Lisa Kaczmarczyk

Owner of a Program Evaluation Consulting Business

Lisa Kaczmarczyk grew up in New England and is currently the owner of a program evaluation consulting business that specializes in computer science and engineering education. A computer scientist and educator herself, with an interdisciplinary background, Dr. Kaczmarczyk has extensive experience evaluating NSF-funded STEM projects at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels, and has served as project co-PI. Her expertise is in interdisciplinary computing and engineering, outreach to women and girls, and computing for social good. 

 

Educational Journey

Lisa was confident she was going to pursue a career in theater. Midway through earning a bachelor’s degree in Drama and Spanish from Tufts University, she decided to shift gears and explore computer science. Although it was too late to switch majors, she took several engineering classes throughout her undergraduate career, cementing her place and general interest in the field.

Lisa has never been afraid to advocate for herself. Or, as she puts it, she was confident in her ability to “talk [her] way into the computing industry.” Upon graduating from Tufts, she worked in the computing industry for several years before earning her master’s in Information Systems from Northeastern University, where she convinced the dean of the program to admit her. She later earned an additional master’s in Computer Science from the University of Oregon, which would later drive her passion for education.

Intending to go back to industry after the University of Oregon, Lisa interviewed for both a corporate job and an educator role at a community college. After a poor experience with a professor, Lisa realized she could make an impact on students’ lives by becoming a student-centered educator, “I can be a faculty that will do things differently. I can basically do the best I can to be something other than what he was.” Lisa felt in her gut that the community college position was right for her and decided to take the job, marking the beginning of her long career in computing education.

In a field that fundamentally relies on and trains in logic, Lisa has found that making important decisions solely based on logic, on what people think she “should” do, or what society says you “should” do, may lead to success, but is not always the most fulfilling avenue.

“I’ve been really good at getting what I want, but a lot of times I would get what I want, and I wasn’t happy. And so, what I’ve had to really learn is to listen to my gut. And when my gut is telling me you really should be doing something else, I really need to listen to that.”

 

Interdisciplinary Ph.D. to Business Owner

After working at the community college for several years and with a goal of conducting computer science education research, Lisa went on to earn an official Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Science Education from the University of Texas at Austin. Because of her nontraditional background, she pursued her doctorate through the Science Education department after being told the Computer Science department was not interested in educational research as a dissertation topic. Regardless, she grafted herself to the CS department to the point where many of the faculty did not realize she was not an official Computer Science Ph.D. student.

Lisa’s interdisciplinary Ph.D. melded traditional computer science, psychology, and education. During her time at the University of Texas at Austin, she learned how to effectively communicate between fields with entirely different values, research methods, world views, and structures. After completing her Ph.D., Lisa worked as a tenure track faculty member before moving into a non-faculty position. Later, Lisa founded a program evaluation business that works primarily with computer science and engineering faculty who receive grants from the National Science Foundation. Lisa’s business develops evaluation plans for proposals and implements the plans once the projects are funded, ensuring the programs are having the impact they intended.

 

Words of Advice

Throughout her journey, Lisa was repeatedly told she would have to go back and earn her bachelor’s in computer science. She attributes her interdisciplinary background to her rise and success in the field of computing and continues to hold it as a core value. Her story is a reminder to follow your gut and take a chance on yourself. In her own words, Lisa advises students who are interested in computing but may not have the traditional credentials to, “think outside the box, think creatively, and find other people who have done things differently because they can give you the kind of supportive advice and encouragement to follow what you really want to do.”