Threats to Scientific Innovation: An Intersectional Examination of the Impact of COVID-19 on Engineering and Computer Science Faculty and Entrepreneurs

• In Event: Ethical Considerations in Higher Education

Abstract

This study aims to investigate three impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the engineering and computer science (ECS) ecosystem. First, examine the losses and possibly unintended consequences incurred to the scientific community. Second, study how these consequences further exacerbate the disparities for underrepresented and marginalized ECSers'. Third, assess how the challenges associated with COVID-19 elucidate longstanding inequities within ECS training programs, academic departments, and industry. I seek to advance scientific knowledge by illuminating how ECSers respond to and navigate through COVID-19. Through an intersectional lens and mixed-methods approach, I seek to illuminate how racially underrepresented (URM) ECS professionals from diverse backgrounds and contexts respond to and navigate through COVID-19 pandemic.

Author

• Ebony O. McGee, Vanderbilt University