At a Crossroads: Exploring the Dilemma Discourses of Women in Computer Science

• In Event: 66.058 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 66.058-3 - Gender Complexities in STEM Education

Abstract

We explore what we refer to as “dilemma discourses” to illuminate the contradictions that emerge in the interface between a strong, affirmative action discourse, which emphasizes the need to increase the number of women in computer science (CS) and a meritocratic discourse. Our findings suggest that the focus on redistributive justice found in affirmative action discourses fails to address implicit cultural values inscribed in meritocratic discourses that reproduce gender biases and cultural inequities. Findings also highlight how women, primarily Latinas, invoked dilemma discourses to simultaneously reproduce and resist both affirmative action and meritocratic discourses. We suggest that tensions and contradictions found in dilemma discourses can provide important insights on how to transform enduring barriers found in STEM education.

Authors

• Christina Convertino, The University of Texas - El Paso

• Ashley Graboski-Bauer, The University of Texas - El Paso

• Viridiana Vidana, University of Texas at El Paso