Last week I continued to go back over my reading and write from what I have read thus far determining what would be suited for chapter 1 and chapter 2. I should complete that exercise this week and get back to writing as I think and read. When I feel pretty good about how much of the literature I have covered I plan to actually go back and rewrite the drafts. Also, this week, one of my co-workers had a copy of "Growing Up Digital" on his desk. I borrowed the copy and I will read it next week and incorporate it into my chapters. I decided to get a copy since Margaret mentioned it may be a good study to model.

Kai

No writing over the weekend. I will hit hard again on Monday.

Last night I began my new writing strategy after reading from "Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day" by Joan Bolker. The idea is to write something every day, however you define everyday and also to make thinking and writing the first thing you do each. I am going to try for my everyday, Monday thru Friday since my weekends belong to my family. So, this morning I rose. Washed my face and headed to my computer and start to write my ideas and thoughts about my dissertation. It seemed to work well. Now this does not mean I may not write at other times, but for certain I will write each day as my first task of the day. Afterword, I worked out and took a shower and had breakfast before leaving for the office. What a great start to the day!

Title

Black Like Me? The Missing Faces in Technology and Innovation: Why Are So Few African Americans Pursuing Careers in Information Technology?

Tonight I continued to review my notes from my reading of "Stuck in the Shallow End" by Jane Margolis. I hope to complete this review in the next couple of days and then move on to Technology and Social Inclusion by Warshchauer. From there, I will review several of the articles that I have read and include them in my chapter. When I feel good about this, I will start reading again my next set of articles that will hopefully complete my chapter 1 and build my chapter 2. I would like to have chapters 1, 2 and 3 done by December. I still need a title. Although, I am very clear that I would like to look at the problem of the underrepresentation of African Americans in Information Technology, as of yet I still do not have a title for my dissertation. Here is on that I am thinking about:


Cracking the Code: Why Are So Few African Americans Pursuing Careers in Information Technology?

Today I went back over my notes from "Stuck in the Shallow End". This is my favorite piece of reading thus far on my topic. As i was reviewing and adding content and notes to my chapter 1, something I read made me think. Although I am not interested in doing my study in schools, I am interested in knowing why so few African Americans pursue careers in Information Technology. On page 9 of the book I read this:

Margolis committed her next research project to understanding what was happening at the high school level for students of color because African American and Latino majoring in computer science remained extremely low. She went on to write: It is during high school when students make academic decisions that have the most serious implications for their college and/or career opportunities.


I am definitely going to have to think about this. It makes sense that this would be a good place to look and I definitely interested in understanding this problem. I am just not excited about the idea of conducting my research in a school.

I could interview some of the student participants of BDPA. What is it about BPDA that encourages them to pursue careers in information technology that is missing from school.

A Case Study of Black Data Processing Associates:Closing the computer science gap in America.

Maybe I can do a case study of BDPA? I do not want to deal with schools. Here is a organization devoted to bridging the digital divide and getting young African Americans involved in technology. I need to think about this more....

http://www.betf.org/index.html

check this link. let me know what you think.

Or maybe I can write a paper or culturally relevant pedagogy as it pertains to computer science or information technology. Of course this approach places me back in schools where I do not wish to be.

Last night I spent time reviewing my readings and my blog posts and adding them to my actual draft of my paper. I did finish reviewing them all but I should have that done by the weekend. My plan is to complete that activity before I start reading again then I will continue to aggregate my readings into the appropriate chapter. I think from the reading my topic and study will become more defined. I understand that now.

Working on my dissertation tonight. I am going back over my blog notes. I was taking notes while I was reading. This is helping me to form my chapter 1 and chapter 2. I came across a potential study.

Maybe I could do a case study of a school where African Americans are excelling in Computer Science?

In other words, it is known that African Americans are not doing well in Math or Computer Science. Suppose I located a school where African Americans are excelling. And study it. Do a case study and relate the success stories in my dissertation. What are they doing at this school they can be replicated at other schools across the country.

Let me know what you think

Potential Title:

The Next Generation of The Black Digerati: Success Stories of African American Student Exemplars of Computer Science

Research Topic:

Digital Equity Among Information Technology Professionals

I did not work on my paper last night. I am hoping to put in a few hours on Sunday.

Tonight I worked on my outline for chapter 1. I also read an example chapter one and thought about my readings. I am sure this will change but it is a starting point. I intend to write to this outline on Thursday night.

Last night I started writing my chapter one. I started to look back over the materials I have read thus far to capture my thoughts for chapter one. I also combed over The Craft of Research. Additionally, I reviewed several chapter one examples. Tonight I intend to really get something down from the sources that I have read over the last few weeks. Once I feel that I have done that, I will get back to the process of reading and writing in order to produce chapters 1 and 2. My project has started in earnest.

More ideas from Margaret:

It is my sense that your topic has been shifting as you were looking at leaders before. But maybe you still do plan to look at leaders. It just seems you have more focus on your topic. When you say "studies like this"...what do you mean exactly? I think that getting some IT people from different backgrounds might be interesting and finding out what their school IT culture was. Also you might want to find some non-IT AA and see what their school culture was like and how it affected the way they use computers. Think about it and let's talk soon.

Today I communicated with Dr. Riel via email and found out that I should have been writing chapter 1 and chapter 2 while I was reading. I have not been doing that. She also mentioned how I may go about producing these chapters. Tonight I am officially starting the writing process. She also mentioned that I was narrowing in on my topic. I thought I already had a topic. I want to look at the question of Why African Americans are so underrepresented in the field of Information Technology or Computer Science. She and another one of my classmates also gave me a few ideas about how I could do design a study by doing a school comparison which I am not interested. Another idea is to interview young African Americans in Information Technology about their high school culture as it relates to IT. I will do more reading this week with this idea in mind later in the week. Tonight I want to get the writing started and do a little more reading in The Craft of Research to get a better idea of what is a topic.

Last night I received feedback from Margaret that I should have been writing while I was reading. I was not doing that. So, tonight the writing starts. She gave me good guidance as to how to go about doing that. Also, I received feedback from Karen regarding an idea of how to do design my study. One was to do a comparison study between schools. I am not really interested in dealing with the schools. Another idea was to interview IT Pros and have them discuss their experiences. I also search and found a few articles that I intend to read tonight as I begin the writing process. Take 2 of chapter one begins tonight!