Information systems in the community: a summer immersion program for students from historically black colleges and universities (hbcus)

  • Authors:

  • Jeria Quesenberry;Randy Weinberg;Larry Heimann

  • Affiliations:

  • Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 2013 annual conference on Computers and people research
  • Year:
  • 2013

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Abstract

Interest in information technology (IT) careers, in general, remains flat among college students and interest among women and non-majority students has even declined in recent years. Further, many researchers have expressed concern that students are ill-equipped to address many of the human, social, and ethical issues that typically arise in a technical context. At the same time, there is a growing body of work that suggests service-learning initiatives benefit all students, particularly women and minority students, in terms of stronger skill preparation and sense of collective belonging. The objective of this paper is to describe a six-week summer service-learning program aimed at addressing the under representation of African American students in the IT field. We found that the students experienced two significant outcomes: exposure to the skills necessary to enter the IT profession (e.g., project management, technical, and teamwork abilities); and participation in professional development opportunities that fostered a sense of belonging in the field.