Investigating How Undergraduate Computational Science (CS) Norms influence CS perceptions and experiences of Racial-Ethnic and Gender Marginalized Students

• In Event: Excellence in Education Research: Early Career Scholars and Their Work

Abstract

There is still much to be understood about what factors shape and support equitable post-secondary educational experiences and outcomes for students from groups historically minoritized in the computational sciences (CS). When considering complex issues of racial-ethnic and gender inequities in CS education, there is a particular need to better elucidate how undergraduate CS educational norms, including pedagogical practices in introductory courses, impact feelings of CS identity among these students. Here “identity” is rooted in sociological theories of identity, where individuals examine their identity experiences in terms of society. As such, a key aspect of identity is that it is relational to an individual’s other multiple social identities (i.e. gender, sexuality, class, race). In this context “CS identity” refers to how an individual’s social identities interact with how they view themselves as computational science persons and how they are recognized by others as such. Numerous studies have shown that students’ STEM learning trajectories are greatly shaped by their STEM identities, but few have focused on how interactions between the cultural norms of undergraduate computer science and the CS identity development of historically-margninalized student groups impact student perceptions of CS. Our proposed study is centered on better understanding the individual experiences of gender marginalized individuals in CS and how they differ between members of racial/ethnic groups that have been historically dominant or non-dominant in the field; as such it is grounded in an intersectional identity-theoretical framework. This study will be deployed initially in the context of introductory CS undergraduate courses and will comprise survey items centered on critically elucidating student perceptions of undergraduate CS norms and their potential interaction with student identity. Our primary focus on factors impacting historically marginalized students from an intersectional lens will distinguish our project aims from prior studies and ensure that it provides valuable, actionable new information for educational institutions working to address historical inequities in CS student experiences and outcomes.

Author

• Faye-Marie L. Vassel, Stanford University