Lack of Diversity: Are you part of the problem or its solution?

Mirella M. Moro
[email protected]
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG,Brazil
ABSTRACT matters, there is no middle ground, no being on the fence, because
Do Computing courses properly prepare students for dealing with either a person is part of the problem or such a person is working
diversity, equity and inclusion? This essay delves into such a ques- towards its solution. Note that acknowledging the problem exis-
tion by presenting a survey taken by Computing educators, and tence or trying to understanding it also qualify as working towards
discussing issues, solutions and challenges within different Com- a solution. The question then becomes: where do you stand?
puting areas. It is also a call to action, because when dealing with
such matters, there is no being on the fence: a person is either part 1.1 Motivation
of the problem or working towards its solution. As technology evolves, so does society (and vice-versa); which in
turn requires updates on teaching methodologies and undergradu-
CCS CONCEPTS ate curricula. For example, take the last years of the 20th century.
• Social and professional topics → Computing education. At that time, students used to read books in the University library
and enjoy its facilities for individual and group studies. Specially
PALAVRAS-CHAVE around 1990, Internet cable connection was a privilege limited to
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Computing Higher Education universities and research centers; whereas dial-up connection was
the only option for few Brazilian homes and businesses whose own-
1 INTRODUCTION ers could afford it. Moreover, the usage of the Web was similarly
limited to email, Yahoo directory search, few online games (with
An academic urban legend states that Universities1 do not prepare
simple interaction and interface) and chat rooms. Still, studying
for the industry. Many people in Academia have heard it, students,
Computer Science (CS) was not boring at all. For example, in my
educators and staff. It usually comes with one example (or many)
undergrad, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) class had a checkers game
on: how people without a higher education degree are successful,
project. Its interface was very limited, but the whole project was
how the IT (Information Technology) industry has good paying jobs
exciting, and done solely relying on three sources of knowledge:
for people from other areas independent from formal degrees, how
the class educator and textbook plus the aforementioned library.
universities do not keep up with the industry fast evolving pace,
Back then, most researchers seemed to be rethinking everything
how a friend with a degree in Engineering is an app driver now, and
from the perspective of the Web: the Web architecture, databases
others. Educators tend to answer such claims with a simple fact: it
connected through the Web, entire systems distributed over the
is not our university objective only to prepare you (the students)
Web, Web and Society, Web interface, Web data structures and
for the industry; followed by reasons on how the university has
indexing, HTML and Web coding languages, and so on. Amid such
a deeper impact on the lives of people who take it seriously, and
revolution, few were digging on the inevitable: Education on the
provide solid knowledge and skills to develop the future of such
Web, Web-based Education, Education for the Web, and all sorts of
industry, and perhaps, make a true impact in our lives.
mixtures between the traditional Education style and whatever the
In such a context, the focus of this essay is also a critic in nature,
Web could or should provide. And guess what? Twenty-plus years
but on a deeper level: do Computing2 higher education courses
later, we are still looking for the mix right formula.
prepare students for a fast pace evolving society? Specially, do Com-
Such mix includes students and educators. Considering the check-
puting courses properly prepare students for dealing with diversity,
ers game project today; are the students still working on a limited
equity, inclusion (or DEI), bias, minorities, and privilege aware-
interface or are they aware of its users’ diversity? Does it allow
ness? Which goes to the title of this paper: when dealing with such
customization according to the gamer’s age, for example? Does it
1 Although Brazil has different types of higher education institutions such as Colleges allow to change color, adjust contrast and font size for people with
and Technological Education Centers/Institutes, in this essay, they are referred to as visual disabilities? Does it have an audio setup that narrates each
universities for simplicity only.
2 Henceforth, Computing courses stand for all types of higher education courses towards play and accepts voice commands? Does it work on a four year
Computing, including but not limited to: Computer Science, Computer Engineering, old cell phone? Does it provide tips and walking-through? Does it
Information Systems, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Teaching in follow gender inclusivity principles? It should [18, 47].
Computing, Computing Systems, Technical Majors, and so on.
In summary, as technology and society evolve, so do solutions
Fica permitido ao(s) autor(es) ou a terceiros a reprodução ou distribuição, em parte ou and problems on Computing and its Education. Now, although this
no todo, do material extraído dessa obra, de forma verbatim, adaptada ou remixada, bem essay is on such a large context, it is not about the technology per se.
como a criação ou produção a partir do conteúdo dessa obra, para fins não comerciais,
desde que sejam atribuídos os devidos créditos à criação original, sob os termos da It is about discussing how Computing educators deal (or not) with
licença CC BY-NC 4.0. diversity (plus equity and inclusion) in their classes, as exemplified
EduComp’22, Abril 24-29, 2022, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brasil (On-line) by the checkers game scenario. Students should answer yes to
© 2022 Copyright mantido pelo(s) autor(es). Direitos de publicação licenciados à
Sociedade Brasileira de Computação (SBC). the questions posted in such example, after proper information
provided in class or by class materials.

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EduComp’22, Abril 24-29, 2022, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brasil (On-line) Moro

1.2 Contributions Level of Diversity ‡ Predicted Outcomes*

Minimum Moderate Maximum Negative Positive
Overall, society evolves and so do our students, and so should we – conflict,
professors, lecturers, instructors; but do we? Or is such evolution distrust, cooperation,
Separation lower task trust, social
limited to the technical contents and teaching methodologies of performance integration
& cohesion

ytisreviD fo epyT
our classes? Specially, as society becomes more diversity aware
higher
(including IT market and industry), are our Computing courses decision
more task quality,
keeping up with such evolution? Those are complex questions that Variety conflict flexibility &
require way more than one single essay to answer.3 Hence, this creativity,
innovation
paper focuses on DEI and delves into the following contributions.
competition,
• A summary of different concepts and related work on DEI, resentment,
Disparity less member equity
with special focus on Computing Education (Section 2); input,
withdrawal
• An initial survey and results about DEI within Computing ‡ This part of the image is an adaptation based on [19]. Whereas the original authors
higher education (Section 3); call the columns as “Amount of Diversity”, here they are called “Levels”, as they are
• A discussion on issues raised by the survey, their challenges not always exactly quantifiable depending on the attribute (e.g., quantifying pay and
and solutions (Section 4); and knowledge versus quantifying belief).
∗ Sample list of outcomes in general, considering the most common attributes such as
• A call to action so that everybody in Computing Education gender, pay, background, beliefs, among others.
gets excited about being part of the solution (Section 5).
Figure 1: Simplified graphical representation of the three
2 CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS diversity types and their levels, based on the meanings
Before diving into the literature, this section starts with simple state- of within-unit diversity, with respective predicted negative
ments that set the tone for the whole text. Diversity is frequently and positive outcomes.
associated with gender diversity, but the concept itself applies to
other types (e.g., race and age). Diversity is also more than just
hiring people from different backgrounds. For instance, hiring a including gender, race, mental and physical ability (see ANNEX).
couple of women does not turn a male dominant company into a A better model for diversity is given by Harrison and Klein [19],
diverse one. Although it is currently a buzzword, diversity issues who argue that its definition is attribute-specific and applicable to
have been around for decades now, being often associated with a group, or unit; i.e., a group is diverse regarding one (or more)
equity and inclusion. However, fostering inclusion is more than attribute(s) of its members. Then, the concept of diversity is actually
just hiring a person with physical impairments, or placing a black composed of three different perspectives: separation, as differences
person to work within a white-only team. Likewise, equity involves in position or opinion among group members; variety, as differ-
more than equal pay for a white man and a black woman who ences in category (information, knowledge, or experience) among
have the same job description and responsibilities. It is true that groups members; and disparity, as differences in concentration of
the American-born movements #metoo and #blacklivesmatter valued social assets or resources. Depending on the context, de-
made gender diversity and race inclusion get the spotlight beyond mographics features (e.g., gender and race) may fit in any of such
the movie scene and the suburban American lives and police innate perspectives. With thousands of works building upon (or citing)
prejudice. Nonetheless, once again, although such movements are Harrison and Klein’s three-component diversity definition, the next
deeply appreciated for their impact and power of change, diversity, paragraphs summarize its main points that are better connected to
inclusion and equity go way beyond the aforementioned cases. the reasoning used in this essay.
Research on DEI is vast and tackled from distinct angles in- Figure 1 presents the three types of diversity on three levels: at
cluding anthropology, business, civil rights, economics, education, the minimum level, all three types configure a homogeneous, similar
psychology, and social sciences. As it is impossible to cover every- group regarding one (or more) attribute(s), e.g., a group whose
thing in a couple of pages, this section follows with concepts and a members agree in one belief has minimum separation, and whose
representative set of related work on diversity, equity and inclusion. members get the same salary and benefits, minimum disparity; at
Then, it goes over current scenarios on IT industry and market, and the moderate one, there is a uniform distribution regarding such
research on such topics within Computing Education. It ends by attribute(s), e.g., a group with moderate disparity has one member
emphasizing this essay contributions over such rich context. at each pay grade; at the maximum perspective, each type has a
unique situation. A group with maximum separation in one attribute
2.1 Diversity is a bimodel; i.e., the group is half split and its members polarized on
The intuitive definition for diversity is having a group of different two extreme, opposing factions [20] (Fig. 1 first line, third column).
people together, which is clearly not enough because it begs the At maximum variety, the group is more interesting and has richest
question: define “different”. Within basic education, UNESCO [53] possible distribution of information, with each member coming
defines diversity as the people’s differences regarding one feature, from a unique category of an attribute (Fig. 1 second line, third
column). Maximum disparity (also called inequality) requires one
3 Indeed,complete answers to such issues go way beyond what Computing educators member of the group getting the highest value or being at the top
alone may accomplish, as solutions also require norms and curricula flexibility, and
society support, for example. Still, the focus here is on how we prepare our students for one attribute, and all the others getting its minimum or being
for working within/for/with increasingly diversity aware industry and society. at its bottom (Fig. 1 third line, third column).

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Each type of diversity has optimal scenarios (for specific at- [19]) or proposing new ones (e.g., a new inclusion index by [43]).
tributes) that provide positive outcomes. Such scenarios are not Also, ranking companies according to DEI is possible through sta-
always at minimum or maximum values. Likewise, unbalanced situ- tistics such as percentage of minorities on the board, percentage of
ations may generate conflict and negative outcomes. A summary of employees who are women, with disabilities, and so on.7
such outcomes is in Figure 1, the two right-most columns. All out- The IT Industry and Market are no strangers to diversity and
comes depend not only on the lack/presence of diversity type but its importance. Indeed, many studies have discussed, showed and
also on the personal skills and culture of the people within a group surveyed its facets, advantages and issues. For example, Hewllet,
(i.e., having the best scenarios for all three types of diversity within Marshall and Sherbin [23] are among the first to claim that “di-
a group will not avoid conflict if one of its members is difficult, versity unlocks innovation and drives market growth,” which is
for example). Still, with guidance, empathy, proper mindset and associated to compelling evidence. Different from the three-type
leadership, it is possible to get the best of each diversity perspective. model, diversity is divided into two types: inherent as traits a per-
son is born with (e.g., gender and ethnicity); and acquired as traits
2.2 Equity and Inclusion a person gains from experience (e.g., living abroad provides cul-
As aforementioned, equity is more than providing equal pay to equal tural awareness, and selling to female consumers provides gender
jobs, and inclusion is not just adding ramps throughout campus smarts). Then, companies whose leaders express at least three inher-
for people with mobile disabilities. A peculiar study was published ent and three acquired diversity attributes surpass others (without
based on gender equity in one of the most important technology in- such leaders) in innovation and performance. For inherent diversity,
stitutes (the MIT) by Lotte Bailyn [3]. She goes deeper into defining when at least one member of a team shares a client’s ethnicity, that
gender equity in academia. The initial definition is “equal pay, equal team is better equipped to understand such a client. Also, leaders
access to opportunities to enter an occupation and to advance in should work on their (and their teams) acquired diversity to unlock
it, and freedom from harassment.” Although a relevant definition, innovation, by focusing specially on six behaviors: ensuring that
Lotte Bailyn successfully argues that equality is not equity: “Equity each team member is heard, welcoming novel ideas, giving team
will not be possible if there exists one group of people (for example, members decision-making authority, sharing credit for success, plus
people with care responsibilities) who are systematically unable to giving and implementing feedback to/from the team.
meet the requirements of the ideal academic who gives full priority As diversity is a complex subject, business or industry-oriented
and all his time and energy to his academic work.” In other words, publications focus in one issue at a time. For example, Brazil and
an equitable workplace shall only exist on equal opportunities and USA have lived in a political polarity scenario (i.e., maximum sepa-
equal constraints – which due to cultural and historical reasons are ration diversity) for a couple of years (due to reasons beyond the
not the same for women and men (in the USA and in Brazil). scope here). Despite those countries differences, the symptoms and
Inclusion has also appeared in various studies and is often as- collateral effects have much in common. Reeves et al. [40] tackle
sociated with K-12 education (or inclusive education) of kids with the political polarization by presenting 12 strategies to company
disabilities. In such a context, the major debate is to provide highly leaders amend their polarized fences, which include: foster healthy
specialized education to such children in a separate environment, engagement, ensure respectful interactions, and catalyze inclusive
versus to provide a truly inclusive education in which all children communities. Although simple in text, most strategies require not
(regardless of diverse needs) share the opportunity of learning to- only advanced soft skills but also DEI-aware and -oriented mindset.
gether [29]. Making the concept broader to beyond education, Kelly Regarding equity and inclusion, publications also describe prob-
Gaither [14] defines inclusion as follows. lems and aim at solutions, one issue at a time. For example, there
are studies on COVID-19 pandemics and gender equity [26]; and an
[Inclusion] reflects the quality of a group or person’s
interesting, direct approach with a road-map on issues of willing
experiences, referring to an individual’s state of be-
to change on racial equity [31]. On the other hand, the adjective
ing valued, respected, and supported. Thus, diversity
inclusive also qualifies any environment, initiative, action or even
and inclusion must be coupled. [...] Diversity is a di-
leadership that works towards solving, improving or advancing
rect reflection of recruiting from a broad talent pool.
diversity issues. Such initiatives may be tailored for one kind (or
Successfully keeping and retaining diverse talent is a
category) of diversity, such as social-economic inclusion [13]. There
direct reflection of inclusion.
are also studies in IT companies on minorities and how they per-
ceive their work environment; i.e., if theory of an inclusive work
2.3 Within IT Industry and Market space is actually practiced (e.g., gender and sexual orientation) [45].
Many companies from different sectors have turned their attention
and resources to advancing one or all three DEI – e.g., SAP,4 OPG,5 2.4 Within Computing Education
and Google.6 Being (measurable) result-oriented, such companies
Computing Education research has also focused on equity, one issue
still struggle to assess the impact of their actions and clear commu-
at a time. For example, there are initial studies on the performance
nicate such impact to stakeholders. To do so, there are two basic
of boys and girls in primary and secondary education regarding
solutions: relying on scientific approaches (e.g., existing metrics
information and communication technology [54]. Other studies
4 https://blogs.sap.com/2020/11/24/fostering-an-inclusive-culture-is-a-business- dive into the reasons for lack of diversity in Computing at college
imperative-not-a-trend
5 https://www.opg.com/innovating-for-tomorrow/commitment-to-diversity 7 https://fortune.com/2021/06/02/fortune-500-companies-diversity-inclusion-
6 https://diversity.google numbers-refinitiv-measure-up

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level, which include students’ sense of belonging in computing as Finally, as most institutions do not include such topics in their
an important predictor of student retention [30]; and differences Computing higher education curricula, most companies rely on
in local interactions and social positions (e.g., opportunities to ask internal training [5, 24]. To be fair, it seems that DEI is still out of
questions in class, and work on real-world problems) as contributing most technical curricula. Yet, note that, even if Universities should
to sense of belonging in computer science [4]. not prepare students to deal with the current buzzword, DEI has
Still in Computing education, there are reports on actions to started as a trend but has also established itself as a social, economic,
attract more girls and girls of color to Computer Higher education cultural and even humanitarian necessity.
[17] and grad school [44]. Such initiatives are creative and rely
on skills that girls may connect to technology, e.g., knitting and 2.5 Contributions over Related Work
sewing [8]. Likewise, in Brazil, there are studies assessing gender
This essay builds upon existing literature by surveying the coverage
diversity and reporting initiatives to attract and maintain women
of DEI topics in Brazilian Computing higher education. Then, based
in Computing, e.g., [32, 34, 41, 42].8 Going further, since 2015, IEEE
on the survey results, it also raises issues and challenges that shall
Special Technical Community on Broadening Participation9 orga-
serve to foster solutions throughout the Computing Education
nizes the RESPECT conference - Research on Equity and Sustained
community. To inspire such solutions, it ends with calls for action.
Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology, which has
published many research, project and initiative results towards DEI.
Official curricula documents also consider DEI at some level. 3 AN INITIAL SURVEY
Specifically, ACM/IEEE’s Computing Curricula 2020 [12] has a sec- One key contribution of this essay is to make educators think about
tion dedicated to Project Diversity (Section 1.1.3) that includes “the DEI. Now, whatever reasoning presented here may be in jeopardy
need for accessibility for all people”, “the importance of diversity”, if not properly backed up by existing literature, survey or common
and a recommendation for promoting “best practices to attract and knowledge. There is also a chance of some people reading it be
retain greater student diversity.” Nonetheless, it explicitly informs already working towards improving DEI; and then having doubts
that how to achieve them is not discussed in the report. Diversity on the need for further thinking and taking action.
also appears in other sections: 2.4.5: Computing in Primary and In the absence of such a survey in Brazil, this section presents one
Secondary Education, 3.2.5: Global and Other Considerations, 6.5.3: to get an initial overview about Computing Education regarding
Cultural Sensitivity and Diversity (this one also discusses inclusion DEI. It is grounded on the following hypotheses:
of people with disabilities), and I.3: Factors Affecting Agile Com- H1 Brazilian Computing educators do not cover (or
puting and Engineering Education. Then, ACM’s Cybersecurity open space to dialogue about) Diversity.
Curricula [37] lists “Ethics and equity/diversity” as topics within H2 Covering DEI depends on the discipline subject.
the Cyber Ethics knowlege unit, a part of the Societal Security H3 There are opportunities to improve.
Knowledge Area. Still by ACM, the Data Science document [11] has
a whole chapter to “Broadening Participation” (Chapter 5), which The survey setup is summarized in Section 3.1, followed by basic
informs “intentional inclusion and diversity are necessary to reduce statistics in Section 3.2 and results in Section 3.3.
societal bias as data science continues to be used for decision mak-
ing from health care to hiring decisions.” It also cites the CNDLS 3.1 Setup
Inclusive Pedagogy,10 which informs “Inclusive pedagogy at its The survey form was published in October 2021 and sent out
core is learner-centered and equity-focused” making it (currently) through email and social media. It contains questions about DEI in
the most DEI-oriented document. Computing Education at all levels. It is not the goal of this essay
In Brazil, the official document from the Brazilian Computer to present the whole survey, but rather to focus on the questions
Society (SBC) on post-secondary education [60] does not mention regarding the aforementioned hypotheses. Hence, statistics and
equity nor inclusion, but mentions diversity. Specially, the following results are those provided by people who teach in Computing un-
parts are of interest: the benefits of Computer Science professionals dergraduate and graduate courses. The questions covered here are
to society (Chapter 2, Section II.3) refer to the ACM/IEEE CS Cur- separated in two parts, as follows.
ricula 2013 when defining “to value diversity” as one mandatory
• Basis statistics – Brazilian state where the respondent works;
personal trait of CS Graduates; a legal requirement for Teaching in
type of institution (public, private); and whether respondent
Computing professionals (Chapter 5, Section V.9) quotes a resolu-
belongs to a minority.
tion from the National Education Council, which includes “courses
• Specific information – the respondent addresses (or opens
shall guarantee specific contents [...] as well as contents related to
space to) DEI during class (H1); if so, type of diversity cov-
[...] ethnic-racial, gender, sexual, religious, and generational diversi-
ered or willing to cover (H1); otherwise, reasons not to ad-
ties”; and the Systemic Vision axis of Information Systems (Chapter
dress DEI (H3); and Computing areas taught (H2).
6, Section VI.6) includes “digital inclusion”. The respective Graduate
document [2] has no mention at all to DEI.
3.2 Basic Statistics
8 Mostly published at the Women in Information Technology workshop, the largest The survey was answered by 118 people from 20 Brazilian states
academic event in Computing on gender diversity, held yearly within the Congress of (including the Federal District) who teach in Higher Education
the Brazilian Computer Society. Anais do WIT: https://sol.sbc.org.br/index.php/wit.
9 IEEE STC on Broadening Participation: http://stcbp.org (including four who only teach at grad school, and 11 who also
10 CNDLS: Inclusive Pedagogy: https://cndls.georgetown.edu/inclusive-pedagogy teach in high school). Regarding regional distribution, 60 educators

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Table 1: Number of respondents and percentage divided by Age

area (name used in the paper and example of content) Gender
Cultural
Disability
# - % -Area Name Content Example
Socio‐economics
66 -55.9 -Technology Computer/IT Technologies: Databases, Comp. Networks, AI, Software Race, ethnicity
Engineering, HCI, Comp. Graphics, Circuits, or similar
31 -26.3 -Introduction Introduction to programming, computing or information technology, Lif style
Life l
software, hardware, tools, applications; and others School education, status
24 -20.3 -Intermediate Progr. Intermediate and advanced programming; data structures; program- Politics
o cs
ming languages, techniques and paradigms; and others
24 -20.3 -Foundation Comp. fundamentals including: architecture and organization; sys- Gender identity
tems; parallel processing; security; compilers; and others Geographics
17 -14.4 -Society, Ethics Comp. and society; ethics; digital inclusion; legislation; entrepreneur-
Sexual orientation
ship; copyright; privacy, civil rights; and others
14 -11.9 -Theory Theory of comp., graphs, logic, formal methods, algorithm complexity, Family education, status
YES WISH
discrete math, formal languages, and others Religion
12 -10.2 -Management Project, people, time and career management; management and plan-
ning; professional, scientific communication; marketing; and others 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
12 -10.2 -Comp. Thinking Computational thinking, problem solving, robotics for children/youth
4 - 3.4 -Other areas Mathematics, physics, probability, statistics, administration, engi-
neering, electronics, teaching, pedagogy, education, economics, Eng- Figure 2: Select which type/s of diversity you address in your
lish, Portuguese, philosophy, and the likes
classes (YES). Select which type/s of diversity you would
*like* to address in your classes (WISH ).
come from the Brazilian Southeast, then 26 - South, 16 - North-
east, 9 - North, and 7 - Middle west. Most teach in public universi-
ties/colleges (106) and few in private institutions (12). Regarding the same for both questions: age and gender; which are followed
minorities, as self-declared in the survey form: 68 do not think they by cultural and disability in the addressed diversities, and gender
belong to any minority group, 29 belong to one minority group, 17 identity, and race/ethnicity tied with politics in the wish list.
belong to more than one, and four preferred not to inform. Finally, Overall, hypothesis H1 is partially confirmed, as half of re-
Table 1 presents the number and percentage of respondents divided spondents covers some DEI concepts, with focus on few types of
by Computing Area,11 which is listed as an abbreviation (used in diversity. Furthermore, Race and ethnicity ranks in 6𝑡ℎ place of
the remaining of this text) and example of content. Note that such covered types, and 4𝑡ℎ place of the wishing list. Such a result may
content was grouped into nine categories to easily enable potential reflect a white-culture dominance in the area that could be on the
insights. Such categories could be further grouped into: computing verge of changing (giving the number of people wishing to cover
basics (comp. thinking, introduction, foundation), computing (inter- such diversity as well). These results need further study, as the
mediate progr., technology, theory), social aspects (society, ethics; survey needs a larger set of answers to be truly representative; still,
management), and other areas (math, physics and so on). In other it provides an overview of the current situation.
words, there are different ways to group Computing knowledge H2 - Covering DEI depends on the discipline subject. Figure
areas, including by ACM and SBC standards. Nonetheless, such 3 shows the result for the previous question separated by area
divisions would probably not add much to the insights and would (see Table 1 for names used). In other words, from the people who
rather make the survey form more complex than needed. marked Computational Thinking as their teaching content, 83.3%
address DEI issues in such disciplines. As expected, the top of
3.3 Results this figure contains the more social-oriented classes of a Comput-
This section presents and discusses results divided by hypothesis. ing curricula, i.e., Computational Thinking; Society and Ethics;
H1 - Brazilian Computing educators do not cover (or open and Management. This result is expected due to the more society-
space to dialogue about) DEI. The first important question in oriented, current-issue nature of such disciplines. At the bottom,
this survey form is: Do you address or open space to address issues the figure shows Technology at 42.4%; Theory at 35.7%; and Inter-
of diversity, equity and inclusion in your classes? Now, one would mediate Programming at 29.2%. Classes on Theory areas are more
expect that most people interested in answering the survey would theoretical (obviously), being probably trickier to locate examples
be exactly those that do know the importance of DEI-awareness or and exercises into current social issues. Nonetheless, Technology
concepts and, therefore, cover them in class. This is an expected bias and Intermediate Programming are probably a surprising result.
in this kind of voluntary survey. However, with 118 respondents, 59 Teaching intermediate and advanced programming, data structures,
answered YES, and 59 answered NO; i.e., half of respondents does databases, computer networks, and other contents requires many
address DEI in their classes, and half does not. Then, the survey examples, which could easily cover current issues such as DEI.
goes one step forward to verify which types of diversity are covered Furthermore, Technology includes Software Engineering, which
or are in the wish list to be covered. is also responsible for industry-oriented content such as software
Considering only people who cover DEI in their classes, Figure 2 design and life-cycle (including software test). Likewise, it contains
shows their answers to two questions: (1) Select which type/s of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction), which is very close to society,
diversity you address in your classes; and (2) Select which type/s of as users are part of it; and Computer Networks, whose access in
diversity you would *like* to address in your classes. The top two are Brazilian territory is pretty varied. It is hard to imagine such con-
tents being explored without considering people with disability,
11 Each respondent should select one or two areas. different literacy levels and life styles, for example.

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Comp. Thinking Out of curriculum, syllabus

Society Ethics
Society, No content connection
Management
No knowledge
Other Areas
Introduction Lack of time

Foundation Extra overload

Technology Apprehension
Theory
YES NO No institutional support
pp
Intermediate Progr
Progr.
No obligation
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
No relevance

Figure 3: Do you address or open space to address DEI in your 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Strongly Disagree Weakly Disagree Weakly Agree Strongly Agree
classes? Percentage of answers separated by teaching area.
Figure 4: You do not address (or open space for) diversity is-
sues in your classes; analyze why.

Overall, hypothesis H2 is confirmed, with more social-oriented

disciplines mostly covering DEI-aspects, more theoretical ones cov- 4 ISSUES, SOLUTIONS AND CHALLENGES
ering less, and some surprising cases regarding Technology and Based on the initial survey (Section 3), the main reasons for not
Intermediate Programming, which also cover less DEI. covering DEI issues in Computing classes may be separated in two
groups: (1) academic, i.e., DEI being out of curriculum/syllabus and
H3 - There are opportunities to improve. The last set of ques-
having no connection to the class content; and (2) personal, i.e.,
tions verifies reasons for not covering any diversity during class.
the person having no knowledge and time, and wanting to avoid
Figure 2 shows the types of diversity that are more/less covered in
the extra overload of covering such content. Hence, this section
classes. The first opportunity for improvement is covering more
follows by better organizing those issues and presenting their initial
types, as well indicated by the wish list – in the same figure.
solution directions, which have challenges. Each challenge is then
Now, half of the respondents does not cover any issue related to
stated and discussed, followed by one or more specific solutions.
DEI concepts. Hence, this is practically the biggest opportunity for
changing the scenario. Nonetheless, any change requires assessing
the current status; hence, Figure 4 qualifies the reasons for them
4.1 Academic Perspective
not covering DEI and allows the following conclusions. 4.1.1 Issue: DEI is out of curriculum/syllabus. Once again, soci-
ety has evolved and so should our teaching manners and content.
(1) Most people disagree with not being obliged to cover DEI Computing is probably the fastest evolving area within any higher
and DEI not being relevant – i.e., such people are potentially education institution. It should not have its content strongly tied
susceptible to change towards addressing DEI in class; to a curriculum that lasts years and takes years to change as well.
(2) Exactly half feels apprehensive (fear) about creating prob- Also, official curricula documents (by societies such as ACM and
lems, offending someone, getting disapproving feedback and SBC) do mention diversity (inclusion and equity to some extent)
others – such feeling is justified, specially in regions or insti- as important or valuable, as part of professional profile or a legal
tutions that are close-minded regarding diversity; also, there requirement, or within ethics content. Such curricula also allow
could be some relation between this set and the one selecting tailoring according to the institutional and regional culture, needs,
“No knowledge” as well, because without knowledge, the fear student profile, and so on. UNESCO is also on board of a more
of offending someone is certainly higher; DEI-oriented curriculum (in any area and education level), as in-
(3) Lack of time and extra overload also appear as strong rea- formed in [53]: “The curriculum is the central means for enacting
sons to not cover DEI – such reasons are completely under- the principles of inclusion and equity within an education system.”
standable specially during the COVID-19 pandemics, when Then, educators are eager to include cutting edge technology to
everybody is facing adversities beyond imagination; and their discipline syllabus (e.g., blockchain and quantum computing),
(4) The top two reasons are “Out of curriculum, syllabus” and even way before such topics appear in any official curriculum; but,
“No content connection”, which are definitely related to each they do not include DEI because the curriculum does not explicitly
other – and here is a great opportunity for change. mention it – is it a conundrum, hypocrisy or lack of empathy?
Putting all together, it is safe to claim that: DEI does not need to be
Overall, each survey result offers reasons to make Computing explicitly informed as body of knowledge or content tied to a discipline
Education evolve towards DEI; specially considering the types of in order to be part of any curriculum or discipline syllabus.
diversity covered, those in the wish list and the reasons why people
do not cover them. Taking all three pieces of information together 4.1.2 Issue: DEI has no connection to the class content. This issue
points to one result only: H3 is confirmed, and there are many seems connected to the previous one, as curriculum and syllabus
opportunities to improve. Note that, although this paper is an es- define the content of a discipline, which is divided into classes;
say (or position paper), the initial survey was essential to support still, it is at a finer granularity by focusing on each class. DEI refer
any position taken when defining issues, proposing solutions and to distinct aspects of society by poiting out problems due to their
establishing challenges, as discussed in the next section. lack and a potential utopia scenario when they are fully operating

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in harmony. Now, one core argument here is society evolving re- • Gonçalves∗ et al. [16] focus on designing for the elderly,
quires how/what we teach in Computing to evolve too. Diversity, including issues on mobile software and hardware interfaces;
equity and inclusion are relatively old concepts, but how much so- • Kirkpatrick [27] discusses bias issues of algorithms, data,
ciety minds them – with worldwide campaigns, companies hiring and AI in a short article smartly titled “Algorithmic Poverty”,
policy updates and minority-oriented training initiatives, inclusion- which provides insights to be discussed in many classes;
oriented marketing, movies and TV series – is new. Indeed, in a • Krakovsky [28] explains bits of history on the building of
recent panel during the largest international event on CS Educa- Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia that could be explored in geometry
tion [22], a panelist from industry stated: “Academia is responsible and systems modeling classes, being easily connected to
for recognizing and developing a supportive environment for new (probably) the most sensitive kind of diversity, religion;
computing talent. Biases reflected in academia today will spread to • Neris∗ et al. [36] present how to cover diversity and inclusion
other areas that computing touches, including any and all technical in the perspective of system design, aiming at digital and
advancements and future generations of technologists.” He is right, social inclusion;
as trying to connect a class concepts do DEI, or making them more • Srinivasan and Chander [46] summarize the main types of
DEI-aware, is responsibility of its faculty. As any Computing class bias within AI systems, which could be covered not only in
should prepare students for a professional life in Computing, within AI classes but also databases and software testing;
a society, with many ethical responsibilities, with social skills that • Stumpf et al [47] brilliantly review the state of the art in
range from being able to communicate problems/solutions to being gender inclusive HCI, with over two hundred studies that
aware of differences and having empathy to other persons strug- could be covered at undergrad or grad level classes;
gles, the conclusion is somehow obvious: adding DEI content to • Thinyane [48] focuses on a specific diversity group (mi-
class means preparing better, wholesome professionals, in any area grants) and includes such a group in the design of an app
but specially in Computing – which is more technical-oriented than for migrant workers to report exploitative practices; and
human/society-oriented, by definition, and has the power to affect • Walther and Ladner [55] discuss accessibility (i.e., inclu-
any other industry, market and commerce field as well. sion of people with disabilities) by connecting it to Web de-
sign/development, software engineering, human-computer
4.1.3 Academic Solutions and Challenges. Both academic issues interaction, operating systems, and any course that addresses
point to one solution: DEI should be part of Computing education; human-facing hardware and software, then giving tips and
a simple solution, but not free of challenges, as discussed next. further readings – they also emphasize “Accessibility needs
to be taught throughout the computing curriculum.”
Challenge A: Who should teach what or to which extent?
Some colleagues may point out this is not a challenge, as the an- The next solutions present further ideas in this context.
swer is obvious: Computing curriculum has an Ethics discipline Solution 2: Include DEI within your classes. Even with such
that should cover any(all) aspect(s) related to DEI. Then, change examples, some colleagues may still think none of those applies
Ethics with “Computing Ethics”, “Professional Ethics”, “Computers to the content they teach. Fair enough. Then, invest some minutes
& Society”, “Computing Social Aspects”, “Technology, Ethics & So- reflecting on these questions regarding any topic you teach, they
ciety”, or any other combination, and this answer is probably valid may give the insights needed to start adding DEI into your classes.
for most institutions that offer a Computing major. The question
• How may it impact diversity/ equity/ inclusion?
then becomes: is it enough to cover such a complex topic (DEI)
• How could it be explored for improving diversity/ equity/ in-
within some classes during a 60h discipline? No, it is not enough.
clusion issues? or for overall social good?
However good its instructor is, it is probably impossible to cover all
• Is there any way it could be explored for intensifying privi-
DEI aspects that are relevant to a Computing professional within
lege, oppression, bias, segregation, marginalization, and any
a sole discipline of a vast curriculum. A better answer to such a
other harm within society? How? And how to avoid that?
challenge is then: DEI should be a discussion aspect of any discipline
• On the other hand, may it be explored to give voice, power,
within a Computing major. How? See some practical ideas ahead.
control to minorities? How?
Solution 1: Include DEI within any class. There are many ways • What social/soft skills a professional specialized in such a
to do so, as the following ideas (∗ from Brazilian groups). content needs to be successful? Are your students prepared
to interact in a multinational team, for example?
• Ali et al. [1] go over a famous optimization scandal regard- • Who are the pioneers and role models within the discipline
ing bias, the Facebook ad discrimination case, which may area? Are there any who personifies a type of diversity or
certainly be discussed throughout different disciplines; minority? What if you talked about them throughout the
• M. Burnetts’ team [18] go over current practices and pitfalls classes? Or maybe, how about giving an assignment to the
when considering gender inclusivity as a Software Engineer- students to find out who they are? (note: role models are
ing (SE) quality requirement – her GenderMag method (for important to break stereotypes within IT professionals; e.g.,
detecting and fixing gender inclusivity issues in software) not everyone is an antisocial white male youngster)
could be discussed in many SE disciplines;
• Cunha∗ et al. [9] discuss how to enhance intercultural aware- Solution 3: Foster discussion among students. Another solu-
ness and communication in highly diverse environments tion is to create groups, projects, or student initiatives to discuss DEI
from the requirements definition perspective; aspects. For example, Rorrer et al. [44] present a research program

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to increase the number of women with intersectional identities12 4.2.3 Personal Solutions and Challenges. Such personal issues point
within Grad studies. Again, in Brazil, WIT (see Footnote 8) has out to the same solution: it is probably easier to discuss about DEI or
plenty of reports on this kind of initiative on gender diversity. Fur- DEI awareness by investing some time (but not years) in studying
thermore, as part of a minority group, students discussing DEI and about it and using off-the-shelf material. Although straightforward,
exchanging experiences may also improve their sense of belonging such an idea has many challenges, as discussed ahead.
[30], leading to more academic success.
Challenge C: How to discuss about DEI without a formal ed-
Challenge B: How to formally include DEI into curriculum ucation on it? Again, discussing about DEI or DEI awareness does
or syllabus? Granted, some colleagues may not feel comfortable not require a formal degree. Often, common sense, proper mindset
with the aforementioned claims that DEI does not need to be for- and empathy towards DEI shall be enough. Still, reading papers
mally within curriculum or syllabus to be taught in Computing may help building confidence to tackle DEI within classes. The
disciplines and classes. After all, such documents give directions question then becomes: which papers exactly, within the myriad of
on skills, competences and the profile provided by the course. material already published on the subject?
Solution 4: Prepare the ground. The best solution is to refor- Solution 5: Read some high quality material. This is a personal
mulate the whole curriculum; which is very complex, takes time list of DEI favorites, which are easy to read and understand:
and people commitment and, hence, it is a long-term solution. A
• Blaser et al. [6] have lessons learned on disability & diversity;
short-term goal is to prepare the ground for such new curriculum
• Garibay [15] gives good tips for a DEI-friendly environment;
by adding DEI concepts throughout the disciplines now. Then, by
• Moore et al. [35] go over ten roles for academic leaders to
the time the new curriculum building process starts, such concepts
promote DEI in data science, which are easily applied to
and their acceptance will be already in place, the building team will
general Computing as well;
get input from successful cases (and failures as well) of discussing
• Tychonievich and Cohoon [50] go over lessons learned while
DEI, and will be able to make better informed decisions on how to
training teachers and professors about diversity, and most of
properly update the curriculum on the DEI perspective.
such lessons also apply when one includes DEI into a class;
• and the papers listed in Solution 1 (Section 4.1.3).
4.2 Personal Perspective
4.2.1 Issue: lack of knowledge. Most Computing faculty members Solution 6: Foster discussion among peers. Other faculty col-
have a degree in Computing or related areas, plus experience (at leagues may also be going through the same doubts (hopefully!).
varied levels) in teaching technical concepts. Adding a highly social, Consider talking about DEI with those who teach the same disci-
humanities topic as DEI to any technical material requires knowl- plines or similar content. Also, take a look at how people from your
edge or specialized skills. Also, given DEI’s currently trending institution humanities department approach the subject. Invite one
status, there are many theories, methodologies, learning practices, (or more) to give a talk at your department with the goal of training
etc. being published not only on academic venues (e.g., conferences Computing faculty on how to discuss or raise awareness about DEI.
and journals) but also on general media (e.g., newspapers and on-
Challenge D: How to spend minimum time on preparing ma-
line platforms). Therefore, the actual issue may be beyond lack of
terial to discuss about DEI and avoid overload? This is proba-
knowledge, as it may also include an overload of potential reading
bly the easiest or the hardest challenge. A direct solution is using
material to acquire such knowledge. Nonetheless, a person does not
off-the-shelf material, ready to be explored in class. Yet, educators
need a Master or a Ph.D. degree in diversity (equity and inclusion) in
may be reluctant in using others’ material without any adaptation.
order to discuss about it or just to increase its awareness.
The problem is when adapting requires more time than preparing
4.2.2 Issue: lack of time plus extra overload. Universities already it from scratch. As anything in life, practice makes perfect; maybe
require much time of their faculty members. Many educators al- the first time one uses a material will not be the best experience
ready face work-induced stress and burnout in their daily routines. possible, but it certainly will enable growth and open opportunities
Moreover, faculty members have life outside the job, which presents for improvements to be used in the next semester/quarter.
concerns of its own (family, health, money, love, leisure, and more). Solution 7: Get ready-to-use material. Wick [57] is one pioneer
To top it all, many people had their lives turned upside-down due in proposing a coding task to raise diversity awareness. The idea is
to COVID, and most countries faced unpredictable, horrible crises; simple: divide the class in two groups; one develops a genetic algo-
indeed, the consequences of the pandemics will go on for years rithm with homogeneous solution, and the other includes diversity
to come. With so much going on, having time to invest in one’s within the algorithm; everybody tests both solutions and measures
career may become a privilege per se. It is then understandable that their performance. Then, Zeitz and Anewal [58] introduce a repos-
many faculty members may read this essay and think they are not itory with Computing assignments that deal with diversity and
gonna change anything in their classes because lack of time, and inclusion.13 Its current version (Oct. 2021) has seven assignments
fear of extra burden. Nonetheless, many educators are committed on: color blindness design, gender gap, racial and cultural divides,
to education quality, are often updating their teaching material, and unconscious bias, cultural effects on usability testing, diversity and
want to make positive impact in the lives of their students. inclusion in the Silicon Valley, and finding affordances.

12 Women identified as African-American/Black, Hispanic/Latinx, American In-

dian/Alaska Native/Native American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. 13 https://github.com/UMWComputerScience/CS_Diversity_Inclusion_Assignments

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Solution 8: Adapt existing material. James and Hampton [25] discussion will be on a unique perspective as well, and most
present an interesting methodology for introducing programming probably in one type of DEI (see examples in the previous
concepts by using Black music. Such material could be adapted item), then avoiding complete repetition. Moreover, some
by using another regional music style (specially in Brazil, where synchronization may be necessary (check Solution 6).
regional music are an important cultural aspect for its people). Most (4) Why? Why computing educators would not be allowed to
works mentioned within Solution 1 may also be adapted. raise awareness among their students about a significant
society change (evolution) that is already having impact
Solution 9: Give the task to the class. Real learning usually re-
on many Computing-provided products and services, be it
quires students being actively involved and responsible for making
software or hardware? Besides the examples mentioned in
sense of their experiences [51]. Anyone can rely on that claim and
item 2, an Ethics discipline should also cover other pressing
give the task of preparing class material to its students. In doing so,
matters: fake news, hate speech, stance detection, carbon
students learn way more than “just the class content” as many so-
footprints, energy consumption, algorithms interference on
cial skills are also involved. One practical idea is given by Trim and
decision making, and much more. Now, how long such Ethics
Nishad [49], who report two assignments within a grad level ethics
educator will need to study all the aforementioned concepts
class. Another idea is asking one of the questions from Solution 2
from such broad Computing areas? How many hours one
(Section 4.1.3) to the students and just mediate the discussion.
single discipline shall have to properly cover them?
Challenge E. The devil’s advocate. Few educators may still think:
(1) my classes are technical-scientific, and DEI should be fully cov- Also, many educators propose a final, larger project at the end of
ered in a specific discipline, instead of just being lightly mentioned a discipline. Besides the technical part, DEI-oriented requirements
in mine; (2) including DEI in any Computing class taught by non include making sure the solution works on: slow, limited internet
trained people is as wrong as teaching music (or other off-the-topic connection; two year old mobile devices running equally outdated
content); (3) adding DEI to all Computing disciplines will make operating systems; limited memory; minimum energy consump-
the content repetitive; and (4) having DEI taught in all Computing tion; both desktop and mobile screens without loosing any user
disciplines is preposterous. Such claims seem valid; yet, they show experience; and so on. Students must also be aware of: not every
resistance to bringing teaching material to 2022+. child has a mom and a dad; not every person has a legible finger-
Solution 10: Add DEI to all Computing disciplines in which print (e.g., elderly and cancer survivors); auto face recognition must
DEI make a difference, for better or worse. The arguments work for people with different skin tones; and more.
towards DEI presented in this essay now beg the question: are A better solution is then having educators adding discussions
you sure the person teaching Ethics in your department has the about DEI on their disciplines throughout the Computing curricula.
whole background necessary to cover all complex perspectives of A starting point is having educators to ponder about the questions
DEI within Computing? Also, going back to the issues raised in within Solution 2 and address DEI issues as needed. Ergo, this essay.
Challenge E, potential answers to those include the following.

(1) Computing disciplines will remain technical-scientific, DEI 5 CALLS TO ACTION

could be better explored in Ethics, but should also be men- This section finalizes the reasoning for discussing DEI or raising
tioned or, preferably, discussed within any Computing con- awareness within Computing education. It also includes further
tent. This essay is not suggesting to change all Computing ideas on how to do it, separated by focus group.
disciplines to add hours of DEI material in each. The idea is
For Computing Educators. As educators, we should grant our
to discuss DEI in any class where appropriate.
students access to DEI-oriented thinking, designing and coding
(2) Who better than a HCI Master/PhD to teach about interface
skills. In time, through products and services they develop/offer,
accessibility? Who better than a person specialized in Net-
such students will build an IT industry/market that provides equal
works to discuss about how to make the high speed Internet
access to everyone, despite people’s diversity attribute values. Of
reach the deeps of the Amazon rainforest or the country arid
course, there are issues and challenges, but this essay pointed out
regions? Who better than a data scientist or a person spe-
to some doable solutions. Furthermore, there are different levels of
cialized in data mining, machine learning, AI or databases
discussion that could appear in undergrad and graduate courses –
to discuss data bias, and how such bias always benefits the
assuming that most ideas here could be implemented within un-
majority of a population? I.e., bias works against minorities.
dergrad disciplines. For graduate disciplines (i.e., as part of spe-
Also, there are many problems in online social networks
cialization, master and phd programs), the discussion could also
that could be covered by any educator with background on
include research initiatives that tailor software and hardware for
algorithms, graph theory, system modeling, and software en-
minorities (e.g., accessibility). They could also cover innovation
gineering. Who better than a hardware person to teach about
aspects brought to such products by DEI. Nonetheless, the ideas
making customized hardware interfaces for the elderly?
presented here shall serve for inspiration to any level of study.
(3) There will probably be some repetition. Nonetheless, the
idea is not having the same content discussed the same way For Computing Education Researchers. Many research studies
over and over. The goal is to add discussions about DEI in within Computing Education present quantitative or qualitative
all classes in which such concepts make a difference. Giving analyses for evaluating solutions, initiatives, projects, or assessing
that each Computing discipline has a unique purpose, such a current situations and giving historical perspectives. Nonetheless,

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many of such analyses have no specific question on the respon- providing solutions such as: getting off-the-shelf material to use or
dents’ gender, race, or any minority information, potentially due adapt, and adding DEI to all Computing disciplines in which DEI
to ethics, legal or privacy concerns (e.g., [38]); whereas others do make a difference. Finally, this essay also presented calls to action
have the questions but do not discuss the answers divided by group for educators, researchers, IT professionals and organizations.
(e.g., [10]). As researchers, we also must assess the situation of mi-
Conclusion. Overall, a better world is in our reach, if we (educators,
norities within control and testing groups; which shall provide new
researchers and professionals) do our jobs as needed by a currently
perspectives and insights on how to truly improve diversity, equity
flawed society. Adding different perspectives on diversity, equity
and inclusion. One simple example: consider all research done on
and inclusion in all Computing disciplines in which such concepts
how students face the first coding or programming class within a
matter is the initial step towards educating more wholesome IT
university; consider also those evaluation questionnaires that do
professionals. In time, DEI will be so mainstream that it will not
not assess the class performance by groups regarding gender, race,
need any special attention – and that is the ultimate goal.
age, disability, and so on; any conclusion may be true for the class
as a whole, but is it true for the minority groups as well? How can Limitations. The discussion on DEI may go way beyond what is
anyone be sure there is no Simpson’s paradox14 in the reported presented in this essay. Aspects not covered here include: insti-
results? Assessing the minorities individually is paramount, or our tutional initiatives, infrastructure issues and disability challenges
research will still be DEI-agnostic within a world that has become [6], culturally relevant Computing pedagogy [33], specific educa-
DEI-aware. Note, it is not the intention here to question the va- tion methodologies such as game-based [21], DEI at school level
lidity of such studies; the goal is to open the researchers’ mind to Computing [59], and open source community benefits [56].
include such variables in their upcoming evaluations. Acknowledgements. The author thanks the reviewers, as well
For Computing Professionals. Most universities enable their as Michele A. Brandão, Clodoveu A. Davis Jr., Ana Paula Couto
faculty members to establish projects with both industry and society da Silva, and André C. Nácul, for their thoughtful comments and
representatives (e.g., extension projects). If there is any of such suggestions; the survey respondents whose answers inspired the
institutions near you, get in touch with their computing department. definition of educators’ issues regarding DEI; and CNPq (National
There are mutual benefits to be explored in many ways. Council for Scientific and Technological Development), which has
frequently provided funding for her research and diversity-oriented
For Computing Organizations. Figure 4 informs being out of
initiatives. Finally, heartfelt thanks to the many colleagues and
the curriculum as the main reason to not cover DEI issues within
students who have unknowingly motivated the writing of this
classes, whereas Solution 4 suggests educators prepare the ground
essay, specially the Meninas Digitais15 (Digital Girls) community.
to remedy such reason. Now, this endeavour should be backed
up by organizations (such as ACM and SBC) for a more effective
ANNEX – GLOSSARY
outcome. Indeed, such organizations should support any initiative
This annex presents a brief glossary of terms as defined by UN and UNESCO [52, 53]
related to the matter (watch [39]). Specially, Solutions 5 (read high within the context of education.
quality material), 7 (get ready-to-use material), and 8 (adapt existing Diversity. People’s differences which may relate to their race, ethnicity, gender, sex-
ual orientation, language, culture, religion, mental and physical ability, class, and
material) may also benefit from organizations, which could build immigration status.
(or support) a repository for DEI-oriented teaching material. They Equity. Ensuring that there is a concern with fairness, such that the education of all
could also open space in their media and events to discuss issues learners is seen as being of equal importance.
Gender Equality. The understanding that women and men have equal conditions for
and solutions, as those presented here (which are just a first step). realizing their full human rights and for contributing to, and benefiting from, economic,
social, cultural and political development [53]. The equal rights, autonomy, responsi-
6 CONCLUDING REMARKS bilities and opportunities of women and men, and that the rights, responsibilities, and
opportunities of individuals will not depend on whether they are born male or female;
Summary. This essay discussed an overview of the vast literature the power dynamics between women and men based on equality [52].
Gender Equality at Workplace. Workplace culture and practices that value female
on diversity, equity and inclusion, emphasizing Computing educa- and male workers equally with no gender-based discrimination, and that ensure safe
tion. A systematic literature review is left as future work, because and enabling environment for all individuals to perform their functions with equal
it requires a larger team to work on and more interdisciplinary pay and equal opportunities.
Gender Diversity. Having a fair representation/proportion of all genders in an envi-
discussion among computing, humanities and social educators – a ronment.
huge challenge per se. It also summarized an initial survey on how Gender Inclusion. All individuals, regardless of whether they are born male or
computing educators cover (or not) DEI issues in their disciplines – female, have a sense of belonging and empowerment, equal access to opportunities
and equal participation in activities, including in the decision-making of an institution
deeper analyses of results are future work. Half of the respondents or community.
mentions DEI aspects in their classes, most of whom teach social- Inclusion. A process that helps to overcome barriers limiting the presence, participa-
tion and achievement of learners.
oriented subjects. Those who do not cover DEI mostly agree that it Inclusive Education. Process of strengthening the capacity of the education system
is relevant, and point out the following reasons for such behavior: to reach out to all learners.
DEI being out of curriculum/syllabus and having no connection to Integration. Learners labelled as having ‘special educational needs’ are placed in
mainstream education settings with some adaptations and resources, but on condition
class content, and the person lacking knowledge or time to cover that they can fit in with pre-existing structures, attitudes and an unaltered environment.
them. The essay restated such reasons as issues and challenges, also Special Education. Classes or instruction designed for students categorized as having
special educational needs.
14 Simpson’s paradox is a phenomenon in which a trend appears in many groups of data Special Educational Needs. A term used in some countries to refer to children with
but disappears or reverses when the groups are combined [7]. Or, the trend appears in impairments that are seen as requiring additional support.
the population as a whole (i.e., the whole class), but not within all individual, grouped
parts (i.e., minorities). 15 https://meninas.sbc.org.br

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USA. https://doi.org/10.1145/3359301. [33] Tia C. Madkins et al. 2019. Culturally Relevant Computer Science Pedagogy:
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