By Evan Castillo
Georgia State University (GSU) is creating a program to help Black women majoring in computer science and information systems.
GSU announced the Reaching for Inclusion — Striving for Excellence (RISE) in Computing program March 4. The goal is to increase the number of Black women in computing and keep them in this career field after graduation.
The program is a cohort-style experience for Black women studying computing in their junior and senior years. Students can access professional development workshops, technical workshops, tutoring, and mentoring.
Between GSU’s information systems and computer science departments, there are close to 600 Black women computing majors at the school, according to GSU. So far, nearly 100 students are RISE in Computing scholars.
Anu Bourgeois, a GSU computer science professor, and Nannette Napier, a clinical professor in the Computer Information Systems Department at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, created the program with a $500,000 grant from the Reboot Representation Tech Coalition.
“This started off as listening to our students, talking to our students, seeing what they wanted and what they were feeling. We realized that they feel like they don’t belong in their classes,” Bourgeois said in the press release. “They have imposter syndrome and extra stresses and burdens in their lives that aren’t necessarily there for many of the other women in the field.”
Black women make up 29% of GSU’s undergraduate population but only 10% of computer science majors and 18% of information systems majors, the press release said.
According to a 2018 study, researchers have looked to understand why many Black women may feel “they do not belong” in computing, examining the “unique experiences” they face of being Black and being a woman. These feelings can affect representation in the field.
According to the Computer Research Association, only 13% of computer science students in the U.S. are Black women.
Black women who graduate with a computing degree are also much less likely to stay in this career field after they enter the workforce, according to the System Upgrade report by Reboot Representation.
“We have a really strong population of Black women in computing, but we were looking at the enrollment data as compared to our graduation data and noticed that there’s a big gap,” Bourgeois said in the GSU press release. “Even though there are all these national efforts that help support students, once they enter the workforce, about 40% of Black women tend to leave.”
Black workers make up about 9% of the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workforce, according to a 2021 Pew Research study. Experts and researchers agree that diverse personnel in STEM fields breeds better, more inclusive discoveries.
But the benefits of Black women as tech majors don’t begin when they enter the workforce. Minority students in STEM classrooms also increase grades for students from all social and racial backgrounds, according to a December 2023 study.
“The presence of in-group peers may help bolster grades, especially for students whose identities are marginalized within and beyond STEM contexts more broadly,” the study stated. “For minority students, the presence of peers who are also minorities may promote a feeling of belonging that lends itself to academic success.”
RISE in Computing is working to ensure more Black women end up in and stay in computing careers. But GSU isn’t the only player in the push to ensure a more diverse tech workforce.
In Alabama, one nonprofit is helping Black students work in tech with the 12-week HBCU Innovation Internship Program for students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama seeks to diversify the tech pipeline and create opportunities for underserved populations.