The vision of the CoNECD (pronounced, “connected”) Conference is to provide a forum for exploring current research and practices to enhance diversity and inclusion of all underrepresented groups in the engineering and computing professions. The Conference Organizing Committee believes that a transformation of our engineering workforce will not be the result of a singular focus. CoNECD will encompass the many diverse groups that comprise our engineering and computing workforce including groups based on gender (including gender identity and gender expression), race and ethnicity, disability, veterans, LGBTQ+, 1 st generation and socio-economic status.

CoNECD is seeking both evidenced based research and practice abstracts for presentations at the 1 st annual conference in Crystal City, Virginia, April 29-May 1. Of interest are topics related to diversity and inclusion in engineering, computing and/or technology in the United States and/or globally. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Outreach, mentoring and recruitment of diverse K-12 students
• Mentoring, innovative recruitment and retention programs for diverse groups of undergraduate and graduate students and their assessment
• Mentoring, recruitment, retention, leadership and professional development activities for diverse faculty, administrators and professionals in the engineering/computing workforce (including work/life balance and dual-career issues, listening and negotiation, workplace climate, and innovative programs supporting diversity and inclusion)
• Company/university programs, policies or reviews that impact particular diverse groups (Title IX, transgender policies, veteran integration into academic institutions) including, for example, military experience to academic recognition Transformative research that informs the development of impactful and forward-thinking programs and policies on issues such as intersectionality of race and gender.
• Transformative research that informs the development of impactful and forward-thinking programs and policies on issues such as intersectionality of race and gender.
• Integration of social justice into curricular and co-curricular activities
• Innovative curricular issues including inclusive pedagogies.
• Managing identity across a global landscape in K-12 outreach, recruitment, retention, and academic success strategies
• The importance of cultural relevance and history in expanding the curriculum, pedagogy, classroom design, and worker spaces in academia and corporate settings
• Understanding inclusion, equity, and diversity in the effort to broaden participation, transform institutional leadership and promote student-centered success strategies in academia
• Unleashing the invisible factors of human potential to innovate, explore the unknown and develop community centered solutions to address diversity and inclusion in industry and academia

CoNECD aims to include both researchers seeking peer-reviewed conference papers as well as practitioners who wish to submit a presentation associated with a successful practice. CoNECD will present a balance of basic research and development in the diversity and inclusion space as well as presentations that focus on promising practices successfully implemented in both academic and workplace environments. Authors may submit either papers or presentations based on accepted abstracts. CoNECD is also looking for workshops (full and partial day) and panels that focus on any of the areas of interest.

Authors should submit an abstract of 300 words or less on their paper/presentation topic. Authors of accepted abstracts must submit a full paper/presentation for review, acceptance and publication in order to present at the conference. Panels must also submit an abstract and may submit a full paper. Workshops must submit a workshop agenda.

Abstracts are due October 15, 2017 and may be submitted here.

CoNECD is a collaborative effort of the following organizations:

MIND – Minorities in Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education
NAMEPA – National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates
WEPAN – Women in Engineering ProActive Network
WIED – Women in Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education