The 5 Biases Pushing Women Out of STEM

Here is a great summary about the different biases women face in STEM.  Joan Williams is also one of the co-authors of "What Works for Women at Work."  When I heard Joan Williams speak at the NCWIT Summit this year, she mentioned a term: "office housework."  I've been trying to research where and when that particular phrase came into existence.  Any ideas?

Needless to say, I've done a lot of "office housework" which seems to be one of the easiest things to overlook in terms of performance evaluation.  It reminds me of something I read in Fast Company in the "Obama and His Geeks" article.  When discussing how to assess if Obama and His Geeks are successful, Mikey Dickerson (Administrator, U.S. Digital Service) pointed out this year's open-enrollment season for Healthcare.gov.  This year's enrollment went smoothly, which was in stark contrast to the disastrous roll out of the webpage.  Dickerson says "'That's a big accomplishment, but we don't have any coverage of it because there's nothing to say.  The train wreck didn't happen.  We're proud of that.'" 

Do you have to let the disasters happen to be truly appreciated?

Wearable robots?

I read quite a few scholarship applications throughout an academic year.  I read applications from our own returning students for our annual scholarship process.  I also help read a portion of incoming freshman applications as service to our College of Engineering.  When asked a fairly open ended question about what technology they would like to use, be a part of, or create in the future, there's a wide variety of answers.  Of course, there are always submissions about how video games can change the world, but there are many other responses.  I've also read a large number of applications talking about biomedical engineering and creating prostheses.

For an interesting read about one company making wearable robots, see this article about Ekso Bionics, which was printed in the July 20, 2015 Roanoke Times business section.

Students selecting different majors during a recession

In the Sunday, July 26, issue of the Roanoke Times was an article titled "Shift in majors spikes during recession, study says."  This was a reprint of an article in the Chicago Tribune.  The original article has additional information, including charts showing the increases and decreases in particular majors and further breaks down that information by gender.

What particularly stood out to me was the following: "Researchers infer that these students can earn a degree in science, technology, engineering and math but chose not to in times of stronger labor markets."

I've always thought there were many students who could pursue and complete a degree in STEM, but for whatever reason didn't.  Ideally, students should follow their passions, but they should also consider their future career options, satisfaction in employment, and earning potential. 

Finding my voice - Part 1

Do you believe in signs? 

1. I ate dinner at Panera tonight, waiting for choir practice to start.  (I fill in as a pianist for one of my co-workers at her church.)  I was reading "What Works for Women at Work" (highly recommended and will be mentioned in my blog many times, I'm sure), specifically a sub-chapter on "Finding Your Voice" at work.  
2. After I played for the first part of choir practice and was getting ready to leave, the choir director asked me to stay and sing with them.  I apologized and said "You really don't want me to sing.  It would truly and only be a joyful noise."  
3. On the drive home, I heard Katy Perry's "Roar" on the radio. I do admit to singing in the car and that's one of my favorites to sing along to.  I came back through campus because that's the shortest route with the least amount of traffic lights.  I think I scared some of the new freshmen and their parents who are here for Orientation.  Singing in the car is great until you remember you left the windows down.

All signs point towards blogging about finding my voice.

It became very important to me to find my professional voice, especially over the last 16 months.  To find my professional voice, I also had to find my professional confidence.  Confidence is a funny thing.  I've had a lot of friends over the years tell me to "fake it until you make it," but it's hard to fake something that you've never felt.  I've thought to myself many times that I would be much better off if I could only live my life as if I am the person my friends think I am.

The strange thing for me is that I've had confidence as a musician for a very long time, but when did that happen? I can't tell you when it happened precisely, but it feels like it's been there most of my life.  Of course, I started piano lessons at 7 and did my first recital shortly thereafter.  I started playing drums in 6th grade.  (Future blog post: how that came about and the strange connection it had 10 years later.)  In 6th and 7th grade, playing drums in band wasn't hard because we were all new and learning things together.  Plus, I met one of my best friends who also happened to be a girl playing drums, so I wasn't the only one.  It got more difficult when I joined marching band in 8th grade.  I was the only girl in the drum line and as I would come to learn, some drummers are jerks.  Some, not all.   I'm sure you can imagine the stupid, and sometimes vulgar, things that teenage boys can do with drumsticks.  Why put up with that?  Because I was good at it and I got a lot of reinforcement that being a musician was "the thing" that I was good at.

When I got to college, it was very similar to starting 8th grade again.  Back to being the new kid on the block and having to prove that I actually knew what I was doing.  Again, there were jerks, but also there were some really cool guys that I'm still friends with and try to visit fairly often.  It took about 2 years to gain some respect from the jerks and I only knew it then because they started incorporating me into their razzing of the newbies.  (Musicians inside joke.  The guys would point me out to the newbies and say "Man, stay away from her.  She taught drum line for the Cadets.")

When I ended up staying for graduate school, after having the late in my college career revelation that high school teaching wasn't for me, I really wasn't sure what career I might be heading towards.  Possibly a PhD, but very possibly not.  As an MA student in music, you needed to do a thesis or a graduate recital to satisfy degree requirements.  I decided to do both, but I'm not exactly sure how I came to that decision at the time.

My first year of grad school was rough for me, for lots of reasons; I certainly can't say that preparing a thesis and a graduate recital made that any better.  But somehow, I did it.  And after some of the jerks were complimentary about my performance (which they all attended), I remember thinking "I must have finally done it.  I've shown them I could do it." 

Looking back on it, I'm not sure how I did it all.  I had to have the confidence in my abilities as a percussionist to even consider doing a recital on top of a thesis.  And to have my musician's voice, to speak up and say "I'm going to do this."

Over the last 16 months, I've had to find my professional voice and confidence, when I never even thought about it that way.  When I thought confidence, I thought, "Yep, I'm a good musician, but other than that.....?"  How do I take my musician's confidence and voice, and transfer it to other parts of my life? 

More of the same, but then...

More of the same, but then, there's a ray of hope.  One of my best friends works at Industrial, Light & Magic / Lucasfilm.  She even gave my colleague and I a tour when I was in California in May 2014. 

She shared an article with me from Variety, that talks about the Academy Awards Science and Technology Awards.  Why mention it to me?  At the awards event, only one woman was amongst the 59 the winners.  Based on the article that the University of Utah published, she got her MS in computer science in 1998.  Congratulations to Colette Mullenhoff!  I know I'll be looking for her name in movie credits in the future. 

Know a girl aged 10 to 18? Suggest 100 Girls of Code

A company in Blacksburg, Modea, has started the New River Valley chapter of 100 Girls of Code.  They are looking for 100 girls to attend their first event.  The event is free and open to all girls 10 to 18.  Register at: http://www.100girlsofcode.com/new-river-valley-va.html.

Nominate a young woman as a Champion of Change

Reposting this from the Aspirations Coordinators Page of Facebook, originally posted by Ruthe Farmer:

In September, the White House will recognize young women who are already leading and inspiring their communities as advocates, peer-mentors, artists, innovators, and entrepreneurs as Champions of Change.

The Champions of Change event will highlight new leaders. Many girls, including those from underrepresented communities, aspire to leadership. Many, in fact, already see themselves as problem-solvers, particularly in their families. But they may not always see themselves as leaders. By showcasing young women leading change in their communities and influencing others—while remaining themselves—this event will uplift their efforts and also inspire other young women to recognize that they too can engage leadership in their own way and in their own style.

These young leaders will have created programs, sponsored events, or created products that provide affirmative visibility and often the extra encouragement that enables girls to stay in school, honor their bodies and their minds, and reach higher by navigating pathways to college and careers. Each of these Champions appreciates that a struggling girl may be just one mentor away from success.

Accordingly, we are interested in Champions who can also share their own stories of the teacher, coach, pastor, or relative who guided her and stimulated the ethic that true leadership occurs through service.

We’re calling on you to help us identify young women who are making a difference in their communities and leading the way by nominating individuals that make a positive difference in the lives of young women in the following categories:

• Mentorship: Do you know a young woman who is empowering her community by offering mentorship and leadership to other young women?
• Education: Do you know a young woman whose passion is to help girls or her peers succeed in school or seek higher education?
• Innovators and Entrepreneurs: Do you know a young woman who is leading by example – through innovation and entrepreneurship?
• Advocacy: Do you know a young woman who has helped her community to thrive by advocating for her peers?
• Arts and Technology: Do you know a young women who is using the arts and technology in the service of empowering her community?

Nominate a Champion of Change for Young Women Empowering Communities by Wednesday, July 29 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Click https://m.whitehouse.gov/champions/nominate to submit your nomination (be sure to select “Young Women Empowering Communities” as your theme of service).

A fun way to learn to code

Scratch is a good way to learn programming concepts. I particularly liked the "Dragon Walk Cycle" example.  I first learned about Scratch (and tried it out) at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in 2010.

Scratch is a free download. Try it out.

Encouraging students to try STEM and college

Whatever your political leanings, I'm sure there are some politicians you like and others you don't.  I've always liked Mark Warner, but I really appreciated him more after hearing him speak at commencement at Virginia Tech in 2012.  He was down to earth, talking about his failures (i.e. "couch surfing" with friends while trying to make it) and how it took those failures to get him where he is today.  Of course he was somewhat upstaged by Michelle Obama, who also gave a great speech, but I can remember more of his speech than hers.

I saw this on my Facebook feed yesterday, posted by Mark Warner: "One proposal to help poor student gets to college."  I know there are a lot of initiatives to encourage students to get dual enrollment credits and associates' degrees while in high school, to save money and to get a jump on college.  As someone who has worked with college students for 20+ years, I could write a long post on why that may not always be a great idea.  But this idea I like.  Being a first generation college graduate myself, this would have been a wonderful opportunity for me.  I still get grief from some members of my family about "all that education you have," like it is some kind of bad thing. (For those of you who know me and my vehicle will probably have a better understanding of why I have the vanity plates on my car.)

I'm for anything that will give students the boost of confidence they need just to try, which leads to a story in the news today.  Tomorrow's Tech Stars Sound Off on Why Silicon Valley Should Embrace Diversity.  As I've told many computer science students, I don't have a background in computer science, but I do know what it feels like to be the only girl in the room.  As a music education major in college, my primary instrument was percussion.  I was quite often the only girl in the room, the ensemble, or in the audition waiting area.  I can still remember the excitement of being first chair snare drum in All County Band, only to show up and have none of the guys talk to me and at times, literally push me aside.  That's when it comes in really handy to have a local middle school band teacher, a percussionist himself, step in and explain that the first chair decides who plays what parts and when.  He stepped in when I really needed some support and made a big difference to me, which kept me moving forward as a musician. Thank you Bill Ray, retired BMS band teacher.

For me, I'm just stubborn enough to hang in there and keep trying.  I can still hear the phrase "You're trying to get better than your upbringing," ringing in my head and how much it bothered me to hear it.  20+ years later and I can now say, "But isn't that a good thing?"

A computer that cooks, using drones to help and teaching computing with everyday objects

I read a lot.  Magazines, journals, novels, non-fiction, and news, both online and off.  I really hate when you read something interesting and then can't find it again. Hopefully, I can keep track of some of those things on my blog.

Things in the news yesterday:

Former Apple Engineers build a 'computer that cooks' -- I'm not sure that the article convinces me that this is something that is necessary, but is interesting in the grand scheme of the "Internet of Things."

First drone package delivery completed with Virginia Tech assist -- Using technology to help others, especially those in hard to reach places.  WDBJ7 also ran a story on the drone delivery, giving the example of someone needing insulin during a bad snow storm.  Previous option for delivery: National Guard troops delivering it on foot.

How to Introduce Computing with chalk, tape, and a hard surface -- NCWIT has a lot of great resources.  This is a lesson plan for how to teach sorting using everyday objects. 

What can you do with a 3-D printer?

What can you do with a 3-D printer?  How about print feet for a footless rooster?  Read more about it.

Reaching underrepresented students

On Facebook today, I saw the following retweeted by Anita Borg Institute: "Unequal access to technology and curriculum from early on creates ongoing disadvantage. Starting at the K-12 level, under-represented students are more likely to be in school districts lacking the resources for a rigorous computer science curriculum."

This was taken directly from an article by Dr. Caroline Simard entitled "Obstacles and Solutions for Underrepresented Minorities in Technology."

This is the fifth year for the Virginia/DC Affiliate of the Aspirations in Computing program, which encourages and awards high school girls for their aspirations in computing.  We get many applicants from Northern Virginia, and a fair number from other areas of Virginia, but very few from Southwest Virginia.  This is an award for aspirations in computing, not "what you've done in computing."  As co-chair of the VA/DC affiliate this year, I've made it my goal to reach as many schools in Southwest Virginia as possible.

The Aspirations application opens on September 1.  This is a nationwide program, with affiliates in most of the 50 states.  If you know a high school girl who has an interest in technology, encourage her to apply. 

Students creating apps for unique purposes

From the Roanoke Times, Saturday, July 11

Two CS@VT students and a George Mason University grad are creating apps and trying to start an LLC.  Their current app, Savr, is geared towards teenagers and young adults who are on tight budgets.  Look for the Savr App soon and see what else they come up with in the future.  Read more.

What is this blog about?

I've been in a bit of a twilight zone at work for a while, but I've used that time to think about what I like, what I'm good at, and areas where I've had success.  I've had a lot of conversations and there are some that stand out over the past few months.  One person said that "connecting the dots" is incredibly important.  I realized that that is something I enjoy and that I am good at doing.

So why write a blog?  There were several things in the past few weeks that stood out, where I was thinking "what can I do to help" and "is there a better way to share this?"  Some things that stood out:

• Talking with high school girls at an etiquette dinner our department sponsored, one of them mentioned that she had an interest in combining technology and the arts.  I said "I know someone you can talk to about that."
• Seeing a post on Facebook by a college friend, showing her middle school aged daughter at a local "Girls GetIT Camp."  I jumped in to comment about what a great time it is to be a CS major and all the fantastic things you can do with technology.  My friend wrote back asking for further info.
• Reaching out to incoming freshmen at Virginia Tech who are Aspirations winners.  Contacting them to get early semester events on their calendars, to get them connected with other young women majoring in computer science.
• Seeing students, at all levels getting, getting mentioned in the media for doing something interesting in technology. 
• Posting some of the articles and books on technology, creativity, and/or diversity that I've read that are encouraging, interesting, and worth a read.

I've been thinking for a long time that there are a lot of resources available for students at a variety of levels, but they aren't gathered into one place.  And if you don't know what you are looking for, where do you start?

Creativity, technology, diversifying and increasing the pipeline in STEM, connecting people to resources and sharing cool things in technology that students are doing.  That's where my blog starts: trying to connect the dots, one dot at a time. 

About me

When I was in school, the hardest part of the paper was the first paragraph.  I always found that if I just jumped in, I could get going.  So, here goes.

My name is Libby G. Bradford.  I work in the Computer Science Department at Virginia Tech.  I have a BM in Music Education, an MA in Music, and an MS in English.  How did I end up working with computer science students?  The short answer is that I did academic advising during grad school.  It was a big step out of my comfort zone, but I "fell into" a career that I really enjoyed.  I love the university environment and helping students.  When I started looking for my first full-time job after college, I looked at the universities in the area.  I ended up in the Registrar's Office at Virginia Tech and then, two years later, moved to the Computer Science Department.

During my 15+ years with CS@VT, I've had the opportunity to learn and try a lot of things.  Several things that stood out early on:

1. As a discipline, CS has a lot of work to do in diversifying the pipeline.  Diversity in terms of many things: gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, etc.
2. The pipeline itself needs to be much larger, to be able to fill the many job openings in technology.  These job openings are plentiful and well-paying.  See the Bureau of Labor Statistics for all kinds of numbers on careers, projected job openings, and salary info.
3. My own background coming out of high school would have made me very competitive to enter the College of Engineering at VT.  In my case, no one ever suggested that as a possibility.  

Every now and then I wonder "what if?"  What if I had tried engineering and what about current students who could make really good engineers and computer scientists, but haven't been encouraged to consider it?  There are a lot of really good students who could do well in engineering, but who is going to encourage them? 

Hopefully, I am.