Joanne McGrath Cohoon

Title: Must There Be So Few? Including Women in CS

Biographical Sketch:
Joanne McGrath Cohoon is a sociologist who studies higher education, gender, and technology. She earned her BA in Philosophy from Ramapo College of New Jersey; her MA in Student Personnel Administration from Teacher's College, Columbia University; and her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Virginia in 2000. Dr. Cohoon has held professional positions in higher education as a researcher, administrator, and instructor at a women's college, a survey research center, a center for public service, and a continuing education program. She is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Her research has been funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation. She is a member of the ACM, SIGCSE, and sociological and higher education professional organizations. Dr. Cohoon's email address is joanne_cohoon@virginia.edu.

Abstract of Talk:
Women's participation in undergraduate computing is low and likely to continue declining. However, this situation is not due to intractable gender differences. Academic computing departments can effectively recruit and retain female students. Dr. Cohoon will describe the current state of affairs and discuss how and why departments can act to reverse this trend.