DEE Speaker Series

What about your friends? The role of relationships/friendships on engagement in computing for Black and Latiné Women

monique ross headshot.

Presented By Dr. Monique Ross

Associate Professor, Department of Engineering Education, Ohio State University

April 26, 2023 | 2 - 3 p.m. | 107 Capen Hall

Abstract

Computing in the last forty years has grappled with how to address their representation problem – not enough women and not enough people that identify as Black, Latiné, or Indigenous. After 25 interviews with women that self-identify as Black and/or Latiné enrolled in computer science programs from undergraduate freshman to senior doctoral students, one attribute has stood out as a means of engaging, retaining, and persisting in computing – friendship. Join me as I take you on a research journey from intersectionality to social identity theory to social impact theory to relational theory, ultimately landing on friendship. This is a work-in-progress talk guaranteed to be entertaining, thoughtful, and hopefully, you all can help me find my way.

Biography

Dr. Monique Ross is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University; she leads the LEARN-CS lab, which explores the narratives at the intersections of race and gender that are often omitted from mainstream computer science research. Dr. Ross has a PhD in Engineering
Education from Purdue University, Master’s in Computer Science and Software Engineering from Auburn University, and Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Engineering from Elizabethtown College. She combines academic experience with 11 years of professional experience in the software industry.

Event Date: April 26, 2023