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1. Underrepresented Students in Computer Science: Understanding the Barriers of Enrollment and Engagement in Computer Science Courses in High Schools.

   Greenwood, J. & (January 2022, Pennsylvania Sociological Society Annual Meeting)

   This qualitative research project is part of a larger NSF-funded grant entitled "Cogenerative Development of Culturally Relevant Pedagogical Guidelines for Computer Science and Computational Thinking in High Schools." During Year 1 of the project, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 high school students to better understand the challenges and barriers to enrollment in and engagement/success in Computer Science courses in high school. A grounded theory approach was used, given the exploratory nature of the study. Students were selected from three partner schools and had to meet at least one of the criteria associated with underrepresented students in Computer Science: identifying as female; low socioeconomic status; and/or racial/ethnic minority (Black/African American; Hispanic/Latinx/Chicanx; Native American/Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or multi-racial). Common themes that emerged included the following: Challenges (Financial Factors, Role of Gender (i.e. identifying as female), and Race/Ethnicity Issues); Positive Influences (Role of Teacher, Role of Family); Other Interesting Insights (Wanting to be challenged in Computer Science Classes, Problems with the Marketing of Computer Science as a discipline). Limitations of the current study are discussed as well as directions for future research and implications for a more culturally relevant pedagogical approach to teaching Computer Science and Computational Thinking in high schools. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation CS for All: Research and RPPs program, Award No. 2122367. 

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2. Improving Computer Science Instruction and Computer Use for African American Secondary School Students: A Focus Group Exploration of Computer Science Identity of African American Teachers

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3322385.3322399  

   Hampton, Lelia; Cummings, Robert; Gosha, Kinnis (January 2019, Proceedings of the ACM SIGMIS ‘19: 2019 on Computers and People Research Conference)

   As the demand for computing careers increases, it is important to implement strategies to broaden the participation in computer science for African Americans. Computer science courses and academic pathways are not always offered in secondary schools. Many teachers are not trained in computer science, yet are pushed to incorporate more computing, computational thinking, and computer usage. A qualitative focus group study was implemented to assess the computer science identities of African American teachers and of their respective urban secondary schools serving African American students. Three major codes were identified: district administration of computer and computing implementation, teacher attitudes towards computer science instruction, and teachers’ recommendations to improve computer science and computational thinking instruction and outreach for African American secondary school students. Findings can be used to improve computer science and technology rollout programs from county and district administrations, teacher instruction with digital tools, and computer science outreach for African American secondary school students. 

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3. Fostering Greater Persistence Among Underserved Computer Science Undergraduates: A Descriptive Study of the I-PASS Project

   https://doi.org/10.1177/15210251221086928  

   Mickelson, Roslyn Arlin; Mikkelsen, Ian; Dorodchi, Mohsen; Cukic, Bojan; Horn, Tytianna (March 2022, Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice)

   Female, Black, Latinx, Native American, low-income, and rural students remain underrepresented among computer science undergraduate degree recipients. Along with student, family, and secondary school characteristics, college organizational climate, curricula, and instructional practices shape undergraduates’ experiences that foster persistence until graduation. Our quasi-experimental project, Improving the Persistence and Success of Students from Underrepresented Populations in Computer Science (I-PASS), is designed to augment students’ persistence until they earn their computer science degree. Drawing on prior research, including Tinto's model of effective institutional actions for retention, I-PASS Scholars—all low-income, female and/or members of underserved demographics groups— receive a four-year scholarship; mentoring, tutoring, advising; and opportunities to integrate into the academic and social life of the campus. Students’ written reflections and attitude surveys suggest I-PASS's components foster their retention by, among other mechanisms, enhancing their computer science identity development and sense of belonging in the major. 

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4. Preparing Marginalized Students for Learning Computer Science: A Case Study of Teaching Computational Thinking to Underrepresented Middle School Youth

   Mickelson, Roslyn A; Dorodchi, Mohsen; Mikkelsen, Ian; Wiktor, Sandra; Cukic, Bojan; Petro, Caitlin; Al-Ayeisha, Zelaya; Alston, Shakayla; Teddy, Anthony; Win, Myat; et al (April 2026, Futurity Education)

   Tsekhmister, Yaroslav (Ed.)

   Many college students have neither the interest in nor the academic preparation for pursuing the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This is especially true for computer science (Code.org, 2021). Consequently, the U.S. likely faces a mismatch between its projected technology labor force needs and the majors of future college graduates (Justice et al., 2022; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). A further complication of this mismatch is that the majority of U.S. students who study technology are males from middle-class White or Asian Rim ethnic (Fry et al., 2021). Lower-income youth from all race/ethnic backgrounds, females, and students from Black, Latinx, some Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Native American ethnic groups are underrepresented in computer science (CS) relative to their proportion in the overall U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2018). This disproportionality leaves large segments of the U.S. population outside the professional computing community. Addressing the second issue could help alleviate the first problem by bringing currently marginalized segments of the population into technology fields. This article presents a descriptive case study of a three-year middle school intervention designed to improve the likelihood that more low-income, female, and racial/ethnic minoritized middle school youth will be inspired and prepared to study technology in high school enroute to pursuing technology majors in college. It describes the development, implementation, and outcomes of a partnership between the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) and Wilson STEM Academy, a public middle school serving the underrepresented populations previously described (Mickelson, 2015). 

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5. “Show Them the Playbook That These Companies Are Using”: Youth Voices about Why Computer Science Education Must Center Discussions of Power, Ethics, and Culturally Responsive Computing

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3660645  

   Ryoo, Jean J; Blunt, Takeria (September 2024, ACM Transactions on Computing Education)

   Culturally responsive computing (CRC), that centers sociopolitical issues and transformational uses of technology, has been described as valuable for increasing engagement with computing, especially for historically underrepresented minoritized students. But what do high school students think? Through a sociocultural lens prioritizing student voices recorded in 56 interviews over a period of 2 years (1–3 years after students’ first experience with computer science (CS) education through Exploring Computer Science or Advanced Placement CS Principles in high school), this study centers the perspectives of 39 primarily low-income, Latine and Black youth from urban California and rural Mississippi public schools to understand what they perceive as the role of technology in our world and what they subsequently desire of their computing education. While none have studied CRC before, the majority responded with CRC ideas about the kind of pedagogy they believe would make for a more meaningful computing learning experience: They see computing as a form of power that impacts both good and bad in the world and want computing educators to prepare them to take on these issues of equity, ethics, social responsibility, and underrepresentation in the field. The students’ perspectives offer important pedagogical insight into how to support deeper engagement with computing in current CS for All initiatives, while also preparing youth for the rapidly evolving and increasingly complex computing landscape that impacts all of our lives. 

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