Understanding Latina Students’ Trajectories in Computing

By Kathleen J. Lehman, Daisy Ramirez, Sarah Rodriguez, and Linda J. Sax

As has been highlighted by the research conducted and supported by the Women of Color in Computing Collaborative, the conversation on gender equity in computing has too often centered on the experiences of white women and failed to account for the unique experiences of Women of Color. Our team, including Sarah Rodriguez from TAMUC, Daisy Ramirez, Kate Lehman, and Linda Sax from UCLA, has focused on the pathways of Latina students in computing fields. The data on Latina students’ representation in computing fields provides one way of describing the ways in which historically oppressive structures of sexism and racism led to their minoritization in computing majors and careers. Indeed, Latina students make up only 2% of all bachelor’s degrees earned in computing and 5% of all women employed in computing occupations (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2016). Our research looks beyond their representation in the field and obstacles to Latina students’ success; instead, we take an asset-based approach to document the strengths of Latina/o/x families and communities that facilitate success (Yosso, 2005) in computing fields.

Our research team conducted a mixed-methods study to understand Latina students' trajectories from introductory computing courses through the computing major. Specifically, we relied on survey data from 8,067 introductory CS course students, including 240 students who identified as Latina, that was collected as part of the BRAID Research project housed at Momentum at UCLA. These data were coupled with interview data from 10 of the Latina students who persisted from those introductory classes and pursued computing majors or minors. The survey data allowed us to gain a broad understanding of Latina students who enroll in introductory computing courses, their experiences in the course, and their pathways into computing majors. Further, we utilized the interviews to gain greater depth in understanding their experiences and how they made sense of their identities as Latina women in computing fields. Together, the quantitative and qualitative findings provide more complete information on the backgrounds and experiences of Latina students who pursued computing in college and the various types of capital that they leverage to succeed in computing degree programs.

Our findings demonstrate that Latina students enter their introductory classes with strong familial support and prior experience with programming. That is, 20% of Latina survey respondents reported that at least one parent worked in a non-computing STEM career, and 12% had at least one parent who works in a computing career. Further, over two-thirds of Latina survey respondents reported having some prior programming experience, such as taking a high school course or completing a programming camp. Among the Latina students who reported being computing majors at the end of the course, 75% persisted in a computing major a year later and 62.5% still reported being a computing major three years after completing the introductory course. From our interviews, we learned that Latina students drew on familial, navigational, and resistant capital (Yosso, 2005) in their computing experiences. Our participants reported that they relied heavily on their immediate and extended families for support, including content-area expertise from family members with computing/STEM backgrounds, and socioemotional and physical support, in the form of encouragement and even transportation to classes. In addition, they navigated computing spaces by drawing on online resources like YouTube videos as well as support from their peers and on-campus programs such as TRiO and student-led affinity groups/organizations. Finally, the Latina students in our study recognized the unique obstacles they faced in computing. They resisted in both internal (e.g., individual persistence) and external (e.g., speaking up against injustice) ways to benefit both themselves and future Latina students entering computing fields.

Across our findings, we see much to be learned in terms of how we both understand the unique experiences of Latina students in computing and how we can support them. For instance, from our work and others who have studied the experiences of Latina/o/x and Black students in computing and STEM more broadly, we see that Latina students draw on broader networks of familial support than their immediate family, including aunts, uncles, and cousins. Unfortunately, in much quantitative research (including our own), familial support tends to be conceptualized solely in terms of parental support—it is a missed opportunity to not account for these extended family relationships. Similarly, departments need to consider how to support Latina students whose families are not working in tech, perhaps by connecting them to a broader network of Latinx computing professionals. Additionally, our research demonstrates that most Latina students who enroll in intro CS courses have some prior computing experiences, yet many of them are also first-generation college students. Therefore, they may benefit from support to access on-campus resources that can help them grow their existing knowledge and apply it in a college environment.