Special Projects (CNS): National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) - Building the Computing Workforce of the 21st Century

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The University of Colorado proposes to extend and scale the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) as a means to increase women?s meaningful participation in information technology careers. NCWIT seeks parity in computing for girls and women of all ethnicities, ages, and disability status. NCWIT is a coalition of more than 300 corporations, academic institutions, and non-profits committed to a nationally unified approach for realizing computing reform at all levels. NCWIT?s partnerships and collaborations have broad reach into K-12, higher education, and the U.S. technical and research workforce. NCWIT creates and manages national programs and campaigns to provide an infrastructure for a multi-tiered learning community, making it possible for members to take internal action, pilot reform efforts, collaborate, scale, and innovate. NCWIT research-based resources build capacity for implementing change, raising awareness, and reaching out to critical populations. NCWIT has a strong record of success, and will amplify its impact through (1) extending its learning communities, (2) improving the research base related to diversity and computing and (3) increasing national awareness and voice through collaborative outreach efforts.NCWIT is uniquely situated for successfully overcoming the complex and lingering conditions that hinder women?s participation in computing. 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 engineering and science discovery and innovation are now increasingly dependent on computational science. Increasing the pool of qualified computing professionals supports the goals of national initiatives and our economic, security, defense, and health care systems are computing-centered. Increasing the participation of women not only supports national goals, but also 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.