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Pallone Announces Grant to Rutgers to Support Women in Computer Science

July 2, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced a $250,000 federal grant award from the National Science Foundation to the Computer Science Living-Learning Community for Women (CS-LLCW) at Rutgers University. The Rutgers program supports women pursuing careers in computer science (CS) and will address the need for a diverse CS workforce.

“Technology is a driving force in our economy, and we need to ensure that the field is enhanced by the benefits of a diverse workforce,” said Congressman Pallone. “This grant, to encourage women to remain involved in the increasingly important discipline of computer science, helps Rutgers solidify itself on the cutting-age of technology education and represents an important commitment to growing diversity in science, technology, engineering and math.”

While computer science enrollments have risen significantly in the last five years, the percentage of graduates who are women remains low (around 14%). The CS-LLCW project made possible by this grant will address the lack of diversity in computer science by developing a CS Living-Learning Community for women. It will provide an immersive educational experience and will enhance the recruitment and retention of women in CS. Building on existing research on LCCs in other fields, on broadening participation in computing, and on best practices for CS education, this project will adapt successful practices to CS, develop new research to understand the effectiveness of LLCs, and provide a model for building capacity nationally.