Navigating Underrepresented STEM Spaces: Black Women in U.S. Computing Science Programs Who Actualize Success

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Building Solidarity Among Black Women and Black Men Scholars in Researching Black Women in STEM

Abstract

Many government entities within the United States (e.g., National Science Foundation, Department of Labor) have expressed an urgent need to increase the number of job seekers within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. In particular, strong emphases have been placed on increasing participation within the computing sciences among underrepresented populations. Even though STEM-related jobs are a growing sector of the United States economy, the nation faces a severe shortage in computing scientists (Charleston et al., 2014; Beyer, Rynes, Perrault, Hay, & Haller, 2003; National Science Foundation, 2006). For the last 10 to 15 years, the U. S. Department of Labor projected that approximately 1.6 million additional workers with degrees in computing sciences were needed to fulfill workforce demands (Charleston, 2012; Beyer et al., 2003; Hecker, 2001).
More than 30 years of research involving the gender divide in STEM fields have effectively demonstrated significant differences related to participation rates, attitudes, and perceptions among males and females (e.g., Jones, Howe, & Rua, 2000). However, the varying and conflicting nature of relative research results prompts a need for further clarification regarding these differences, particularly as it relates to African American women in computing sciences. Women now outnumber men with regard to college enrollment, and minority students are enrolling in record numbers at the postsecondary level (Charleston et al., 2014; Beyer et al., 2003; National Science Board, 2010). These changes should be assessed and addressed appropriately, particularly with respect to whether they have been accompanied by any changes in perceptions, attitudes, or experiences within and about computing sciences among African American females. Better understanding these dynamics is necessary in attempting to construct interventions that aim to foster increased participation (Jackson et al., 2009).
African American women in particular are an underrepresented group within the computing sciences, particularly at the highest degree attainment levels (e.g., Ph.D.). Moreover, the majority of opportunities to pursue doctoral degrees in computing take place in homogeneous environments, which are generally not welcoming to African American women (e.g., predominantly White institutions). Consequently, African American women are typically isolated in terms of race and gender as it relates to their matriculation toward doctorate degrees in computing sciences. These factors make African American females in computing a prime target for efforts to expand participation in the computing workforce—and an ideal group to study. As such, this qualitative inquiry into the lives of African American women in computing in higher education may provide insight that will positively contribute to this body of research by illuminating how these underrepresented students negotiate their unique status in computing science departments.

Author

• LaVar Jovan Charleston, University of Wisconsin - Madison