Increasing the Participation of Under-represented Minority Student Groups in Computer Science and Engineering: An REU Site Experience

Statistics indicate that under-represented minority student groups continue to experience high dropout rates, low graduation rates, low enrollment in graduate programs and low participation in computer science and engineering (CS&E). At the same time, trends indicate that these groups will constitute an important part of the population of the United States by year 2050. Given these facts, it is crucial to help these minority groups become an integral part of the economic fabric of the United States. It has been shown that undergraduate research is one of the best vehicles to address several of these important issues. This paper describes our experience running a NSF-sponsored research experiences for undergraduates (REU) site in CS&E for under-represented minority student groups. We describe the most important aspects that need to be included in these programs and some strategies for running them successfully. Finally, we include the results of our evaluation and show the effectiveness of the program