  CU Selected to House Development Center for Women in Computer Science
In an ongoing effort to recruit and retain women in the field of computer science, the Institute for Women and Technology has selected CU-Boulder to be part of its Virtual Development Center, a national network of college-based educational centers. With support from the California-based non-profit and an equipment grant from Hewlett-Packard, Elizabeth Jessup, associate professor in computer science, is developing a new project-based course that is expected to help attract more women into the field. The new course, which will be introduced in Spring 2001, will allow students to apply concepts of information technology to solve problems of social importance. Studies have found that women tend to link their interest in computer science to some kind of social function, such as enhancing medicine, while men usually focus their interest on the machine itself. The course will be launched with a workshop to generate project ideas, involving technical and non-technical women from the Boulder community, representatives of local social service agencies, and students. Over the course of one or more semesters, the students then will work in groups to bring the ideas to product form. For more information about IWT's Virtual Development Center, visit www.iwt.org.  Engineering Home |
