Introducing WOCCC Senior Fellow, Dr. Jakita O. Thomas

The Women of Color in Computing Collaborative (WOCCC), comprised of a partnership between CGEST and the Kapor Center, has awarded three nonresidential fellowships to support senior scholars in disseminating their research. Our WOCCC Series seeks to introduce our fellows and showcase their work. We’re pleased to now introduce Dr. Jakita O. Thomas, PhD.

Dr. Thomas’ research interests include the development of computational algorithmic thinking, intersectional computing, improving reasoning using expert cases, scientific reasoning, complex cognitive skills learning, and computer-supported collaborative learning. As a WOCCC Senior Fellow, she is currently completing a project titled “Speaking Truth to Power: Exploring the Intersectional Experiences of Black Women in Computing”. This project examines the narratives of black women in different computing contexts, including in education, government, industry, and academia.

When asked what inspired this research, Dr. Thomas says while literature exists that examines the experiences of women in STEM broadly, “what we were missing was a language to leverage to describe why the experiences of Black women in Computing are different from white women and, perhaps, different (in some critical ways) from the experiences of other groups of women of color”. About the Women of Color in Computing Collaborative, Dr. Thomas says that “what is happening in this space is groundbreaking [...] This collaborative is about exploring the huge gap in the literature that exists as well as doing the work that’s required to actually move the needle and make a difference.”

This project builds upon Dr. Thomas’ past research examining the development of computational algorithmic among a group of African-American middle school girls as they designed games to address a range of social issues. Following their graduation from the Supporting Computational Algorithmic Thinking (SCAT) Scholars program, these girls became mentors to elementary and middle school children, teaching them how to employ SCRATCH - a programming environment designed to enhance youths’ technological fluency - to develop their own games for social change. Of this program, Dr. Thomas et al. (2017) write that “We hope to explore this approach more as a way to broaden participation in Computer Science, and we are also interested in exploring how Scholars view themselves as they move from consumers to producers of technology to, now, teaching others how to move from consumers to producers of technology” (p. 417).

In addition to Dr. Thomas’ academic research, she is also a co-founder of #blackcomputHER.org (pronounced “black computer”), an organization that seeks to leverage research to promote the education and professional development of black women and girls in computing. Asked how #blackcomputHER.org influenced her own research, Dr. Thomas underlined the critical link between research and activism. “I see this research as social justice work,” she says, “and this organization has allowed me to step more into who I am as a Black feminist tech activist and as someone who is committed to making Computing accessible and supportive to everyone.”

Dr. Thomas is a Philpott Westpoint Stevens Associate Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University in Auburn, AL. At Auburn University, she is also Director of the CUltuRally & SOcially Relevant (CURSOR) Computing Lab. Prior to her current appointment at Auburn, Dr. Thomas was a member of the Computer & Information Science faculty at Spelman College (2010 - 2016). She received a BS in Computer & Information Science with a minor in Mathematics from Spelman College in 1999. She received her PhD in Computer Science with a specialization in Learning Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2006.

Reference:

Thomas, J., Rankin, O., Minor, Y., & Sun, R. (2017). Exploring the Difficulties African-American Middle School Girls Face Enacting Computational Algorithmic Thinking over three Years while Designing Games for Social Change. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 26(4), 389-421.

Featured image courtesy of #WOCinTech Chat wocintechchat.com