:: netwoman's blog ::

New CWIT Initiatives

The Center for Women and Information Technology is pleased to announce funding from the National Science Foundation to support three new CWIT initiatives.

1) Conduct research - five UMBC faculty representing Information Systems, Sociology, and Imaging and Digital Arts have been funded for a 30-month multi-method, multi-disciplinary study to investigate the interrelationships among gender, digital media technology usage and perceptions, self-efficacy, and career intentions.

2) Support women as entrepreneurs - three UMBC Centers have partnered to create a systematic model for increasing the commercialization of technology innovations from universities and federal labs by training women as entrepreneurs to create technology-based start-up companies. The Centers include the Center for Women and Information Technology, The Alex Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, and the techcenter@UMBC. UMBC's Office of Technology Development is also a partner in the project.

3) Building the pipeline - UMBC's Center for Women and Information Technology, The Shriver Center, and the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland California have partnered to implement and beta test Chabot's TechBridge curriculum in six middle schools over three years to increase the number and diversity of students, and particularly girls, pursuing an interest in IT. Activities will include after-school, weekend, and a four-week summer program.

For additional information or questions, fee free to contact the
Center at 410-455-2822 or CWIT at umbc dot edu

posted by Netwoman @ 2:19 PM