Technology plays a crucial role in people's lives. However, software engineering discriminates against individuals from underrepresented groups in several ways, either through algorithms that produce biased outcomes or for the lack of diversity and inclusion in software development environments and academic courses focused on technology. This reality contradicts the history of software engineering, which is filled with outstanding scientists from underrepresented groups who changed the world with their contributions to the field. Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, and Clarence Ellis are only some individuals who made significant breakthroughs in the area and belonged to the population that is so underrepresented in undergraduate courses and the software industry. Previous research discusses that women, LGBTQIA+ people, and non-white individuals are examples of students who often feel unwelcome and ostracized in software engineering. However, do they know about the remarkable scientists that came before them and that share background similarities with them? Can we use these scientists as role models to motivate these students to continue pursuing a career in software engineering? In this study, we present the preliminary results of a survey with 128 undergraduate students about this topic. Our findings demonstrate that students' knowledge of computer scientists from underrepresented groups is limited. This creates opportunities for investigations on fostering diversity in software engineering courses using strategies exploring computer science's history.

翻译：技术在人们的生活中扮演着关键角色。然而，软件工程在多个方面歧视来自弱势群体的个体，例如通过产生偏见结果的算法，或是由于软件开发环境及聚焦技术的学术课程中缺乏多样性和包容性。这一现实与软件工程的历史相悖，该领域历史上涌现出众多来自弱势群体的杰出科学家，他们以自身贡献改变了世界。艾达·洛夫莱斯、艾伦·图灵和克拉伦斯·埃利斯只是其中一部分在领域内取得重大突破的代表人物，而他们所属的群体在本科课程及软件行业中却长期处于代表性不足的状态。此前研究指出，女性、LGBTQIA+人群及非白人群体等学生常在软件工程中感受到排斥与疏离。然而，他们是否了解那些先于他们出现的、与自身背景相似的卓越科学家？我们能否将这些科学家作为榜样，激励这些学生坚持追求软件工程职业？本研究基于对128名本科生的问卷调查，展示了关于该主题的初步结果。研究发现，学生对来自弱势群体的计算机科学家的认知十分有限。这为探究如何通过利用计算机科学历史策略，在软件工程课程中促进多样性提供了研究契机。