TRAVERSING THE LANDSCAPE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE: A CASE STUDY OF BLACK WOMEN’S IDENTITY AND SENSE OF BELONGING IN A COMPUTER SCIENCE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
Article
Ross, M, Farhangi, S, Patel, D et al. (2022). TRAVERSING THE LANDSCAPE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE: A CASE STUDY OF BLACK WOMEN’S IDENTITY AND SENSE OF BELONGING IN A COMPUTER SCIENCE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
. 28(5), 69-107. 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2022033906
Ross, M, Farhangi, S, Patel, D et al. (2022). TRAVERSING THE LANDSCAPE OF COMPUTER SCIENCE: A CASE STUDY OF BLACK WOMEN’S IDENTITY AND SENSE OF BELONGING IN A COMPUTER SCIENCE DOCTORAL PROGRAM
. 28(5), 69-107. 10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2022033906
Pathways to the professoriate for women in computer science are narrow and fraught with barriers. These obstacles are further exacerbated at the intersections of race and gender. Black women (who make up 6.4% of the U.S. population) comprise only 1.1% of computer science undergraduate degrees and < 1% of computer science PhDs. Despite these paltry numbers, one computer science PhD program may have found the combination of factors necessary to widen the pathway by engaging in strategic recruitment, developing communities of practice, and providing strong mentorship for women of color in computer science. Guided primarily by intersectionality theory, social identity theory, and landscapes of practice, this single case study explored the experiences of Black women in pursuit of their doctorate in computer science at a predominantly White institution to answer the research questions: (1) How do Black, female graduate students in computer science describe their computer science identity? (2) How do landscapes of practice influence computer science identity formation or the salience of Black women in a computer science graduate program? Thematic analysis of this case revealed three common themes within their experiences: moments of impact, boundary spanning, and community residence. These themes, all of which revolve around ideas of community and support, are critical to understanding a key discovery of this study: why a sense of belonging, rather than identity salience (as much research suggests), was the best indicator of the women’s persistence.
