Sense of Belonging in Computing: The Role of Introductory Courses for Women and Underrepresented Minority Students

Linda J Sax,Sarah L Rodriguez,Christina Zavala,Jennifer M Blaney,Kathleen J Lehman,Kari L George

doi:10.3390/socsci7080122

Linda J Sax, Sarah L Rodriguez + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080122

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Abstract

This study examines an aspect of gender and racial/ethnic gaps in undergraduate computing by focusing on sense of belonging among women and underrepresented minority (URM) introductory computing students. We examine change in sense of belonging during the introductory course as well as the predictors of belonging, with attention to conditional effects by gender and URM status. Results show that sense of belonging outcomes are a product of both incoming student characteristics and college environments and experiences, highlighting the important role the computing faculty play in fostering belonging. These and other findings are discussed, focusing on sense of belonging among women, URM students, and URM women.

Highlights

Despite national efforts to diversify computing in recent years, undergraduate computing programs remain remarkably un-diverse
We examined whether change in sense of belonging differed for underrepresented minority (URM) women compared to their counterparts (i.e., White and Asian men, White and Asian women, and URM men), or among disaggregated URM and majority groups
The final research question examined the factors that predict sense of belonging at the end of the introductory computing course and whether those predictors varied by gender or URM status

Summary

Introduction

Despite national efforts to diversify computing in recent years, undergraduate computing programs remain remarkably un-diverse. Women and URM students often face negative stereotypes about their ability to succeed in computing (Cheryan et al 2009; Margolis et al 2008) and are more likely to perceive the climate in computing as racist or sexist (Barker et al 2009). This may be important to consider for women from URM groups, as they face negative stereotypes in computing related to both their gender and race. We included a measure of sense of belonging at the beginning of the course, which served as a direct pretest for the dependent variable.

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