Bio


Breauna Marie Spencer serves as the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within the Computer Science department at Stanford University. Her research and advocacy work are dedicated to increasing the number of women and students of color enrolled in engineering and computing undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Ms. Spencer's research efforts have been supported by the National Science Foundation, the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States, UC Irvine, amongst many other foundations, agencies, and universities. As a current doctoral candidate at UC Irvine in the Sociology department, Ms. Spencer has also participated in research fellowship programs with Google and the National GEM Consortium and has helped lead national research studies designed to improve educational outcomes for undergraduate students in computing and engineering disciplines as well as learn about the success stories of career professionals in computing and engineering disciplines. Ms. Spencer has also received extensive research evaluation training at the American Evaluation Association and WestEd as a research fellow and she has also served as a part-time faculty member at Loyola Marymount University teaching research methodology and social psychology courses. To support K-12 students interested in pursuing STEM degree programs and careers, she and her students have provided a series of workshops to students within the Los Angeles Unified School District, which included: Social Identity in STEM, Career Opportunities in STEM, and The Intersection of Hip-Hop Music & Urban Science Education.

Current Role at Stanford


Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Computer Science Department
School of Engineering

Education & Certifications


  • B.A., University of California, Irvine, Education Sciences (2015)
  • B.A., University of California, Irvine, Sociology (with Honors) (2015)
  • M.A., University of California, Irvine, Demographic & Social Analysis (2016)
  • M.A., University of California, Irvine, Sociology (2019)

All Publications


  • Expectations vs. Reality: ReImagining the Engineering & Computing Doctoral Experience for Black Women Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering Spencer, B. M., Artis, S., Artis, S., LeSure, S. 2021