Understanding Professional Identities and Goals of Computer Science Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Understanding professional goals and identities of undergraduate Computer Science (CS) students is critical for curriculum decisions, workforce development, and retention programs. This paper aims to explore the ways in which undergraduate CS students describe their professional goals and identities, and gauge how these goals and identities vary across gender and academic standing. This paper is part of a larger study aimed at understanding how students form their professional goals and identities. In the study presented in this paper, we surveyed 109 CS undergraduate students and interviewed 14 CS undergraduate students across gender and academic standing. The data were qualitatively analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that most students identify themselves professionally as software development professionals, various specialized CS professionals, and by their majors. We also found that both male and female students were interested in becoming entrepreneurs, and females were more likely to have professional goals to move into management. This paper contributes to the fields' growing knowledge of undergraduate students' professional goals and professional identities. This knowledge can help CS departments to better align their degree programs, curriculum, and specialization tracks with student goals. Such an alignment has the potential to increase retention in the major as well as prepare students to be competitive in the workforce.