Center for Women and Information Technology: Mission

Vision/Mission

The Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT), was established at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in July 1998, dedicated to providing global leadership in achieving women's full participation in all aspects of information technology (IT). In 2006, the the scope of CWIT's influence at UMBC expanded to include Engineering majors as well. Women's participation in IT and Engineering will strengthen the workforce, raise the standard of living for many women, and help to assure that technology addresses women's needs and expands the possibilities for their lives.

Vision:
At UMBC, women are a minority in all majors in the College of Engineering and Information Technology (COEIT). In most majors, they are a small minority. This situation is mirrored at other universities nationwide, as well as in technical industries. The Center for Women and Information Technology (CWIT) is dedicated to increasing the representation of women in engineering and information technology fields. CWIT efforts will begin with nurturing a strong group of Scholars, grow to building community resources for other women in these majors, extend to fostering a healthy gender climate and ITE pedagogy in COEIT departments, and finally expand into outreach efforts to increase interest in technical careers. A successful program for female-friendly engineering and information technology education at UMBC could help make UMBC a destination for women (and men) interested in technical careers and serve as a national model for other universities.

Mission:
We aspire to collaborate with our internal and external partners to make UMBC a national model for female-friendly education in ITE and UMBC COEIT a destination for women interested in technical fields. We have identified four goals key to this aspiration:

Sustain and strengthen a vital Scholar program for undergraduates committed to increasing the representation of women in ITE fields.

Foster a supportive community for all women in ITE at UMBC.

Improve gender climate in COEIT.

Broaden the pipeline of talented women interested in ITE with K-12 outreach programs.

CWIT's Relationship to UMBC:
CWIT supports UMBC's commitment to diversity at all levels and its efforts to create a campus community rich in intellectual, cultural, and ethnic diversity. CWIT helps the University achieve its regional and national mission by identifying those areas in science, technology, and engineering where women are significantly underrepresented, attracting well-qualified female students to UMBC through special scholarship initiatives such as the CWIT Scholars Program, and working with departments and other campus partners to help make UMBC a welcoming place for women in engineering and information technology. CWIT also supports the University in its efforts to attract private and public funding to achieve its mission.

The Center is working to accomplish its mission through varied initiatives. Among the projects already under way are the CWIT Scholars Program, CWIT's Music Video, and the CWIT web site, which ABCNews.com has called "the best resource on women and technology on the Web." CWIT is also partnering with several UMBC offices on a program for women technology entrepreneurs, Activate. For a more complete list of current initiatives, see the Initiatives section.

For more information about the Center, see the April 2003 issue of Baltimore Magazine.

Please also see the CWIT FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)