Women of Color Leveraging Community Cultural Wealth to Persist in Computing and Tech Graduate Education: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

Maria Ong,Nuria Jaumot-Pascual,Audrey Martínez-Gudapakkam,Christina Silva

doi:10.3390/educsci11120797

Abstract

This paper synthesizes 20 years (1999–2019) of empirical research on women of color (WOC) in computing and tech graduate education. Using complementary theoretical frameworks of social pain and community cultural wealth (CCW), we identify factors in the research literature that affect WOC’s experiences, participation, success, and persistence. This qualitative meta-synthesis employed systematic literature search and selection methods, a hybrid approach to coding and thematic analysis. Findings include the ways in which social pain from isolation, exclusion, and hostility from peers and faculty negatively affected WOC’s experiences in their graduate programs. Often, WOC’s motivation to persist and succeed in computing came from key social actors, such as mentors and families, and from individual and social strategies, such as seeking counterspaces, that leveraged their CCW. This meta-synthesis contributes to the knowledge base about the mechanisms that support and hinder the persistence of WOC in computing graduate programs and provides recommendations for institutions and for further research.

Highlights

One of the fastest growing professions in the United States is within the field of computer science (CS) and related fields, typically offering high salaries and promising job security, especially for those with graduate degrees [1]
We organize the major findings in our meta-synthesis of literature on graduate women of color (WOC) in CS and related fields using the concepts of our theoretical framework: social pain and community cultural wealth (CCW)
As WOC navigated this culture of exclusion and hostility, they encountered various stereotypes that contributed to feelings of not belonging and social pain

Summary

Introduction

One of the fastest growing professions in the United States is within the field of computer science (CS) and related fields, typically offering high salaries and promising job security, especially for those with graduate degrees [1]. Women of color (WOC) in the U.S are significantly underrepresented in CS graduate education relative to their presence in the U.S population. In 2018, WOC represented 21.2% of the population, while representing 16.8% of CS master’s and 8.5% doctorates in the same year [2,3]. Women who are Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander are especially underrepresented (see Table 1). The only exceptions are Asian/Asian American women, who are not underrepresented in CS graduate education. Once in the workforce, they are less likely to be in positions of leadership than white women [1]. For this reason, they are included in this meta-synthesis

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Results

Conclusion