Rita Orji is a Nigerian-Canadian computer scientist who is a Canada Research Chair in Persuasive Technology and the Director of the Persuasive Computing Lab at
Dalhousie University.[1] Her work is in the area of
human–computer interaction with a major focus on designing interactive systems to achieve health and well being objectives.[2] She has won over 70 awards and recognitions from both national and international organizations.[3] She has addressed a
United Nations panel about the status of women and at the
Parliament of Canada.[4]
Early life and education
Orji grew up in
Enugu State Nigeria. She is
Igbo by tribe. She was raised by parents, Maria and Okonkwo Orji, who never attended school, in a remote town called Owelli with no electricity and pipe-borne water. She is one of nine siblings and her parents supported the family through peasant farming. Orji did not have access to a computer growing up, and was admitted to study Computer Science at
Nnamdi Azikiwe University without having used a computer.[5][6] She graduated top of her class with First Class Honours.[citation needed] During her secondary education, she entered the
Nigerian team for the
International Mathematical Olympiad.[citation needed] In 2002, she launched "Education for Women and the Less Privileged in Nigeria", a nonprofit organisation that provides mentorship and scholarships for women in education.[6] Orji joined a master's program at
Middle East Technical University, where she was the only African student in class. She completed her master's in 2009 and moved to
Canada as a graduate student.[7]
Orji joined the Games Institute at the
University of Waterloo as a Banting Fellow in 2016.[12] She is interested in persuasive technology and how to design technologies that can promote health and wellness and technologies for promoting social and public goods.[13] Orji joined the Faculty of Computer Science at
Dalhousie University as an assistant professor in 2017.[14] She designs interactive systems and
persuasive technologies, particularly to benefit under-served populations.[15] She has studied how culture and age influence the efficacy of persuasive technologies. She analysed how reward, competition, social comparison and social learning differ between men and women in collectivist and individualist cultures, finding that in
collectivist cultures, men are more susceptible to reward and competition.[16]
Advocacy and engagement
Orji is a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) diversity ambassador, working towards increased participation of women and minorities in computing, including using herself as a practical example. She is passionate about youth empowerment and women's access to education.[17] She was honoured by hEr VOLUTION as one of the top 150 women scientists in Canada.[18][19] She attended the
UN Commission on the Status of Women in
New York City.[5] She spoke at the 2018
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) Panel: It is Up to Me.[20]
^Oyibo, Kiemute; Orji, Rita; Vassileva, Julita (2017). "The Influence of Culture in the Effect of Age and Gender on Social Influence in Persuasive Technology". Adjunct Publication of the 25th Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization. UMAP '17. New York, NY, USA: ACM. pp. 47–52.
doi:
10.1145/3099023.3099071.
ISBN9781450350679.
S2CID23199073.