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PROJECT SUMMARY

Overview

The Researching Early Access to Computing and Higher Education (REACH): Understanding CS pathways with a focus on Black women (Level 1, Research Area II – Research on Broadening Participation in STEM, Clusters  Diversity, equity, access, and inclusion in STEM education and the workforce; Factors at the institutional, structural, organizational, societal, and systemic levels that affect STEM teaching, learning, and participation in STEM education and the workforce) study is designed to investigate the relationship between students’ computing experiences in K-12 and higher education to assess equity in Texas and Maryland. Our three driving research questions are 1) What are the systemic barriers to equitable access to and participation in CS education in K-12? 2). What are the unique experiences for Black women participating in a CS pathway? And 3) What can be learned when replicating the research methodologies across policy boundaries? Statewide education data will be used for a longitudinal analysis that tracks students and their computing experiences from 6th grade to college to which 6-12 course taking patterns lead to more participation in computing in college and how these relationships differ for distinct groups of students. Analyses of college student surveys and interviews designed to understand how K-12 experiences translate to higher education will further help refine the K-16 computing education ecosystem. We center our research within the theoretical framework of Black Feminist Thought, specifically, intersectionality. Framing our research and findings through the lens of the domains of power will not only lead to a deeper understanding of the experiences of Black women in computing, and highlight the systems and structures that maintain their underrepresentation in the field.

Intellectual Merit

REACH is a mixed methods research project designed to systematically answer how K-12 computing experiences influence students as they pursue higher education and whether and how that influence differs for distinct subpopulations of students. The quantitative analyses will examine state databases for middle and high school students' course taking patterns and their higher education engagement in computing, meaning that this study will be the first to examine how public school K-12 course taking patterns relate to higher education major selection for all student subgroups. Thus, findings will be more applicable to historically marginalized students than the results of prior studies and will lead to a more thorough and accurate understanding of these patterns overall. Conducting the analyses separately in two different states will further enhance the generalizability of the findings. These comprehensive state datasets will allow us to control for and examine many more factors than previous research has been able to incorporate together in one set of analyses. The qualitative findings will improve the CS education research community’s collective understanding of how college students, particularly Black women, are influenced by their K-12 computing experiences in selecting a major and how they apply computing skills and knowledge to their studies. By linking these data together we will generate a comprehensive picture of K-12 to higher education pathways. 

Broader Impacts 

Understanding the systemic barriers for students’ access to and participation in computing at the K-12 level, with a focus on how subpopulations are differentially impacted by computing-related policies, is important for designing, implementing, and potentially sustaining effective BPC strategies across the K-16 pathway. Understanding how students, especially Black women, make choices about their major, what computing skills are brought to the college context, and how K-12 computing experiences influence course-taking and success in college will help leaders and policy makers in K-12 and higher education to better meet the needs of these students. The quantitative analysis will measure disparities between student subpopulations and how they are compounded for students who are members of multiple marginalized groups. The qualitative analysis will directly ask college students about the barriers they faced in K-12 and how those challenges impacted their college experiences with computing. Black women will be engaged in data interpretation. Data will immediately inform those engaged in BPC efforts as it will show them what subgroups of students are being overlooked and how. This study will provide information that K-12 leaders can use to build computing course sequences and opportunities that better support students. This study will provide researchers in other states with the awareness, resources, and guidance for how to measure broadening participation in computing using longitudinal datasets. 

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Keywords: K-16, Black women, Computing, Mixed methods, Black Feminist Thought