Supporting Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Online Education Through Social Communities and Engagement

Brief Abstract

My session focuses on how to support diversity and inclusion in online education though the creation of social communities and engagement that humanizes the student experience by addressing mental health and wellbeing, inclusive peer support, the needs of underrepresented and historically marginalized students in an online graduate degree program through an intersectional social justice lens.

Extended Abstract

This session presents the ways in in which social communities and peer-to-peer engagement can humanize the online education student experience through a holistic and student care-centric approach and intersectional social justice lens. This session will introduce the top ten student life initiatives of an online at scale computer science program and highlight the ways these initiatives ensure belonging, facilitate engagement, and create community online while tackling inherent problems of online education such as isolation and social disconnectedness that directly affect student mental health and wellbeing. These ten student life initiatives are Seminars, Local Meet-Up Groups, an Official Student Life Slack Workspace, Spotlight Series, a Student Center, Weekly Digest, Project Showcase, Campus Tour Staff Coffee Hours, and a Hybrid Conference.

Seminars have weekly or bi-weekly synchronous live sessions where students have a chance to discuss a variety of topics with their peers and instructor. They also have asynchronous Ed Discussion forums as well to be inclusive of all students. Students can choose to engage in both or either format to accommodate the diverse schedules and time zones of a student population in an online program. Seminars, such as the Women in Tech seminar, provide a safe space of diversity and belonging. In this affinity-based seminar that is open to all students, beyond the weekly synchronous meetings and asynchronous discussions, this seminar also hosts guest speakers each semester. The guest speakers, all volunteers, are women and non-binary professionals that work in tech, Non-Profit Organizations, and in academia that subscribe to different ntersectional identities. These guest speakers provide representation and opportunities for students of underrepresented backgrounds to network.

Local Meet Up Groups is an initiative created to provide a space for direct non-technology mediated human interaction as it addresses digital wellbeing. A local meet up group has been established across 17 cities and two countries. These groups are led by a Chapter Head, either a student or an alum, that encourages engagement through online chats and also organizes in-person events and study groups. The events the Chapter Heads organizes are wide-ranging in nature; study groups, dinner reservations, beach cleanups, escape room adventures, even a “Friendsgiving” are all examples of past events.

The Official Student Life Slack Workspace houses all student life activity including the local meet up group channels, the Chapterhead channel, the Women in Tech Seminar channel, and a general channel. When developing these student life initiatives, it was clear a platform was needed to centralize all student life activities in one place. The Student Life Slack workstation is monitored by program staff to ensure it is a safe space of interaction and inclusion. 

The Student Center is a space that reflects the student on-campus hub. It is housed on Canvas, so students have permanent access to it, even after graduation. Student and alumni often post job openings, student club recruitment, and questions relevant to the program. This allows for greater student and alumni communications and collaborations. Having a central hub where students can instantaneously interact with each other and alumni program-wide is vital for the growth of social communities.

Representation, in any space, is important. It is even more important in fields such as Computer Science where women and minorities have been historically underrepresented due to factors such as lack of belonging and the perception that their identity do not fit into computer science. The Spotlight Series showcases the unique backgrounds of the program’s TAs, students, and alumni allowing for a space of intersectional representations. Moreover, these spotlight interviews further personalize the online experience and allow for socioemotional connections.

The Weekly Digest creates another form of community connection asynchronously as it is a way to have continuous social communication with all subscribed students and alumni in an online capacity.

The student Project Showcase is a chance for students to display their projects, either as an individual or as a team, that they worked on in their courses during the current semester. The projects are presented asynchronously via Ed Discussion, and students are encouraged to comment and ask questions as they would in an on-campus showcase. The Project Showcase not only allows students to present their projects and get recognition for their hard work but also for peer-to-peer interaction. It facilitates an academic community of support outside of their courses.  

Every graduation, the program hosts an in-person campus tour led by program staff members. Hundreds of students across the world, alongside their families and friends, attend this campus tour. This is not just a synchronous component to the program. Rather, it is a once in a lifetime experience, similar to the experience’s students on-campus have during graduation, even in an online program. 

Staff Coffee Hours are held every week, in which two program staff members rotate in hosting them. Coffee Hours have no planned topics or theme but rather they are a space for students to drop in and get to know the staff and their fellow peers. Furthermore, it creates transparency, trust, and community between the program staff and students. 

The Hybrid Conference features student presentations, demos, workshops, and a career fair. This conference gives students of an online program the unique chance to interact with staff, faculty, peers, and alumni in-person in an academic setting. Additionally, there will be an online portion to this conference, where all the presentations will be made available online to include the entire student population. Travel scholarships are provided.

All ten student life initiatives are efforts to encourage social communities, ensure diversity, inclusion, and belonging, and create engagement needed for comprehensive wellbeing in an online program through communication and transparency, relationship building between the program and its students and alumni, inclusive representation.