Join us for Dr. Mercy Oluwadara Jaiyeola talk on Thursday, February 24, 4:00 p.m. in Ruffner 356.
Efforts to increase the participation of groups historically underrepresented in computing studies, and in the computing workforce, are well documented. It is a national effort with funding from a variety of sources being allocated to research in broadening participation in computing (BPC), but as existing literature shows, the growth in representation of traditionally underrepresented minorities is not commensurate to the efforts and resources that have been directed toward this aim.
This paper tackles the underrepresentation problem by identifying what has worked (leveraging existing real-world data) to increase representation. This work studies the educational pathways of persons who have successfully transitioned into the computing workforce and identifies the common roadmaps that have contributed to retention, persistence, and success in attaining computing employment. Descriptive statistics, Logistic regression, Classification algorithms, Clustering, and Predictive analytics were employed to identify educational pathways that have resulted in successful employment outcomes for women and blacks in computing.
Mercy Oluwadara Jaiyeola is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science within the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia. Her research interests are within the broad field of Computer Science Education with a focus on broadening participation in computing, studying the computing educational pathways and their effects on employment outcomes, employability of computing graduates, curriculum design, development, and assessment for successful employment outcomes in computing, among others.
She received her Bachelor's degree (with honors) in Computer Science from Bowen University, Nigeria where she was the 2012 university-wide Best Graduating Student; she bagged her Master's degree (with distinction) in Computer Science from Liverpool Hope University, England; and she was awarded her Doctoral degree in Computer Science from Mississippi State University, USA. Her dissertation titled "A longitudinal analysis of pathways to computing careers: Defining broadening participation in computing (BPC) success with a rearview lens" studied the educational pathways of underrepresented minorities who have successfully transitioned into the computing workforce and identified the common roadmaps that contributed to their retention, persistence, and success in attaining computing employment.
While Mercy is not teaching, grading, or doing research, you can find her eating good food, watching movies, sleeping, relaxing with friends and family, spending time with God, or discipling others.