Northern Kentucky University is aiming to boost the number of women in tech, thanks to a new endowment.
Carol Swarts has donated to the Highland Heights university to establish the STRAWS Endowed Professorship of Computer Science, the first endowed faculty position awarded to a woman in the College of Informatics, according to a news release. Alina Campan, a professor of computer science, will be the endowment's first recipient.
"Many of the early computer science pioneers were women, but we still see underrepresentation across the board," Swarts said in a statement. "We live in a world that presents us with many challenges around technology, privacy, social media, and disinformation. NKU's College of Informatics is confronting these challenges with extraordinary faculty members like Dr. Campan. It's my privilege to support her research and professional development."
Despite accounting for 47% of the nation's total workforce, women remain highly underrepresented in the STEM fields, particularly in software engineering and computer science-related jobs where they account for 14% and 25% of the total workforce, according to the Pew Research Center.
NKU is home to one of the nation's earliest data science programs and Greater Cincinnati's lone cybersecurity programs, the release states. NKU ranks as Greater Cincinnati's third-largest university, with over 12,000 enrolled students, according to Business Courier research.
