GSE/EXT: Appalachian Information Technology Extension Services

智力优势：阿巴拉契亚信息技术推广服务（AITES）是一个全面的，以研究为基础的培训和咨询服务推广计划。其目标是在弗吉尼亚州、西弗吉尼亚州、北卡罗来纳州、肯塔基州和田纳西州的阿巴拉契亚县，促进服务不足的年轻妇女对需要信息技术技能的工作的兴趣。总体目标是通过以学习伙伴关系模式为基础并以商业惯例为基础的可持续变革方案来发展社区能力。这一目标将为学校辅导员、IT教师、家庭和消费者科学和4H推广代理以及社区发展专业人员组成的社区队列小组（CCT）提供所需的工具，以提高初中和高中女生对需要IT技能的工作的兴趣。利用一个统一的变革方案，AITES将通过以下方式建设社区能力，以提高初中和高中女生对需要信息技术技能的工作的知识和兴趣：发展实践社区，扩大和加强有条件现金援助小组、家长、社区经济发展专业人员、信息技术行业合作伙伴、选定的专业协会以及州和地区财团之间的伙伴关系网络。2.使用内容专家在性别平等，家长教育，辅导员教育，LPM，和IT课程，以培训和支持CCT在统一的变革方案解决障碍所面临的服务不足的阿巴拉契亚初中和高中女生。3.为CCT提供咨询服务，因为他们在地方一级实施基于研究的推广计划。4.评估项目举措的有效性并向项目参与者传播信息，以创建持续的反馈循环，从而改进项目举措。5.创建一个互动的互联网门户，通过支持五个州的项目人员和成员之间的社交网络组件和沟通来建设社区能力，并提供有关资源、评估数据和参与者互动的信息。AITES扩展并实施了“重新配置防火墙：招聘妇女从事跨文化和跨大陆的信息技术工作”中报告的关于招聘妇女从事信息技术工作的有效战略的基于研究的建议。 AITES通过将重点从强调妇女缺陷的透镜转移到将她们的职业兴趣和成功框定为嵌入社区能力的反应透镜，为科学、工程和技术文献做出了贡献。它将展示LPM和社区能力战略如何能够创建实践社区，促进积极的环境，以支持信息技术使能的女孩。更广泛的影响：该项目有一个承诺，以维持其努力。它将通过建立包括在阿巴拉契亚文化中特别重要的伙伴关系在内的基础设施，促进在社区、州和国家各级形成网络。合作伙伴咨询委员会提供了一个全国性网络的入口，该网络涵盖企业部门，教育社区，致力于招募女性到SET领域的非营利组织，政府机构，当地企业和IT公司巨头，如微软，苹果和思科。通过与州和地方实践社区合作，致力于IT劳动力发展的全国性存在，并通过为女孩和IT工作提供支持性环境来建设当地劳动力，AITES将为阿巴拉契亚IT劳动力发展创造一个模式。在整个项目的五年中，外联和交流活动将在有效的有条件现金援助小组成员和来自其他县和州的潜在伙伴之间建立网络，以维持其倡议。

Intellectual Merit: The Appalachian Information Technology Extension Services (AITES) is a comprehensive, research-based Extension program of training and consulting services. Its goal is to promote underserved young women's interest in jobs requiring information technology (IT) skills in selected Appalachian counties of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The overarching goal is to develop community capacity through a sustainable program of change grounded in the Learning Partnership Model (LPM) and based on business practices. This goal will give Community Cohort Teams (CCTs) of school counselors, IT teachers, Family and Consumer Science and 4H Extension agents, and community development professionals the tools they need to increase interest among middle and high school girls in jobs requiring IT skills. Using a Unified Program of Change, AITES will build community capacity to enhance middle and high school girls' knowledge and interest in jobs requiring IT skills by: 1. Developing communities of practice that expand and strengthen partnership networks among CCTs, parents, community economic development professionals, IT industry partners, selected professional associations, and state and regional consortia. 2. Using content specialists in gender equity, parent education, counselor education, the LPM, and IT curriculum to train and support the CCTs in a Unified Program of Change addressing barriers faced by underserved Appalachian middle and high school girls. 3. Providing consulting services to the CCTs as they implement research-based Extension programs at the local level. 4. Evaluating the effectiveness of project initiatives and disseminating information to project constituents to create a continuous feedback loop that leads to refinement of project initiatives. 5. Creating an interactive Internet portal that builds community capacity by supporting social networking components and communication among project personnel and constituents across five states and provides access to information about resources, evaluation data, and participant interaction. AITES extends and implements the research-based recommendations reported in "Reconfiguring the Firewall: Recruiting Women to Information Technology across Cultures and Continents" about effective strategies for recruiting women to IT fields. AITES contributes to the literature about science, engineering, and technology (SET) by shifting the focus from a lens that emphasizes women's deficiencies to a response lens that frames their occupational interests and success as embedded in community capacity. It will demonstrate ways that the LPM and strategies of community capacity can create communities of practice that promote positive environments to support IT-enabled girls. Broader Impacts: The project has a commitment to sustain its efforts. It will facilitate the formation of networks at the community, state, and national levels through the creation of an infrastructure that includes partnerships especially important in Appalachian culture. The Partner Advisory Boards provide entree to a national network that spans corporate sectors, educational communities, nonprofit organizations dedicated to recruiting women to SET fields, government agencies, local businesses and IT corporate giants like Microsoft, Apple, and CISCO. By partnering this national presence dedicated to IT workforce development with state and local communities of practice and building the local workforce through a supportive environment for girls and IT jobs, AITES will create a model for Appalachian IT workforce development. Outreach and communication activities throughout the five years of the project will generate networks among members of effective CCTs and potential partners from other counties and states to sustain their initiative.