Jane Margolis - Education, Race and Computing

Jane Margolis, a senior researcher at UCLA, discusses her work on educational inequality, focusing on computer science. She began her research at Carnegie Mellon, studying the low number of women in computer science. Her findings led her to explore racial and gender disparities in Los Angeles schools, revealing significant access issues. Margolis highlights the role of belief systems and 'preparatory privilege' in perpetuating inequality. She developed the 'Exploring Computer Science' course to address these issues, which has become a national model. Her book, 'Stuck in the Shallow End,' draws parallels between racial segregation in swimming and computer science.

What role does the National Science Foundation play in the initiatives discussed in the research?

What is the significance of the title 'Stuck in the Shallow End' in relation to the research?

How does the statistic about drowning among African American kids relate to the issues in computer science education?

What are the long-term goals of the research team regarding computer science education?