Diversity and Inclusion Working Group
Motivation
Each society is constituted by individuals that, by definition, are diverse one from the other. Diversity within any group or society is a winning factor as it implies the presence of different viewpoints and ideas that can significantly empower the group, which will be able to produce effective results thanks to such diversity. The main challenge is that diversity, in all its aspects, needs to be actively understood, respected, and preserved. In particular, diversity in race, gender, age, socio-economic status, religion, and physical abilities determine differences in behavior, ways of learning, as well as specific needs and constraints. Each group participant should be able to cope with these differences and act in a positive way in response to these.
In this context, Informatics Europe can operate at least at two levels.
- On the one side, we, as the Informatics community, need to ensure that software systems behave respecting diversity. This is particularly critical when considering machine learning algorithms that require training on data based on human characteristics or behavior, but also when designing the UI of software systems.
- On the other side, we, as a community of educators in Europe, should focus on how to take into account of diversity in the education process. While the European Commission is actively promoting the importance of ensuring gender equality, the broader area of diversity should be put under the lens as well. Proposals for the definition of best practices for education that take diversity into account in the admission, learning, and examination process could be analysed and disseminated through the various departments.
Long-term Goals
- Empower Informatics Europe members. to ensure the diversity dimension is considered in their education process.
- Contribute to designing software systems that behave respecting diversity.
- Defining best practices to cope with diversity through inclusion in Informatics.
WG Operation
- Chair: Simona Motogna, Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania.
- Secretary: Claire Matti, Haute école pédagogique du canton de Vaud, Switzerland.
- Monthly online meetings on every third Wednesday (from 15:00 to 16:00 CET/CEST).
Current Activities
At present the working group is focused on collecting European initiatives on diversity and inclusion in Informatics Research and Education and building a network of interested parties. The following activities related to this goals:
Activity 1: Mapping of current initiatives
Map current initiatives, research projects, and tools to cope with diversity and promote inclusion.
Steps:
- Finalization of the survey to be used for mapping - completed
- Dissemination of the survey - completed
- Collection and analysis of results - completed, results available here
- Analysis of literature - in progress
- Preparation of a mapping paper.
Activity 2: Best Practices booklet
Develop a booklet about best practices in one of the areas that will be identified with the mapping study.
Steps:
- Definition of the booklet focus, including best practices coming from the Minerva Award - completed
- Preparation and review of the first draft - completed
- Finalization and release of the booklet- in progress
Activity 3: Repository creation
Create a repository of initiatives, research projects, and tools in Europe - waiting for responses and volunteers to contribute
Steps:
- Consolidation of the repository structure and rules for contribution.
- Dissemination of the repository to solicit contributions.
- Management of the incoming contributions.
Would you like to join us in our current diversity initiatives or suggest a new task force to promote and enrich diversity in informatics? Join our Working Group here.
Visit our Diversity and Inclusion webpage to know more about initiatives and outcomes on the topic by the Informatics Europe community.
Current members:
- Simona Motogna, Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania (Chair)
- Claire Matti, Haute école pédagogique du canton de Vaud, Switzerland (Secretary)
- Erika Abraham, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
- Cristina Alcaraz, University of Malaga, Spain
- Oana Andrei, University of Glasgow, UK
- Lola Burgueño, University of Malaga, Spain
- Antinisca Di Marco, University of L'Aquila, Italy
- Elisabetta Di Nitto, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- María-del-Mar Gallardo-Melgarejo, University of Malaga, Spain
- Ana-Belén Gil-González, University of Salamanca, Spain
- Miguel Goulão, NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA LINCS, Portugal
- Svetlana Hensman, TU Dublin, Ireland
- Sarah Jane Delany, TU Dublin, Ireland
- Beate List, Google
- Cristina Manresa, Sociedad Científica Informática de España, Spain
- Estefanía Martín-Barroso, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain
- Davide Martinenghi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Maristella Matera, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Maria Nisheva-Pavlova, Sofia University, Bulgaria
- Lili Nemec Zlatolas, University of Maribor, Slovenia
- Ayushi Rastogi, University of Groningen, Netherlands
- Larissa Schmid, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
- Ute Schmid, University of Bamberg, Germany
- Florence Sèdes, SIF / University Toulouse 3 Paul Sabatier
- Alexander Serebrenik, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
- Anna Szlávi, NTNU, Norway
- Carla Teixeira Lopes, University of Porto, Portugal
- Riccardo Torlone, Roma Tre University, Italy
- Marta Turcsanyi-Szabo, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
- Serena Versino, University of Pisa, Italy
- Claudio Zandron, Università di Milano-Bicocca, Italy
- October 2024 - Cultivating Diversity: Integrating Inclusive Design into Informatics Education Workshop organized jointly with Ethics WG as part of ECSS 2024, held in Malta on 29 October 2024. Workshop slides can be found here.
- April 2024 - The report "Survey about diversity and inclusion initiatives" resulted from a mapping study conducted from December 2022 to assess ongoing diversity initiatives and collect information from university departments developing such projects. The report summarizes findings from 33 initiatives captured during this period.