Nicki Washington's guest appearances

Nicki Washington

Diva Tech Talk Podcast

#BITTechTalk by Blacks In Technology

SQAIR Media Network: THE PROJECT with Steve Rutherford

#CSK8 Podcast - A podcast for computer science educators

VOICES for Social Justice

Jean Ryoo

Kanika Tolver

Joanna Goode

Ruthe Farmer

Laura Bilazarian

Tye Caldwell

Michelle Lee

CHRISTOPHER WALKER

James Fester

Dawn Dickson

Rodney Williams

Jason Young

Kelsey Hightower

Alex Miller

Elena Lipson

OwlTail

It’s Black History Month and we couldn’t think of anyone better to celebrate with than Nicki Washington. Washington was the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science from North Carolina State University and was the first Black female faculty member of Howard University’s computer science department. In 2019, she was inducted into the Computer Science Hall of Fame. She is currently a professor of practice at Duke University.In this episode of VOICES, Washington explains the importance of lifting others while you climb, the significance of Kamala Harris being elected as vice president of the United States for BIPOC communities, shares stories from her book, Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field, and much, much more.Get your notepad and pen ready, because you’ll want to take notes from the most unapologetically dope woman ever.Host: Lien DiazGuest: Nicki Washington, professor of practice at Duke University and author of Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech FieldRelated Links- VOICES (http://constellations.gatech.edu/voices-social-justice-alliance)- About Nicki (https://nickiwashington.com/)- Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field (https://nickiwashington.com/shop/)- Follow Constellations on Twitter at @GT_CCEC (https://twitter.com/GT_CCEC)- Follow Nicki on Twitter at @dr_nickiw (https://twitter.com/dr_nickiw)

It’s Black History Month and we couldn’t think of anyone better to celebrate with than Nicki Washington. Washington was the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science from North Carolina State University and was the first Black female faculty member of Howard University’s computer science department. In 2019, she was inducted into the Computer Science Hall of Fame. She is currently a professor of practice at Duke University. In this episode of VOICES, Washington explains the importance of lifting others while you climb, the significance of Kamala Harris being elected as vice president of the United States for BIPOC communities, shares stories from her book, Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field, and much, much more. Get your notepad and pen ready, because you’ll want to take notes from the most unapologetically dope woman ever. Host: Lien Diaz Guest: Nicki Washington, professor of practice at Duke University and author of Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field Related Links - VOICES (<a href="http://constellations.gatech.edu/voices-social-justice-alliance)" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">http://constellations.gatech.edu/voices-social-justice-alliance)</a> - About Nicki (<a href="https://nickiwashington.com/)" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://nickiwashington.com/)</a> - Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field (<a href="https://nickiwashington.com/shop/)" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://nickiwashington.com/shop/)</a> - Follow Constellations on Twitter at @GT_CCEC (<a href="https://twitter.com/GT_CCEC)" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/GT_CCEC)</a> - Follow Nicki on Twitter at @dr_nickiw (<a href="https://twitter.com/dr_nickiw)" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/dr_nickiw)</a>

Being Unapologetically Dope with Dr. Nicki Washington

In this interview with Nicki Washington, we discuss the importance of cultural competency, expanding beyond “diversity” by focusing on creating inclusive and equitable environments, learning from people and scholarship outside of the field, lessons learned working with CS educators across the country, lessons learned while teaching during a pandemic, focusing on the humanity in computer science education, and much more. If you haven’t listened to it yet, check out the unpacking scholarship episode that unpacks one of Nicki’s papers.Click here for this episode’s show notes.This episode was powered by BootUp Professional Development.How to support the free content I create.━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro01:18 Nicki introducing herself02:07 How Nicki got into CS education07:09 How marginalization impacted Nicki's career trajectory12:05 When twice as good isn't enough20:36 How to prevent this problem from continuing to happen26:01 What has surprised Nicki about her research?31:59 How to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, etc.37:53 What Nicki has learned working on large projects in education42:02 Something in education that Nicki changed her mind about48:55 Multiperspectival approaches in large classes52:48 How Nicki prevents burnout57:09 What Nicki wishes there was more research on01:00:34 What Nicki wishes more people understood about her research01:05:38 Questions Nicki has for the field01:07:00 What I could do to improve how I serve the CS community through this podcast01:12:49 How to connect with Nicki01:14:17 Outro

In this interview with Nicki Washington, we discuss the importance of cultural competency, expanding beyond “diversity” by focusing on creating inclusive and equitable environments, learning from people and scholarship outside of the field, lessons learned working with CS educators across the country, lessons learned while teaching during a pandemic, focusing on the humanity in computer science education, and much more. If you haven’t listened to it yet, <a href="https://jaredoleary.com/csk8feed/42" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">check out the unpacking scholarship episode that unpacks one of Nicki’s papers</a>.<a href="https://jaredoleary.com/csk8feed/55" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Click here for this episode’s show notes.</a>This episode was powered by BootUp Professional Development.<a href="https://jaredoleary.com/support" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How to support the free content I create.</a>━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 Intro01:18 Nicki introducing herself02:07 How Nicki got into CS education07:09 How marginalization impacted Nicki's career trajectory12:05 When twice as good isn't enough20:36 How to prevent this problem from continuing to happen26:01 What has surprised Nicki about her research?31:59 How to improve diversity, equity, inclusion, etc.37:53 What Nicki has learned working on large projects in education42:02 Something in education that Nicki changed her mind about48:55 Multiperspectival approaches in large classes52:48 How Nicki prevents burnout57:09 What Nicki wishes there was more research on01:00:34 What Nicki wishes more people understood about her research01:05:38 Questions Nicki has for the field01:07:00 What I could do to improve how I serve the CS community through this podcast01:12:49 How to connect with Nicki01:14:17 Outro

Nicki Washington is Unapologetically Dope

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Dr. Nicki Washington,  author, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Winthrop University, founder at Washington Consulting LLC and passionate advocate for women of color, in technology. Winthrop University  featured her work. “I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina,” site of world-class universities and home to Research Triangle Park. Her mother was a 32-year IBM programmer, and father was a K through 12 educator and administrator. “I was surrounded by black men and women who were educators, engineers, college professors, business leaders, attorneys, doctors and more: a network doing inspiring things in science and math.” Her mother purchased a new computer every few years and Dr. Washington assembled each one.  Her mother “introduced me to programming opportunities,”  Pascal and Basic, then more advanced languages.  At Johnson C. Smith University, Dr. Washington’s path changed when an influential professor convinced her to concentrate on computer science.  Dr. Dorothy Cawser Yancy, University President, nominated her for the  David and Lucille Packard fellowship, a $100,000 5-year grant for students to pursue STEM doctorates, including annual week-long symposiums, with professional workshops and “honest safe spaces” for sharing.  Dr. Washington graduated as undergraduate valedictorian and won the award. “My trajectory changed from there.”  Dr. Washington became “a black woman in a program where only one other person looked like me” pursuing masters/doctoral degrees at North Carolina State University.  “I suffered from ‘impostor syndrome;’ and would lean on my community,” since her campus was 20 minutes from her childhood home. She often had to “armor up” every day and was fortunate to gain an empathetic advisor, Dr. Harry Perros, with whom she had “real talks” about struggles as a black woman in a post-graduate computer science program.  She won another fellowship in her graduate school:  NASA’s Harriet G. Jenkins award, giving monetary support and other unique experiences tailored to graduates from  historically black colleges/universities. Dr. Washington shared advice for programmers, technologists, application developers.  “When you reach a roadblock, take a break and step away. Sometimes you are so engrossed, you cannot see high levels.” She decried students’ misconceptions that they must “know everything” and advised “be unafraid to ask for help.”  When faced with bias, she said: “It is not you. You are not the first. You will not be the last. Take up space without losing yourself in the process. Maintain a level of self-care.” Dr. Washington’s message is “until there is a major shift in the narrative, we are going to see major challenges. Find the tribe who can get you through.”   Dr. Washington is now doing appreciable research in  cultural competence in computing citing insufficiencies on the university level.  Approximately 85% of university computing faculty are Caucasian or Asian, not serving as full role models.  “We lose students in the middle ground, between K through 12 and careers.” She noted that while undergraduate curriculum emphasizes technology skills, it does not emphasize cultural competence. “We see, every day, technology announcements that are biased,” as a result. She cited self-driving car and healthcare database applications as two examples where “people developing them are not recognizing biases.” Dr. Washington proposes a long-overdue revolution: required assessment for cultural competence in computing. “I am trying to force a conversation around cultural competence for all computer science students before graduation,” beginning with a required 3-credit course called Race, Gender, Class and Computing.  Her aspiration is a country-wide movement on computing cultural competency, using the right role models, “people who live, eat and breathe this for a living.” During nine years at Howard University, Dr. Washington partnered with Google to bring a middle school course to 300 Howard University’s Middle School students; then co-championed an Exploring Computer Science program to bring computer science to Washington DC public high schools.  She helped establish the first  Google In Residence program at Howard which “expanded to other historically black universities including Fisk, Morehouse College, Spellman and Hampton.”  Since relocating to Winthrop, Dr. Washington is working with Code.org to develop the nationwide framework for K through  12 computer science curriculum “as a blueprint in every state, so every student has access to computer science at every step.” She served as lead writer on South Carolina state’s K through 12 computer science and digital literacy standards and through Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., leads college prep workshops for students and parents.  Dr. Washington’s book:  UNAPOLOGETICALLY DOPE,  “speaks to every black woman and girl who needs to know there was someone just like them who went through the same things.” She speaks to computer science departments across the country on her research.  Dr. Washington’s key advice for women tech leaders, especially women of color, is: “Be unafraid to ‘take up space’ and own your narrative. Be intentional with everything you do. Recognize it’s always bigger than you. It’s not just happening to you. Make sure your intention is the best possible.” Make sure to check us out on online at www.divatechtalk.com, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Diva Tech Talk interviewed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drnickiw/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Nicki Washington</a>,  author, Associate Professor of Computer Science at <a href="https://www.winthrop.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Winthrop University</a>, founder at Washington Consulting LLC and passionate advocate for women of color, in technology. Winthrop University <a href="http://mytjnow.com/2019/03/27/computer-science-professor-breaks-barriers/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> featured</a> her work. “I was born and raised in <a href="https://durhamnc.gov/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Durham, North Carolina</a>,” site of world-class universities and home to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_Triangle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Research Triangle Park</a>. Her mother was a 32-year <a href="https://www.ibm.com/us-en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IBM</a> programmer, and father was a K through 12 educator and administrator. “I was surrounded by black men and women who were educators, engineers, college professors, business leaders, attorneys, doctors and more: a network doing inspiring things in science and math.” Her mother purchased a new computer every few years and Dr. Washington assembled each one.  Her mother “introduced me to programming opportunities,” <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_(programming_language)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Pascal</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Basic</a>, then more advanced languages.  At <a href="https://www.jcsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Johnson C. Smith University</a>, Dr. Washington’s path changed when an influential professor convinced her to concentrate on computer science. <a href="https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/dorothy-cowser-yancy-41" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Dr. Dorothy Cawser Yancy</a>, University President, nominated her for the <a href="https://www.packard.org/what-we-fund/science/packard-fellowships-for-science-and-engineering/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> David and Lucille Packard fellowship</a>, a $100,000 5-year grant for students to pursue STEM doctorates, including annual week-long symposiums, with professional workshops and “honest safe spaces” for sharing.  Dr. Washington graduated as undergraduate valedictorian and won the award. “My trajectory changed from there.”  Dr. Washington became “a black woman in a program where only one other person looked like me” pursuing masters/doctoral degrees at <a href="https://www.ncsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">North Carolina State University.</a>  “I suffered from ‘impostor syndrome;’ and would lean on my community,” since her campus was 20 minutes from her childhood home. She often had to “armor up” every day and was fortunate to gain an empathetic advisor, <a href="https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/people/hp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Harry Perros</a>, with whom she had “real talks” about struggles as a black woman in a post-graduate computer science program.  She won another fellowship in her graduate school: <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/education/harriett_jenkins.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> NASA’s Harriet G. Jenkins award</a>, giving monetary support and other unique experiences tailored to graduates from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> historically black colleges/universities</a>. Dr. Washington shared advice for programmers, technologists, application developers.  “When you reach a roadblock, take a break and step away. Sometimes you are so engrossed, you cannot see high levels.” She decried students’ misconceptions that they must “know everything” and advised “be unafraid to ask for help.”  When faced with bias, she said: “It is not you. You are not the first. You will not be the last. Take up space without losing yourself in the process. Maintain a level of self-care.” Dr. Washington’s message is “until there is a major shift in the narrative, we are going to see major challenges. Find the tribe who can get you through.”   Dr. Washington is now doing appreciable research in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=cultural+competence+in+computing&amp;hl=en&amp;as_sdt=0&amp;as_vis=1&amp;oi=scholart" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> cultural competence in computing</a> citing insufficiencies on the university level.  Approximately 85% of university computing faculty are Caucasian or Asian, not serving as full role models.  “We lose students in the middle ground, between K through 12 and careers.” She noted that while undergraduate curriculum emphasizes technology skills, it does not emphasize cultural competence. “We see, every day, technology announcements that are biased,” as a result. She cited self-driving car and healthcare database applications as two examples where “people developing them are not recognizing biases.” Dr. Washington proposes a long-overdue revolution: required assessment for cultural competence in computing. “I am trying to force a conversation around cultural competence for all computer science students before graduation,” beginning with a required 3-credit course called Race, Gender, Class and Computing.  Her aspiration is a country-wide movement on computing cultural competency, using the right role models, “people who live, eat and breathe this for a living.” During nine years at <a href="https://home.howard.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Howard University</a>, Dr. Washington partnered with <a href="https://about.google/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google</a> to bring a middle school course to 300 <a href="https://hu-ms2.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Howard University’s Middle School</a> students; then co-championed an <a href="http://www.exploringcs.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Exploring Computer Science</a> program to bring computer science to Washington DC public high schools.  She helped establish the first <a href="https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/static/7931/howard-university-and-google-expand-howard-west-computer-science-residency" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Google In Residence</a> program at Howard which “expanded to other historically black universities including Fisk, Morehouse College, Spellman and Hampton.”  Since relocating to Winthrop, Dr. Washington is working with <a href="https://code.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Code.org</a> to develop the nationwide framework for K through  12 computer science curriculum “as a blueprint in every state, so every student has access to computer science at every step.” She served as lead writer on South Carolina state’s K through 12 computer science and digital literacy standards and through <a href="https://aka1908.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc</a>., leads college prep workshops for students and parents.  Dr. Washington’s book: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unapologetically-Dope-Lessons-Surviving-Thriving/dp/098474679X/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> UNAPOLOGETICALLY DOPE</a>,  “speaks to every black woman and girl who needs to know there was someone just like them who went through the same things.” She speaks to computer science departments across the country on her research.  Dr. Washington’s key advice for women tech leaders, especially women of color, is: “Be unafraid to ‘take up space’ and own your narrative. Be intentional with everything you do. Recognize it’s always bigger than you. It’s not just happening to you. Make sure your intention is the best possible.” Make sure to check us out on online at <a href="http://www.divatechtalks.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.divatechtalk.com</a>, on Twitter @divatechtalks, and on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/divatechtalk</a>. And please listen to us on SoundCloud, Stitcher, or your favorite podcasting channel and provide an online review.

Ep 97: Dr. Nicki Washington: Armor Up, Every Day

#BITTechTalk ep 74 w Dr Nicki Washington