Support EDGE in Tech at UC

Some of our current specific areas of focus include:

Inclusive Leadership Training Modules

The Expanding Diversity and Gender Equity in Tech (EDGE in Tech) at the University of California will develop curriculum and case studies to promote inclusive leadership skills, focusing on implicit bias training, managing diverse teams, design thinking, and 21st-century leadership skills (critical thinking, collaboration, creative problem solving, communication, and global mindset). The curriculum and case studies will be integrated into existing courses in leadership, ethics, and design thinking. The EDGE in Tech at the University of California will recommend effective best practices, leverage hands-on activities to promote behavior change and retention, and customize case studies for various audiences including undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, startup founders, venture capitalists, and corporate partners.

Supporting Diversity in the Innovation Ecosystem

This program component seeks to make Berkeley’s thriving innovation ecosystem more accessible to all. Initial efforts focus on creating a collaborative database of innovation/entrepreneurship resources with support specifically for various intersectional identities (including gender, ethnicity, LGTBQ+) in technical fields tagged to make resources more findable and distributed. The next steps are to define pathways and barriers into technology careers, with an emphasis on start-ups and emerging technologies. Once barriers and gaps are identified, The EDGE in Tech at the University of California will implement mentorship, boot camps, and/or student-initiated courses (De-Cal) to serve as bridge activities and support connections to employment or increase success for startup founders.

Expanded Support for Diversity in Tech Student Activities

Student groups at the four CITRIS campuses are the backbone of community and support for the next generation of women and BIPOC in tech. They provide an essential network for undergraduate and graduate students and enhance the pipeline of younger under-represented populations interested in technology and related career paths. For example, the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) runs coding classes for girls and other underserved populations in local high schools. FemTech introduced a three-part robotics seminar to introduce women, first-generation college students, and non-tech majors to the principles of robotics and engage them in campus maker spaces. The EDGE in Tech at the University of California will support the expansion of successful programs to more beneficiaries and scale across campuses.

Foundational Research & Dissemination

There is a need to make the growing body of research on inclusion in tech more accessible, distilled, and actionable. The EDGE in Tech at the University of California is undertaking projects to support the aggregation, curation, and organization of current research quantitative findings, qualitative case studies (personal stories), and evidence-based practices. The goals are to make the data more readily available for those applying for grants, presenting the case for diversity to executive teams, or evangelizing for better practices and policies. This process will also identify gaps and opportunities for further research which can be shared in advance of the CITRIS Seed Funding program to inspire new research proposals.