Learning in Libraries: An Intersectional Analysis of Computing Identities

• In Event: Dis/Connecting With Computing: Designing for Critical Identities and Equitable Inquiry in K–12 Computer Science Education

Abstract

Objectives: Broadening participation in computer science requires a deep analysis of how intersecting identity categories—such as race, gender, dis/ability, sexual orientation, and class—shape personal educational experiences and outcomes. This is particularly significant for girls of color (e.g. African American, Latinx) who are projected to comprise the majority of the K-12 student population by 2027 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019). In this paper, we discuss the results from a researcher-practitioner partnership aimed at providing a culturally responsive technology program at three public libraries. The program provides culturally responsive computing programming for adolescent (ages 13-17) girls of color (e.g. African American and Latinx). We specifically examine how integrating intersectional identity exploration into computational thinking activities provides opportunities for girls of color to author computing identities that are tied to their raced- and gendered- developing consciousnesses.

Framework: Our study uses intersectional theory (Collins, 2000; Crenshaw, 1991; McCall, 2005) as both a heuristic for understanding the lived experiences of participating girls of color and as a form of critical praxis for developing out-of-school offerings that “explicitly challenge the status quo and aim to transform power relations” in the field of computing (Collins & Bilge, 2016). To this end, intersectionality served as a lens to examine how participants draw from their lived experience to develop computing identities and an agentic self-concept as someone who is fluent in the “talking, knowing, and doing” of computing (Tan, Calabrese Barton, Kang, & O’Neill, 2013, p. 1144).

Methods: Data was collected during nine implementations of the program offered from 2017- 2018 across three different states. The girls (n=64) self-identified as 73% African American and/or Latinx. Using a case study methodology, we triangulated data from various sources, including interviews, observations, and artifacts. The data collection approach yielded systematic field notes, interview transcripts, audiovisual recordings of program activities, and photographs of artifacts such as group projects.

Results: Findings demonstrate that both African American and Latinx girls base their computing identities on community membership. Whether determined by their race, ethnicity, or geographic positionality, program activities provided participants space to author computing identities that were grounded in their lived experiences. Rather than viewing their computing identity as solely connected to future career goals, the program supported girls in situating their computing identities within broader visions of current and future selves in ways that accounted for intersectional experiences and honored cultural multiplicity.

Significance: We contribute a greater theoretical and empirical understanding of how girls of color form computing identities within the context of informal computing programs. We argue that providing meaningful connections between intersectional and computing identities has the potential to result in broader and more inclusive conceptions of what it means to participate in computing, especially in ways that extend beyond career goals. By focusing on the girls’ intersectional identities, the program re-imagines computational experiences by fostering interactions with computational thinking from a personal perspective. Ultimately, we argue that centering girls’ intersectional identities should be viewed as an integral part of the learning process and not tangential.

Authors

• Kimberly A. Scott, Arizona State University

• Patricia Garcia, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor