Jennifer Wang
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The barriers to diversity in computer science (CS) are complex, consisting of both structural and social barriers. In this paper, we focus on social perceptions for students in grades 7-12 in the U.S. Through surveys of nationally representative samples of 1,672 students, 1,677 parents, 1,008 teachers, 9,805 principals, and 2,307 superintendents, we built on qualitative work by Lewis, Anderson, and Yasuhara [1,2] to understand social beliefs around students’ fit and ability as well the external context, as related to students’ interest. We contribute a holistic perspective of pre-university students, confirming much research on gender differences in social perceptions in CS while identifying new findings for race/ethnicity, specifically Black and Hispanic students. As K-12 CS expands, these findings can inform differentiation strategies in equitably engaging K-12 students.
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As computer science (CS) education expands at the K-12 level, we must be careful to ensure that CS does not exacerbate existing equity gaps in education nor does it hinder efforts to diversify the field of CS. In this paper, we discuss structural and social barriers that influence Blacks, Hispanics, and girls, based on surveys of 1,672 students, 1,677 parents, 1,008 teachers, 9,805 principals, and 2,307 superintendents in the United States. We find that despite higher interest in CS among Black and Hispanic students and parents, structural barriers in access to computers and CS classes are greater for them than for White students. And while girls have the same access as boys, social barriers exist with girls reporting lower awareness of CS opportunities outside of classes, less encouragement from teachers and parents, and less exposure to CS role models in the media. It is critical for expanding CS opportunities to address these issues for each group.
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Landscape of K-12 Computer Science Education in the U.S.: Perceptions, Access, and Barriers
Jason Ravitz
SIGCSE '16, ACM, Memphis, TN, USA (2016)
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Through surveys of 1,673 students, 1,685 parents, 1,013 teachers, 9,693 principals, and 1,865 superintendents across the United States, this study explores perceptions, access, and barriers to computer science education at the K–12 level. We found most respondents were unable to distinguish computer literacy activities from computer science, with female, Black, or Hispanic respondents even less likely to do so. Perceptions of who does computer science were narrow and stereotypical (White, male, smart), but there was high value and demand for computer science across all populations, particularly among parents. Results indicate discrepancies in access to technology and computer science. Over 75% of principals reported their school did not offer computer science with programming/coding, but Hispanic students reported lower exposure to computers at home and in school and Black students and low-income students reported less access to computer science learning in school. Hispanic students and female students were also less likely to have learned computer science or have confidence to learn computer science compared to their counterparts. Finally, we explored barriers to access and identified a harsh disconnect: parent and student demand for computer science education was high while administrators’ perceptions of this demand was low. Additionally, the most common barriers to offering computer science cited by principals and superintendents were the need to dedicate time to other courses and testing requirements and the lack of qualified teachers, with technology less common of a barrier.
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Gender Differences in High School Students’ Decisions to Study Computer Science and Related Fields
Jason Ravitz
Mo-Yun Lei Fong
Proceedings of the 46th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, ACM (2015)
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Increasing women’s participation in Computer Science (CS) is a critical workforce and equity concern. The technology industry has committed to reversing negative trends for women in CS, engineering, and related fields. Building on previous research, we surveyed 1,739 high school students and recent college graduates to understand factors influencing decisions to pursue CS-related
college degrees. Results indicate social encouragement, career perception, academic exposure, and self perception are the leading factors for women, while the influence of these factors is different for men. These factors are actionable, and understanding differences in their influence on men and women will inform our approaches to achieving gender parity in tech.
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Gender Differences in Factors Influencing Pursuit of Computer Science and Related Fields
Jason Ravitz
Marielena Ivory
Proceedings of the 20th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ACM (2015) (to appear)
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Increasing women’s participation in computer science is a critical workforce and equity concern. The technology industry has committed to reversing negative trends for women in computer science as well as engineering and information technology “computing” fields. Building on previously published research, this paper identifies factors that influence young women’s decisions to pursue computer science-related degrees and the ways in which these factors differ for young men. It is based on a survey of 1,739 high school students and recent college graduates. Results identified encouragement and exposure as the leading factors influencing this critical choice for women, while the influence of these factors is different for men. In particular, the influence of family is found to play a critical role in encouragement and exposure, and outreach efforts should focus on ways to engage parents.
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