Out of the Loop: Why Are So Few Underrepresented Minority High School Students Learning Computer Science?

Co PI's: Jane Margolis, Ed.D., Jeannie Oakes, Ph.D.

Project Manager: Jennifer Jellison Holme, Ph.D.

This is a three-year National Science Foundation funded study, beginning January 2001, to investigate the decisions of male and female African American and Latino/a high school students to take (or not take) and persist (or not persist) in computer science courses beyond the introductory level. Our specific research questions are the following:

• What are the institutional and structural aspects of high school computer science education that narrow the information technology pipeline for different groups of underrepresented minority and women students?
• What are the psychosocial and cultural factors linked to studying computer science that could be affecting college-bound underrepresented minority students’ interest in, motivation, and decisions to pursue information technology?

Our research will be based on qualitative interviews with African-American and Latino/a male and female high school students about their decisions to study (or not study) computer science in three public LA high schools. Over 120 students will be interviewed, and ethnographic observations will be conducted in these schools. This project is based on the recognition that a multi-dimensional understanding of the dynamics of the high school computer science pipeline does not exist.

While there is awareness of the growing disparity in computer ownership and access in the homes and schools between ethnic groups, there is little in-depth knowledge about the social and institutional barriers to students from underrepresented minority groups in the information technology pipeline. Until we know if these students find computer science an interesting or relevant subject of study, if they feel welcomed or unwelcomed in the computer science lab, if they believe that they can (or cannot) succeed, as well as determine the opportunities students have (or don’t have) in the schools to learn computing, then the plans for integrating technology into the public schools runs the risk of leaving behind a large body of underrepresented minority and women students who will then be unprepared for the 21^st century.

This excerpt from our NSF proposal explains the theoretical model guiding our research:

Our initial framework for investigating the complex interaction of factors that impact students’ decisions is a model formulated by Oakes (1989) for examining reasons for the low numbers of women and non-Asian minorities in math and science education. This model takes into account the structural aspects of schools, such as tracking, as well as the relevant psychological and sociological influences, such as confidence and racial-identity issues by examining a) opportunities to learn, b) achievement and, 3) decisions. Yet, we believe that students’ engagement and disengagement with computer science involves a set of cultural, social and educational issues unique to the field of computer science and beyond those found in the math and science research. We are guided by the theoretical proposition that there is an "intricate interplay" between students’ sense of self, in this historical moment, and the context of the social, cultural, and structural constraints of computer science education. We will be examining how students make sense of and negotiate this environment.

Phone Number: (310) 794-4481

Email: Margolis@ucla.edu