Pathways into Computing: Equity Trends Among Community College Graduates

• In Event: Promoting Equitable CS and AI Education: Strategies to Expand Capacity and Access

Abstract

Objectives or Purpose
This study aims to examine access to computing majors at four-year institutions for community college graduates from 2010 to 2023 by addressing the following questions:

(1) How has access to computing and non-computing STEM bachelor’s programs changed for associate degree holders from 2010 to 2023?
(2) Are there racial and gender disparities in transfer into CS majors among associate degree holders?

Theoretical Framework
This study draws on the CAPE framework [5], which offers a system-level approach for examining equity in computing education through four components: Capacity, Access, Participation, and Experience. This study focuses on Participation by exploring who enrolls in computing bachelor’s degree programs via the community college transfer pathway. While institutional factors are not directly examined, transfer patterns may partially reflect underlying constraints such as computing degree availability [31] and admissions policies [1]. The study provides an indirect view of Access and highlights the need for future research on institutional factors shaping equitable entry into computing.

Methods and Data Sources
We used data from National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), a nationally representative survey of individuals with postsecondary degrees in the United States. The survey was administered irregularly from 1993 to 2023 and biennially since 2013. The NSCG includes respondents’ demographics, education, and employment.
We conducted descriptive analysis of trends in the proportions of associate degree holders transferring into computing versus non-computing STEM majors, disaggregated by racial and gender identities, from 2010 to 2023.

Results
We found the proportions of associate degree holders increased from 2010 to 2023 among both computing and non-computing STEM degree holders (see Figure 1). However, computing consistently constituted a larger share of associate degree holders than of its non-computing STEM counterparts.
We further analyzed the racial distribution of associate degree holders in both fields. In computing, there were notable increases in the representation of Asian, Black, and Hispanic individuals, indicating the viability of community colleges as a pathway to computing for students from underrepresented racial groups. Conversely, the racial composition of non-computing STEM fields remained relatively stable in non-computing STEM fields over the study period (see Figure 2).
However, these gains did not extend to gender representation (see Figure 3). We observed a stark difference between the shares of women and men among computing graduates from community colleges. Whereas these shares diverge in computing, the proportions of women community college graduates increased in non-computing STEM majors.

Significance
This study highlights the community college transfer pathway as a critical, yet uneven, entry point into computing. While the proportion of associate degree holders transferring into computing increased from 2010 to 2019, this trend declined afterward, raising concerns about emerging barriers. Some gains in racial representation were observed, but gender disparities persist–or even worsen. These patterns are concerning given the reliance on community colleges to broaden participation in computing for students from historically underrepresented groups [32]. Findings underscore the need to understand capacity- and access-related factors driving these trends and to inform institutional and policy efforts to strengthen equitable transfer pathways into computing.

Author

• Jinyoung Hur, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign