Projects
Inspiring AmbITion
With the assistance of an NCWIT Seed Grant that was generously funded by Microsoft Research, the Colorado Coalition for Gender & IT (CCGIT) has developed and begun testing a DVD to recruit women, especially those from non-traditional age groups and underrepresented minority groups, into IT. Inspiring AmbITion features interview footage of a diverse group of women who enjoy a range of IT careers across many industries, including aerospace, public safety, and software development. By highlighting women of different ages and backgrounds, the DVD should be especially relevant to community college women considering transfer into four-year IT or computing programs. The project, sponsored by CCGIT, brought together three Colorado universities to create the DVD: the Women’s College of the University of Denver, the Colorado School of Mines, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Inspiring AmbITion will be used to emphasize the viability and interest of an IT career at regional road shows, and will be distributed to undergraduates and community college advisors attending road show training and IT awareness sessions. Initial pre- and post-viewing tests indicate that viewers are more likely to agree that working with computers is a creative activity, that computer science and information technology can directly improve the lives of others and, most important, that a career in computing interests them.
Clips from Inspiring AmbITion will be posted on the CCGIT website, as well as on YouTube. DVDs will be distributed to advisors and faculty at two- and four-year Colorado institutions. To keep the message vibrant, we are hoping that all distribution takes place at workshops or seminars at which CCGIT staff is scheduled as presenters.
For more information about the Inspiring AmbITion DVD, please contact Deborah Keyek-Franssen at deblkf@colorado.edu.