Rode, Jennifer A;
Castro, Luis A;
Viswanath, Varun;
Gastelum, Maria Concepcion Valdez;
Mashhadi, Afra;
Tentori, Monica;
Van Laerhoven, Kristof;
(2025)
Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at UbiComp/ISWC: Best Practices for Accessible and Equitable Computing Conferences.
Communications of the ACM
, 68
(2)
pp. 64-73.
10.1145/3689820.
Preview |
Text
Rode_ CACM.research.Rode_Prelayout.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
ACM represents the global community of computing professionals, researchers, and educators. As such, the organization must be responsive to the needs of the field in an international context. Among ACM members, 48% are from the U.S., with only 3% from Canada and 4% from Latin America and the Caribbean. The percentages for Africa and the Middle East are combined with Europe at 18%, and 27% of the membership comes from Asia and the Pacific Rim. These statistics suggest that our membership is not proportionally representative of the global population.1 Looking more closely, only 20% of computer scientists in the U.S. are women,4 with racial minorities and people with disabilities also underrepresented.13 For instance, 70% of those earning science and engineering doctorates are white. People with disabilities are 9% of the U.S. population but only 3% of the STEM workforce,13 suggesting that disabled people are also underrepresented in computing. With so many underrepresented groups, and with computing jobs in the U.S. predicted to grow by 17% in the next decade, this presents a problem. An article in Forbes stated that “if the industry continues to source new hires through traditional pipelines without prioritizing workplace diversity, these jobs will be largely unavailable to an emerging workforce that is made up of women and underrepresented minorities.”12 Increasing diversity in computing is thus not only a liberal or moral matter; it is also necessary to keep pace with business needs, both in America and around the world. International conferences are an important vehicle through which we can increase diversity in computing. To that end, when running the UbiComp/ISWC conference in 2023,a we scheduled programs specifically aimed at improving diversity. This article lays out our efforts, their costs, and their effectiveness so others can learn from our successes and mistakes.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at UbiComp/ISWC: Best Practices for Accessible and Equitable Computing Conferences |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1145/3689820 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1145/3689820 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10206287 |
Loading...
Loading...Loading...| 1. |  United Kingdom | 5 |
| 2. |  United States | 2 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
