Jane Margolis

Jane Margolis is a Senior Researcher at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. Her work focuses on systemic segregation and inequality in education. Since 1994 her work has focused on computer science education as a window into how segregation and inequality get reproduced. Margolis is the lead author of two award-winning books: Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing (MIT Press, 2002), which examines the gender gap in computer science at the college level; and Stuck in the Shallow End: Education Race, and Computing (MIT Press, 2008, 2017), which examines the low number of African-Americans, Latinos, and females in computer science at the high school level. Margolis has helped build a long-lasting partnership with LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the country, around broadening participation in computing. She has served as a national leader and PI on several major NSF grants focused on democratizing computer science education. Currently, her work focuses on elevating the voices and supporting the identity, agency, and engagement of high school students traditionally marginalized in computer science education. This work, in collaboration with team member Dr. Jean Ryoo, is taking place with students in LAUSD and the Mississippi Delta. In 2016, Margolis was awarded as an Obama White House Champion of Change for her work in broadening participation in computing.