WHAT:
The Aerospace Corporation Computers and Software Division Technical Forum (CSDTF) and Aerospace Women's Committee (AWC) are sponsoring:Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) members are welcome.
TOPIC: Attracting Young Women to Software-Related and Other Engineering Fields: We've Been on The Wrong Track All Along
SPEAKER: Dr. David Klappholz, Stevens Institute of Technology, Visiting Associate, USC Center for Systems and Software Engineering (CSSE)
WHEN:
Thursday, August 21, 2008TIME: 10:30 - 11:30 AM.
* Please plan to arrive 30 minutes early to get parked, a badge, and be escorted to the meeting room.
WHERE:
The Aerospace Corporation A3/2226 (MMC) See DIRECTIONS below.2350 E. El Segundo Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245
RSVP:
* Those who are not Aerospace Corporation employees or Government customer employees must RSVP.
* RSVP By Wednesday, August 13, 2008
* See *** RSVP Below.
ABSTRACT:
Gender-equity in engineering has long been a national goal, both for fairness-related reasons and because the female point of view is necessary in the design and development of both consumer products and defense-related systems. In the field of software engineering and software development, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a large increase in the need for B.S. and M.S. graduates in the next decade. The largest untapped pool of potential, i.e., math- and science-talented, majors is female, but only about 10% of entering students in software-related majors are female. The National Science Foundation and large companies like Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Intel have spent tens of millions of dollars on initiatives aimed at attracting young women, but the number of female majors keeps dropping. In this talk we will discuss results of extensive psychological research studies that explain why these costly initiatives have failed. We will also discuss a new high school and university level initiative that is supported by these psychological studies and will invite interested attendees to personally participate in, and encourage their employers to support this initiative. We will also discuss, to the extent of attendees' backgrounds and interests, the extension of the initiative to other branches of engineering.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dr. David Klappholz is an associate professor of computer science at Stevens Institute of Technology, where his specialty is software engineering. Dr. Klappholz spent a Fall 2002 sabbatical with Barry Boehm at USC and has worked with Prof. Boehm, a major partner in the recruitment initiative, every summer since then. In addition to his interest in empirical software engineering research, Prof. Klappholz works, under NSF funding, with an educational psychologist on issues relating to engineering education pedagogy. He is also a member of a Stevens-based, DoD-supported, team that is crafting a reference standard M.S. curriculum in software engineering, a curriculum with a heavy systems engineering slant. In a previous incarnation Prof. Klappholz did research, supported by NSF, IBM Research, DoE, and others, on parallel machine architecture, automatic code parallelization, compiler optimizations, and, in his professional infancy, in natural language understanding and translation.
*** RSVP:
* Space is limited.
* Those who are not Aerospace Corporation employees or Government customer employees must RSVP.
* RSVP By Wednesday, August 13, 2008 to Karen Owens
* If you are uncertain whether or not you'll be able to attend, DO make a reservation and indicate that you're uncertain.
* Please bring your picture identification (driver's license, passport and/or green card).
Send an email to Karen.Owens@aero.org (paste this into your web browser) providing your
Name:
Company or Affiliation:
Citizenship:
Email:
Phone Number:
Tentative Attendance (Y/N):
*** DIRECTIONS:
From the southbound San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405):
Exit at El Segundo Blvd (La Cienega Blvd) (just past the I-105 interchange).
Turn left at the bottom of the ramp onto La Cienega southbound.
At El Segundo Blvd, turn right.
Turn left on Douglas St.
Turn left into Aerospace, Gate C
From the northbound San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405):
Exit at El Segundo Blvd. (just before the I-105 interchange).
Turn left at the bottom of the ramp onto El Segundo Blvd.
Turn left on Douglas St.
Turn left into Aerospace, Gate C
The Aerospace Corporation
2350 E. El Segundo Blvd., El Segundo, CA 90245
* Enter through Gate C on the east side of Douglas (half a block south of El Segundo Blvd.)
* Turn left at the first opportunity after the driveway starts.
(Just before the guard station.) Park and go into the Visitor
Control building. The guard will check your name on the
visitor list and have you sign into the facility.
You will receive a badge and be escorted to the meeting room.
* Please plan to arrive 30 minutes early to get parked, a badge, and be escorted to the meeting room.
SoCal SPIN is sponsored by:
and co-sponsored by:
