面，而且所有的工程和科学发现和创新现在都依赖于计算科学。增加合格的计算机专业人员的数量有助于实现国家倡议的目标（例如，纳米技术，网络基础设施计划）和我们的经济，安全，国防和医疗保健系统是以计算为中心的。增加妇女的参与不仅支持国家目标，而且通过整合不同的想法，改善计算系统、应用程序和产品的开发和设计，同时帮助克服妇女的经济差距。

Inspiring and enabling more women to choose careers in information technology is a compelling solution for the nation?s innovation, global competitiveness, and workforce sustainability. Yet realizing the contributions of women depends on overcoming the complex of enduring social and cultural processes that limit their participation in computing. Supply-side factors affect the number of girls and women interested in learning about computing or pursuing an IT career. Demand-side factors reduce the effectiveness of organizational efforts to attract and retain women. In addition, the broad influence of cultural stereotypes about gender and technology suggest to women and those who influence them that they are less likely than men to have talent or interest in creating computing technology. These stereotypes lead girls, parents, counselors, and educators to overlook or reject computing as a career and to ignore the educational system that reinforces the problem. The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) was formed three years ago to address these issues in an innovative and systematic way.In its first three years, NCWIT has established an alliance-based infrastructure with the goal of uniting all current efforts, accelerating their progress, and extending their reach. NCWIT now seeks extension funding to drive the utilization of this national infrastructure. NCWIT comprises more than 100 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profit organizations cooperating to increase women's participation in information technology (IT). Four alliances address IT reform along the entire educational and career pipeline, with programs in K-12 education, college-level outreach and curriculum reform, corporate recruitment and retention, and entrepreneurial ventures. Alliance members share their reform efforts, learn about and pilot best practices, recycle what works and discard what does not, influence policy, participate in IT image and reform campaigns, and serve as local change agents.National, bi-annual NCWIT workshops address topics such as innovation, diversity, K-12 education, and promising practices focused on recruiting, retaining, and advancing women in IT. Top-notch materials and resources give people the tools to raise awareness within their organizations, reach out to targeted populations, implement and evaluate reforms, and share their results. NCWIT is also actively collaborating with several other high-profile organizations to improve the public image of computing using a research-driven marketing campaign. Extensive, ongoing internal and external evaluation results in refinement of NCWIT methods and efforts and has resulted in a culture of introspection and self-analysis.This project is uniquely situated for successfully overcoming the complex and lingering conditions that hinder women?s participation in computing. The NCWIT infrastructure is in place, alliances are growing, and alliance members are eager to implement interventions in their local organizations and share results with the national community. NCWIT has built a robust and highly-respected effort that has engaged the broad computing community, forming a culture based on evidence-based practices. NCWIT is the only organization creating a national, capacity-building infrastructure focused on reform of the entire IT educational pipeline, as well as the culture of IT organizations.Increasing women?s participation in IT has far-reaching national consequences. Not only do information and computing technologies pervade all aspects of our everyday lives in an unprecedented way, but all engineering and science discovery and innovation are now dependent on computational science. Increasing the pool of qualified computing professionals supports the goals of national initiatives (e.g., nanotechnology, the Cyberinfrastructure Initiative) and our economic, security, defense, and health care systems are computing-centered. Increasing the participation of women not only supports national goals, but improves the development and design of computing systems, applications, and products through the integration of diverse ideas while helping to overcome economic disparities for women.