OVERVIEW
As part of the curriculum for one of my graduate classes titled "Foundations of HCI," I was tasked with completing a research review. It could be on any topic I wanted, as long as it related to Human-Computer Interaction. Having experience in the areas of design and research through my work as an Undergraduate and Graduate Research Assistant at the Technology for Social Good Lab at DePaul, I have learned about and am very passionate about doing work surrounding the following areas:
• the barriers that exist which deter members of historically underrepresented groups’ involvement in technology
• understanding how much of an impact these barriers have on communities
• examining how to increase a sense of belonging among historically underrepresented groups in the STEM fields.
Therefore, I chose the concept of Psychologically Inclusive Design, originally introduced by Rene F. Kizilcec, Ph.D.and Andrew J. Saltarelli in 2019. Psychologically Inclusive Design aims to understand how members of historically underrepresented groups, especially women, form their identity and a sense of social belonging in STEM fields.
RELATED TO HCI
A major aspect of HCI is understanding exactly how users use systems, as well as understanding the user experience & how they feel while using them. Understanding how digital systems influence and impact their users is crucial in HCI, which is why I believe it is important to further research the topic of psychologically inclusive design in relation to women in STEM. The effort to increase representation in STEM fields has increased in recent years; however, there still seem to be major gaps in participation. Why? How can designers help close these gaps? This is what I hoped to answer when researching this topic.
If you would like to read through my research, feel free to click on the link below. I hope you enjoy it!
*READ MY RESEARCH REVIEW HERE*
