BU Today: This Student-Created CDS Workshop Examines Equality in the Technology Industry
Excerpt from BU Today | By: Alene Bouranova, Photo: Kristen Handricken | July 6, 2023
Every sector can benefit from investing in diversity and inclusion work.
Algorithmic bias, nonaccessible web design—as a computer science major, Junia Janvier (CAS’23) thought often about the inequities in the field she was studying. Then there were the broader issues within the technology industry as a whole, from a lack of representation at top companies to the Wild West of AI content and copyrights. She realized there were plenty of opportunities to study more inclusive practices in tech.
Initially, Janvier thought she’d just dive into a research project for her job as a diversity and inclusion coordinator at BU Spark! the tech incubator and lab for student-led computational and data-driven projects. But once she started bouncing ideas off Spark! faculty, a bigger idea began to take shape.
“We talked about what’s something long-standing we could create that would have a lasting impact” at Boston University? Janvier says. “And that’s how the idea for a class came in.”