The Program

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FemProf is paving the road to professorship for female students. It is a collaborative initiative between the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and the University of Houston Downtown.

It aims at establishing a model for significantly increasing the number of undergraduate female students that pursue a professorship career in computing. The short-term objective of the project is to significantly increase the number of female students that continue doctoral studies in computing. The long-term objective is to significantly increase the number of female faculty in computing.

Expected Outcomes

  • A program that serves as a model for increasing the number of female students that continue graduate studies towards a Ph.D. and become professors.
  • An increase in the number of doctorates awarded to Hispanic females in computing.
  • An increase in the number of Hispanic females that become professors in computing.
  • Replication of the program by other institutions.

The Model

FemProf model relies on four strategies:

  • Student recruitment - Identify students with key characteristics to succeed in the program.
  • Research Mentoring - Help students develop research skills and expose them to a significant research experience that motivates them to pursue graduate studies.
  • Career Path Mentoring - Guide students in getting prepared for graduate studies and pursue a professorship career.
  • Empowerment - Help students overcome gender bias barriers that preclude them from pursuing a professorship career.

The Students

The project focuses on female computer engineering and computer science students at UPRM and UHD. The project is expected to impact at least 36 female students (mostly Hispanics) during the demonstration period. Eight students from UPRM and four from UHD will be recruited each year. They will undergo a two-year program in which they will participate in research, career path mentoring and empowerment activities.

Dissemination

The experiences and results accomplished with the project as well as the instruments, seminars and workshops contents, and procedures developed will be shared with CAHSI members as well as any other institution willing to replicate the model.

FemProf is a demonstration project of CAHSI, the Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (http://cahsi.fiu.edu/main.html). It is supported through the Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) program of the National Science Foundation (Grants # CNS 0739249 and CNS 0739213).