Living-Learning Community for Women in Computer Science at Rutgers
Rebecca N. Wright, Sally J. Nadler, Thu Duc Nguyen, Cynthia Gomez, Heather M. N. Wright · 2019
We describe our experience developing and running a Computer Science Living-Learning Community (LLC) for first-year women at Rutgers University, now in its third year. Each year, around 20 first-year undergraduate women who intend to major in computer science (CS) apply and are selected to participate. LLC participants live in a common residence hall and are provided with an educational, mentoring, and community-building program that supports their progress as students and CS majors. Participants take a "house course," Great Ideas and Insights in Computer Science, as a group, and also take a course on Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women's Leadership. Program activities include study sessions and industry interactions, as well as opportunities to participate in K-12 outreach programs, hackathons, and computing research. To evaluate the program, participants and a similar comparison group are surveyed at the beginning and end of the academic year and a focus group is conducted with program participants. Program participants find the program valuable and would recommend it to others, but both program participants and the comparison group report some lack of confidence in their potential success as computer scientists.