The National Science Foundation has chosen IST to host its annual conference for researchers studying the Information Technology Workforce (ITWF) and Information Technology Research/Education and Workforce (ITR/EWF).
More than 75 principal investors (PIs) and co-PIs will attend the conference slated for Oct. 24-26 in Philadelphia. Eileen Trauth, professor of information sciences and technology and PI of a $434,196 NSF grant to study individual differences in the social shaping of gender and IT, received a subsequent grant of $100,000 to run the conference..
“This conference helps build the community of researchers that addresses the under-representation of women and minorities in the IT workforce as well as their recruitment and retention,” said Trauth, who also directs IST’s Center for an Information Society.
Research on these issues spans everything from the environment to higher education. NSF sponsors or has sponsored projects analyzing media messages, issues related to gender and racial bias and high school structures and norms that discourage computer sciences as a field from minority and women students.
Projects also have involved development of inclusive learning environments and use of Upward Bound programs.
