There are a lot of computing education (CS) conferences鈥攆ar more than I鈥檓 used to in other academic fields. There鈥檚 the (big) , the (rigorous) conference, the (European) (ITiCSE), the (Finnish) , the (originally German) Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education, the Australasian Computing Education Conference, the (Asian) CompEd, the (North American) Computer Science Teachers Association Conference, and I鈥檓 sure many others I鈥檝e forgotten. Historically, computing education has been far more regional than most global research communities: This could be due to different amounts (or lack thereof) of funding or the national and cultural ties to public education.
There is, however, one thing that all of these conferences have had in common over time: A听broad disregard for issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in CS. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 as true anymore鈥攖he SIGCSE venues above have an increasing focus on diversity, and certainly many existing education and learning sciences venues that have long centered diversity are beginning to examine computing鈥攂ut it鈥檚 still the case that diversity is not central. For anyone who studies diversity in CS, or anyone with a marginalized identity in CS, the feeling of attending a SIGCSE event can be one of disregard. It often feels as if the broader community is tacitly saying, 鈥淵es, diversity matters too, but I really want to tell you about this new tool that raises average grades.鈥 Diversity simply feels like an afterthought. And for many marginalized and oppressed people in CS, it is unavoidably and inescapably a central focus.
This is where IEEE RESPECT (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers鈥 Annual Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology) comes in. Originally founded by in 2015, the conference was intended to be a venue that explicitly focused on diversity in computing. It began with a slightly more narrow focus on broadening participation in computing, mirroring the many NSF-supported projects in North America that had that same framing. It鈥檚 grown over time to draw computing education researchers and practitioners who center diversity, equity, and inclusion in their scholarship and teaching, tending to draw many more education researchers than other venues.
I鈥檓 embarrassed to admit it, but when I first heard of RESPECT, I naively thought, 鈥淒o we really need another conference?鈥 And in some ways, I still think that鈥檚 true: Fragmentation of a research community is rarely helpful, and splintering diversity work into a separate venue only reinforces the idea that other venues don鈥檛 have to deal with it. I certainly don鈥檛 have the bandwidth to attend SIGCSE, ICER, ITiCSE, and RESPECT, along with other conferences to engage with other communities. On the other hand, there can be great power in focus. After being invited to give the closing keynote this year at RESPECT 2021, I was excited to give diversity my full attention. And as I quickly learned, that focus can be productive.
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