GenderMag Online Course

The GenderMag Online Course is a free, online, self-directed training on gender-inclusive technology design. It was created for educators, instructional designers, technology professionals, and anyone else interested in this topic. The course covers how to do and teach GenderMag, a method for finding, fixing, and averting gender biases in technology and information designs. Educators who complete the course will learn to (1) reduce gender biases in their courseware and (2) teach their students to reduce gender biases in designs they create. Professionals, such as department IT staff, can use GenderMag to reduce gender biases in department websites, software, recruiting materials, and other technology and information designs.

The GenderMag Online Course has four modules: Modules 1 and 2 support learning GenderMag, and Modules 3 and 4 support teaching GenderMag to others. Completing the course in its entirety takes about 3 or 4 hours. It is provided on-demand and is unmonitored so people can start, pause, and finish it on their own timeline. Upon completion of each half, trainees are eligible for a professional development certificate.

GenderMag has multiple entries in the BPCnet Activity Library that might be of interest depending on your department’s or your needs:

• GenderMag Project for individuals, teams or departments;
• GenderMag-Teach for individual faculty and departments;
• GenderMag Online Course for all.

These activities can be cascaded. For example, in a multi-year BPC plan, individuals and teams could start with GenderMag Online Course to get the certificates. In later years, GenderMag-Teach could be used in teaching by the department, and the GenderMag Project further used by all on project outcomes and materials.

Examples of how to incorporate into a CISE proposal (PI):

• You can use the course’s Modules 1 & 2 to learn how to remove gender-inclusivity biases from your course materials, and then do so.
• You can use the course’s Modules 3 & 4 to learn how to teach portions of GenderMag in your classes, and then teach it. Research has shown that doing so increases students’ feelings of belonging in their classes and in the CS major.
• You can assign the course’s Modules 1 & 2 to your students, to teach them how to remove gender-inclusivity biases from the software they build.

Examples of how to incorporate into a departmental BPC plan (Department Chair):

• You can use Modules 1 & 2 to train your departmental staff to remove gender-inclusivity biases from the online resources your department creates.