How Diversity and Inclusion Are Approached in Software Engineering University-level Teaching

Riya Dutta Emad Shihab D. Costa + 1 lainnya

31 Januari 2023

Diversity and inclusion are necessary prerequisites for shaping technological innovation that benefits society as a whole. A common indicator of diversity consideration is the representation of different social groups among software engineering (SE) researchers, developers, and students. However, this does not necessarily entail that diversity is considered in the SE research itself.In our study, we examine how diversity is embedded in SE research, particularly research that involves participant studies. To this end, we have selected 79 research papers containing 105 participant studies spanning three years of ICSE technical tracks. Using a content analytical approach, we identified how SE researchers report the various diversity categories of their study participants and investigated: 1) the extent to which participants are described, 2) what diversity categories are commonly reported, and 3) the function diversity serves in the SE studies.We identified 12 different diversity categories reported in SE participant studies. Our results demonstrate that even though most SE studies report on the diversity of participants, SE research often emphasizes professional diversity data, such as occupation and work experience, over social diversity data, such as gender or location of the participants. Furthermore, our results show that participant diversity is seldom analyzed or reflected upon when SE researchers discuss their study results, outcome or limitations.To help researchers self-assess their study diversity awareness, we propose a diversity awareness model and guidelines that SE researchers can apply to their research. With this study, we hope to shed light on a new approach to tackling the diversity and inclusion crisis in the SE field.

Yanru Xu Jian Liu Yaxuan Wen

1 Mei 2023

Although increased research has focused on promoting awareness and practices of diversity and inclusion in higher engineering and computing education, existing studies tend to approach the problems through a narrow perspective, such as gender and race. Also, there has been a shortage of concerted efforts concerning a systematic educational model to broaden the accessibility for diverse populations, and to promote high-quality participation in learning processes. Contextualizing in China with a stratified higher education system, this article discusses how an OOICCI model (Open enrollment, Outcome-oriented procedures, Individualized phases, Coherent practices, Cascaded learning community, Inductive trainings) provides diverse and inclusive mechanisms, from accessibility to participation, to engage students from lower-tier colleges and universities with a wide range of experiences, interests, and skill levels in computer architecture. The OOICCI model consists of the Open enrollment, the Outcome-oriented procedure, the Individualized phase, the Coherent practices, the Cascaded learning community, and the Inductive trainings. Preliminary evaluations through semi-structured interviews and participatory observation illustrate students' positive learning experiences and improvements in self-regulated learning capabilities.

R. Prikladnicki Karina Kohl

5 Oktober 2022

There is a known and established gender imbalance in software engineering structures. The discussions about gender diversity in Software Engineering are on the table; however, which are the benefits and the difficulties people in software development teams see in gender diversity? For this work, we conducted a survey to qualitatively understand the perceived benefits and difficulties of gender diversity in software development teams. We found out that gender-diverse workplaces are prone to have better ideas sharing, better decision making, creativity, and innovation. Respondents mentioned that some companies worked to improve the hiring process to be more gender-inclusive. Women’s support and inspiration were shared, and some men reported being touched by the subject and diligently are deconstructing their prejudice and misconceptions about women in technology. There are also difficulties. It is common to see only one woman in teams or just a few. More than that, no other gender than men and women, so the white, cisgender man is the pattern most of the time. The same pattern repeats itself in leadership positions leading to male protectionism and privileges. Additionally, other dimensions of diversity pervaded the answers, like intersectionality, race/ethnicity, ageism, and a less explored point: social vulnerability.

Lucia Happe Barbora Buhnova

1 Juli 2022

We share findings from a study of 139 women, revealing the frustrations they felt along their way to software engineering and pinpointing promising solutions, such as interdisciplinary education, which could be of enormous help to retaining women in computing.

Heather Moses Weishi Shi Daniel E. Krutz + 2 lainnya

26 September 2023

Creating accessible software is imperative for making software inclusive for all users.Unfortunately, the topic of accessibility is frequently excluded from computing education, leading to scenarios where students are unaware of either how to develop accessible software or see the need to create it. To address this challenge, we have created a set of educational labs that are systematically designed to not only inform students about fundamental topics in producing accessible software but also demonstrate its importance. Over the previous year, these labs were included in several Computer Science 2 offerings at the Rochester Institute of Technology, comprising a total of 500 student participants. This article discusses instructional observations from these offerings, some of which include the following: (i) many of the research findings from previous efforts remain true with the larger, more diverse evaluation; (ii) our created material and format reduced students’ belief that creating accessible software was difficult in relation to the baseline,; (iii) we observed that our created material and format benefited student opinion that creating accessible software is important, and (iv) computing majors may not be uniformly impacted by experiential educational accessibility material. The educational labs are publicly available on the project website (https://all.rit.edu).