Increasing Diversity in Computing: A Focus on Retention

It is recognized that diversity of perspectives results in solutions that serve a broad base. This is critical to the area of computing, which has applications to science, humanities, as well as foundational work to advance the field of computing. Cultivating an environment that values and retains diversity, however, is not an easy task. This is especially the case in the "classroom", whereby the students are in the space for only a few hours per week. Hence, in terms of retention, it is necessary to complement "classroom" activities to foster and retain diversity, with extra-curricular activities. The importance of retention of diverse students, which results in an increase in the graduation of diverse students, resulted in the Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT (CMD-IT) establishing the CMD-IT University Award for the Retention of Minorities and People with Disabilities in Computing. In this talk, I will discuss lessons learned from the award as well as other organizations and alliances focused on retention of diverse students and present some challenges to the CS Education community.