Invite an Industry Role Model to deliver a Guest Lecture
Back to All ActionsWhat is the Action?
Invite a prominent female industry role model to deliver a class.
Quick Facts to Support this Action
- Using industry role models in an initiative in TU Dublin helped increase the female student intake to 42%
- Students get exposed to industry role models early in their educational journey;
- Female computing students wish to see more female role models;
Research suggests that female role models can break stereotypes;
- Students have a chance to boost their future employability skills;
- Research showed positive feedback from computing students taught by an industry professional on resume writing, and this initiative contributed to their better performance and retention.
Ways to implement this action
Invite an industry professional to:
➤ Teach a Class on Resume Writing
These can be a once-off guest lecture within an introductory computing module.
Evaluation Approach
The most immediate impact of this action would be to see improved student performance (grades) and persistence (attendance and completion) in the course. Feedback from students on the invited role model can be collected as well.
The student survey can include the following questions:
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Before attending the lecture, how familiar were you with the guest speaker’s work?
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Not at all familiar
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Slightly familiar
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Moderately familiar
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Very familiar
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How inspiring did you find the guest speaker?
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1 (Not inspiring at all) → 5 (Extremely inspiring)
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To what extent did the speaker seem relatable to you personally?
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1 (Not relatable at all) → 5 (Extremely relatable)
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The lecture increased my understanding of current trends and opportunities in the industry.
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Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
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I learned practical tips or strategies that I can apply to my own career development.
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Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
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- This lecture has increased my motivation to pursue a career in this field.
- Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
- After this lecture, I am more likely to seek out similar industry engagement opportunities.
- Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
- I can see myself in a similar professional role in the future.
- Strongly disagree / Disagree / Neutral / Agree / Strongly agree
Include an open field question to collect any additional student feedback.
M. Barr, L. Binnie, E. Jacobs, K. Pavlou, and K. West. Understanding the role models that inspire women to study Computing Science. In Proc. of the 2024 Conf. on United Kingdom & Ireland Computing Education Research, pages 1–7. ACM, September 2024.
T. Breda, J. Grenet, M. Monnet, and C. Van Effenterre. Do female role models reduce the gender gap in science?: Evidence from French high schools. IZA–Institute of Labor Economics, 2020.
Cracking the Silicon Ceiling – Female intake for Computer Science degrees in TU Dublin reaches a record 42%. Irish Tech News, September 2020.
L. Ott. Explorations in computing: Could this be the key to retention? In FIE, pages 1–9, Madrid, Spain, 2014. IEEE Xplore, IEEE.
E. Taylor-Smith, C. Barnett, S. Smith, M. Barr, and C. Shankland. Participant-centred planning framework for effective gender balance activities in tech. In Proc. of the 2022 Conf. on United Kingdom & Ireland Computing Education Research (UKICER ’22), pages 1–7. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2022.