Seeking help with NCWIT study

Dear Computer Science Student:

I’m Lecia Barker, a Senior Research Scientist for the National Center for Women & IT studying women’s experiences in the first year of their computing majors. Our research team – Jaden, Carmen, Luis, Mayce, Noah, and I – would love to hear your story. We’re giving interviewees a very small token of appreciation ($10 of Walmart codes which you can use or re-gift).

The professor who forwarded you this email will not know whether you’ve agreed to participate or not. Participating will neither help nor harm your grade (sorry!).

You must be at least 18 years old to participate, you must have completed at least one semester of your first year of the major, and no more than a year should have passed since you completed your first year.

If you agree to participate, please click on this link to sign up.

Description of Participation

The interview will take about 45 minutes of your time, using Zoom teleconferencing. You will respond to questions about your first year in your computing major, focused on social interaction in class, lab, student groups, hackathons, study sessions – whatever you can tell us about.

Benefits/ Risks/Confidentiality of Data

While no direct benefits can be guaranteed, you may perceive a benefit by being part of research that improves progress toward an ethical and equitable technical workforce. You can decline to answer any question without explanation. Your interview data will be anonymized and your name and school will never be included in any report or publication.

Participation or Withdrawal

Your participation in this study is voluntary. You can withdraw from the interview at any time and you can keep the $10 Walmart codes.

Questions and Contacts

If you have any questions about the study please write me at lecia.barker@ncwit.org. You can also speak to the University of Colorado Boulder Institutional Review Board at (303) 735-3702 or irbadmin@colorado.edu.

If you agree to participate, please click on the link to sign up.

We look forward to hearing about your experiences!

Lecia Barker, NCWIT and University of Colorado Boulder with Noah Cowit, Jaden Castle, Mayce Miller, Luis Ortega, and Carmen Palmblad, Department of Information Science ITEC Lab.