Lack of Black Female Diversity Within the Cybersecurity Workforce

Cybersecurity methods, strategies, and programs for protecting computers and electronic devices have become critically important in all aspects of the technological infrastructure. However, while this is a vastly growing field that has a large workforce, it suffers from a lack of representation, specifically for Black/African American females. This study examines the barriers that prevent Black women from having representation within the cybersecurity workforce and solutions that address them. Some barriers noted include a lack of role models and resources, historical discrimination and systemic barriers, and cultural norms. Additionally, implications created by these barriers include less diversity, a lack of career opportunities, and a more significant gender pay gap. While the obstacles persist, implementing several solutions towards increasing the diversity of Black women includes recruitment, mentorship, and promoting awareness, and visibility. In addition, an inclusive workplace culture, training, education, and scholarship. While these obstacles and solutions have been addressed, the gap in representation for Black/African American women is still apparent, and more research needs to be done on this topic

Coding while black

The focus on the lack of diversity in technology has become a hot topic over the last several years, with technology companies coming under fire for not being more representative of the markets that they serve. Even The White House and President Obama has made this issue of technology diversity and recruiting more women and people of color a topic of discussion hosting several events at The White House aimed at finding solutions to this issue. The issue has become so prevalent in the news recently that technology companies have been asked to publish report cards disclosing the demographic breakdown of their employee workforce. Most of the major technology companies in Silicon Valley have vowed to dedicate themselves to becoming more diverse, and have instituted programs to do such. However, progress has been slow and the results have been disappointing. Although many attempts to fix this problem has occurred for decades there has been no panacea to emerge. Why are there so few minorities pursuing careers in technology? The answer to this question at the moment is unknown. Although many experts have offered theories, there is little in the way of agreement. As the numbers continue to dwindle and more women and people of color continue to pursue careers in other fields or depart from the technology industry, technology companies are challenged to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in their workforce and to come up with solutions that address this issue that has become so important to the future economic growth of the United States. Qualitative by design, this study examines the perspectives, insights, and understandings of African American software development engineers. Accordingly, participants in this research study provided key insights regarding strategies, best practices, and challenges experienced by African American software development engineers while developing and implementing application programs at American corporations. Participants’ perspectives provided an insightful understanding of the complexities of being an underrepresented minority in an American corporate information technology department

Using mobile technology to engage sexual and gender minorities in clinical research.

IntroductionHistorical and current stigmatizing and discriminatory experiences drive sexual and gender minority (SGM) people away from health care and clinical research. Being medically underserved, they face numerous disparities that make them vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Effective methods to engage and recruit SGM people into clinical research studies are needed.ObjectivesTo promote health equity and understand SGM health needs, we sought to design an online, national, longitudinal cohort study entitled The PRIDE (Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality) Study that enabled SGM people to safely participate, provide demographic and health data, and generate SGM health-related research ideas.MethodsWe developed an iPhone mobile application ("app") to engage and recruit SGM people to The PRIDE Study-Phase 1. Participants completed demographic and health surveys and joined in asynchronous discussions about SGM health-related topics important to them for future study.ResultsThe PRIDE Study-Phase 1 consented 18,099 participants. Of them, 16,394 provided data. More than 98% identified as a sexual minority, and more than 15% identified as a gender minority. The sample was diverse in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, geographic location, education, and individual income. Participants completed 24,022 surveys, provided 3,544 health topics important to them, and cast 60,522 votes indicating their opinion of a particular health topic.ConclusionsWe developed an iPhone app that recruited SGM adults and collected demographic and health data for a new national online cohort study. Digital engagement features empowered participants to become committed stakeholders in the research development process. We believe this is the first time that a mobile app has been used to specifically engage and recruit large numbers of an underrepresented population for clinical research. Similar approaches may be successful, convenient, and cost-effective at engaging and recruiting other vulnerable populations into clinical research studies

How Middle and High School Principals Provide Culturally Responsive Leadership for Underrepresented Students in Stem: a Qualitative Comparative Case Study

This study explored how principals who have experienced success in working with underrepresented students in STEM have challenged inequitable practices and transformed the culture of their schools so that all students can thrive. A purposeful sampling strategy was used to identify four principals who served as the cases for the study. The research revealed that culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) behaviors and practices were regularly used by the principals to provide a STEM program that was responsive to the needs of underrepresented students. The principals in the study formed a critical consciousness by engaging in self-reflection about their leadership practices and displaying courageous leadership when confronted by attitudes, behaviors, and mandates that compromised the ability of their schools to provide high quality STEM instruction for all students. The principals engaged marginalized students by fostering positive relationships with students, providing students with voice, maintaining high expectations for all students, and securing a culturally responsive curriculum. The principals empowered community involvement in their schools by developing strategic partnerships, enlisting STEM role models and mentors for minoritized students, and fostering meaningful relationships with parents and community members. The principals developed a culturally responsive teaching staff in their schools by hiring for mission, leveraging professional development, encouraging teachers to reflect on their attitudes and practices, and promoting an equitable and inclusive school environment. The findings from this study suggest that culturally responsive school leadership (CRSL) is efficacious for increasing the interest, persistence, and success of students who have been minoritized in STEM

How to Do QuantCrit: A Reflexive Account of Applying Critical Quantitative Methods to a Study of Black Women in STEM

There has been extensive research into the underrepresentation of minoritized students in STEM disciplines since the 1990s with limited success in improving the representation of Black women in math-intensive STEM fields. This dissertation aims to address how the guiding tenets of critical quantitative (QuantCrit) methods work when used with publicly available datasets and commonly used statistical approaches. Additionally, this dissertation provides a framework for how to apply reflexivity as a method while utilizing a QuantCrit approach. The publicly available HSLS:09 dataset is used as part of a reflexive study to demonstrate how the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) map onto a QuantCrit study utilizing structural equation modeling. Through personal, methodological, and conceptual reflexivity, disconnects between the tenets and the QuantCrit study are highlighted and discussed. These findings indicate a need for more robust guidelines surrounding QuantCrit research. Furthermore, publication access must be expanded to encourage movement beyond traditional White ways of knowing. Advisor: Elvira Abric

Widening the Pipeline: Identifying Practices and Structures That Effectively Recruit and Retain African-American Females in Undergraduate Computer Science Programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

The underrepresentation of women and women of color in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is of little surprise to those of us who have kept abreast of the statistical data supporting this phenomenon. In order for the United States (U.S.) to remain “economically and globally competitive” (Ong, 2011, p. 32), it needs to increase its “advanced domestic science and technology workforce” (Ong, 2011, p.32). Perhaps, it is not a coincidence that the majority of students attending U.S. colleges are female, and the number of minority students entering college is on the rise. However, when one looks at the number of women of color entering college and the number of whom are pursuing a STEM degree, there is a significant decrease. Furthermore, the pipeline is even narrower for women pursuing computer science (CS) degrees. This exploratory qualitative study was focused on one historically Black university located in the southeast region of the U.S. This study utilized a grounded theory qualitative inquiry approach to identify practices and strategies utilized by the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) to effectively recruit and retain undergraduate African-American women in its CS program. The findings suggest the importance of K-12 experiences, supportive relationships among students and faculty, industry partnerships, and relevant and challenging experiences