An official website of the United States government
The participation of female students in STEM majors, particularly computing and engineering, has remained low. In this study, our goal is to understand the most important factors influencing female students towards computing majors. We studied the impact of family and friends on four different racial groups including White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students who chose computing majors (n=1650). The results of the study indicated friends had a positive significant role on White female students’ major decisions.
more »
« less
Influences of Friends and Family on Women’s Pursuit of Computing: A Sequential Explanatory Design
The participation of female students in STEM majors, particularly computing and engineering, has remained low. In this study, our goal is to understand the most important factors influencing female students towards computing majors. We studied the impact of family and friends on four different racial groups including White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students who chose computing majors (n=1650). The results of the study indicated friends had a positive significant role on White female students’ major decisions.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 1643931
- PAR ID:
- 10298792
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Hawaii University international conferences on mathematics and engineering
- ISSN:
- 2160-2581
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
The participation of female students in STEM majors, particularly computing and engineering, has remained low. In this study, our goal is to understand the most important factors influencing female students towards computing majors. We studied the impact of family and friends on four different racial groups including White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian students who chose computing majors (n=1650). The results of the study indicated friends had a positive significant role on White female students’ major decisions.more » « less
-
The number of female students in computing fields remain low despite the millions of dollars spent on research for attracting more female students. In order to attract more female students to these male dominated fields, we first have to understand in which educational years we are losing female students. For the purpose of this study, we utilized the data from [title blinded for anonymity] an NSF funded study. Approximately, 1650 students from three large public universities in Florida participated in this survey. The survey contained 39 questions around identity, field of study, as well as fields they wanted to pursue during middle school, high school, and college. The responses gathered through the Qualtrics survey system were analyzed in R by the research team. The research questions that guided this study were: (1) To what extent are female students interested in computing related fields at middle school, the beginning of high school, and the beginning of college? (2) How have these occupational pursuits changed over time? Do they differ for gender? The results of the study indicated a majority of female students that were attracted to the computing fields during middle school remained in those fields during high school and college years. However, there was no significant flow from other majors to the computing fields observed during the different educational years.more » « less
-
Despite increasing demands for skilled workers within the technological domain, there is still a deficit in the number of graduates in computing fields (computer science, information technology, and computer engineering). Understanding the factors that contribute to students’ motivation and persistence is critical to helping educators, administrators, and industry professionals better focus efforts to improve academic outcomes and job placement. This article examines how experiences contribute to a student’s computing identity, which we define by their interest, recognition, sense of belonging, and competence/performance beliefs. In particular, we consider groups underrepresented in these disciplines, women and minoritized racial/ethnic groups (Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx). To delve into these relationships, a survey of more than 1,600 students in computing fields was conducted at three metropolitan public universities in Florida. Regression was used to elucidate which experiences predict computing identity and how social identification (i.e., as female, Black/African American, and/or Hispanic/Latinx) may interact with these experiences. Our results suggest that several types of experiences positively predict a student’s computing identity, such as mentoring others, having a job, or having friends in computing. Moreover, certain experiences have a different effect on computing identity for female and Hispanic/Latinx students. More specifically, receiving academic advice from teaching assistants was more positive for female students, receiving advice from industry professionals was more negative for Hispanic/Latinx students, and receiving help on classwork from students in their class was more positive for Hispanic/Latinx students. Other experiences, while having the same effect on computing identity across students, were experienced at significantly different rates by females, Black/African American students, and Hispanic/Latinx students. The findings highlight experiential ways in which computing programs can foster computing identity development, particularly for underrepresented and marginalized groups in computing.more » « less
-
Despite increasing demands for skilled workers within the technological domain, there is still a deficit in the number of graduates in computing fields (computer science, information technology, and computer engineering). Understanding the factors that contribute to students’ motivation and persistence is critical to helping educators, administrators, and industry professionals better focus efforts to improve academic outcomes and job placement. This article examines how experiences contribute to a student’s computing identity, which we define by their interest, recognition, sense of belonging, and competence/performance beliefs. In particular, we consider groups underrepresented in these disciplines, women and minoritized racial/ethnic groups (Black/African American and Hispanic/Latinx). To delve into these relationships, a survey of more than 1,600 students in computing fields was conducted at three metropolitan public universities in Florida. Regression was used to elucidate which experiences predict computing identity and how social identification (i.e., as female, Black/African American, and/or Hispanic/Latinx) may interact with these experiences. Our results suggest that several types of experiences positively predict a student’s computing identity, such as mentoring others, having a job, or having friends in computing. Moreover, certain experiences have a different effect on computing identity for female and Hispanic/Latinx students. More specifically, receiving academic advice from teaching assistants was more positive for female students, receiving advice from industry professionals was more negative for Hispanic/Latinx students, and receiving help on classwork from students in their class was more positive for Hispanic/Latinx students. Other experiences, while having the same effect on computing identity across students, were experienced at significantly different rates by females, Black/African American students, and Hispanic/Latinx students. The findings highlight experiential ways in which computing programs can foster computing identity development, particularly for underrepresented and marginalized groups in computing.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
