NSF INCLUDES Alliance: The Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AIICE): A Collective Impact Approach to Broadening Participation in Computing

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While nationwide enrollment in undergraduate computing programs continues to increase, computer science (CS) is still overwhelmingly dominated by white and Asian, able-bodied, middle to upper class, cisgender men. Effects of this lack of diversity are evident in academic/workplace cultures and biased/harmful technologies (e.g., facial recognition, predictive policing, public services decisions, healthcare, and financial software) that negatively impact and exclude non-dominant identities. Despite this, identity (as defined in social science) is rarely, if ever, included in CS curricula, pedagogy, research, and policies. As computing becomes more ubiquitous, it is imperative that technology creators from a diverse range of identities are in development and leadership positions to ensure that harmful technologies are avoided. This requires creating academic cultures in computing that emphasize the importance of identity, its societal impacts, and the impacts of technology on people from non-dominant identities. The Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AIICE) aims to increase the entry, retention, and course/degree completion rates of high-school and undergraduate students from groups that are historically underrepresented in computing through evidence-based, identity-inclusive interventions. AIICE’s collective impact approach to broadening participation convenes national leaders in K-16 CS education to transform high-school and postsecondary CS education using innovative strategies that target the people (educators), policies [state (K-12) and institutional (postsecondary) policies, as well as postsecondary accreditation criteria], and practices (classroom/department cultures) that directly impact student entry, retention, and course/degree completion.AIICE is founded upon evidence that student-focused (and often deficit-based) strategies do not adequately address institutional cultures, policies, and practices that have marginalized people from non-dominant identities. AIICE will collectively create systemic change by blending aspects of social science with CS to 1) increase CS student and educator knowledge and use of identity and related topics, 2) support CS educators and leaders in fostering academic cultures that are more inclusive of non-dominant identities, and 3) increase K-16 policy-driven changes to CS education that infuse identity-inclusive strategies. The Alliance leverages the constellation model for assembling diverse partners to solve complex and pressing social problems through a common agenda, shared measurement system, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and dedicated backbone support. Each Alliance domain (training, curricula & pedagogy, research, and policy) represents a permeable, action-focused working group (constellation) comprised of various activities at the high-school and postsecondary levels. This flexible structure supports governance and communication that leverages the strengths of each organization and allows for several ways to join, support, and scale the Alliance at the individual, department, and organization levels. Successful implementation of the Alliance will directly impact a total of 7,000 high-school CS teachers, 2,000 postsecondary CS faculty/staff, 5,000 teaching assistants, and 500 U.S. computing departments. This will, in turn, impact a total of 525,000 high-school and 35,000 undergraduate CS students nationwide. AIICE will also directly impact industry diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, as better-trained graduates will enter technical positions more aware of identity-related issues during development, properly advocate for and implement change, and decrease the development of harmful technologies. This effort will also increase the number of computing departments implementing identity-related interventions, as well as create new annual data and reports on identity-inclusive computing (including a repository of resources and best practices).This NSF INCLUDES Alliance is funded by NSF Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (NSF INCLUDES), a comprehensive national initiative to enhance U.S. leadership in discoveries and innovations by focusing on diversity, inclusion and broadening participation in STEM at scale, with co-funding from the CS for All program and the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.