I have heard the argument that diversity efforts are important because diversity leads to making better products and therefore more money for companies. While maybe true, it’s not what drives me to spend time on improving diversity. What drives me is my desire for a more equitable world. I know the world will never completely fair, but I want to help push it further in that direction. I am best suited to help with this in my own field, computer science. I acknowledge that it isn't the only field with equity issues but it is the one I have the most power to impact.
To be clear, my goal is not for everyone to become a computer scientist. My goal also doesn't include set diversity quotas. Instead, my goal is to create an environment in computer science where all kinds of people can succeed. I do not have an issue with people deciding computer science doesn't fit into their bigger goals and that it's not the field they want to pursue. However, I don't want the reason someone quits or doesn't try computer science to be that they didn't feel welcomed or weren't given the resources and support they needed.
I want to work on continuously improving the computer science environment to help all kinds of students get the resources they need to succeed.
My work includes two different goals:
Provide the support and resources that current CS students need to succeed.
Provide the opportunity for students to learn about CS that might not normally have access to those resources.
Outreach in diversity and inclusion cannot only focus on getting more diverse students to join CS. There needs to also be significant efforts to helping students succeed once they are here.
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