Building a gender-inclusive secondary computer science program: teacher led and stakeholder supported

ABSTRACT

Background

Despite ongoing calls for prioritizing K-12 computer science (CS) education, an enduring gender gap exists.

Objective

We explored one high school CS program where female participation was consistently higher than state averages to better understand how the program was developed.

Method

Using a case study method, data were collected over three-months through interviews, observations, course documents, student reflections, and researcher reflections. Constant comparative analysis was employed to analyze data throughout and following data generation.

Findings

Recruitment and teacher support were key practices. Recruitment practices included letter writing campaigns and recruiting from introductory CS courses. Teacher support came from counselors, administrators, and other teachers. While the CS program was consistently more gender-inclusive, the focus when building the program had been on supporting all students, not only female students.

Implications

Recruitment should be active and purposeful, but using academic indicators for targeted recruitment campaigns can limit student exposure. Teachers need support for broadening participation, particularly from counselors and administrators, who must also be aware of what CS is and their role in these efforts. Opportunities for coteaching within CS programs can be beneficial for growth. Overall, broadening participation must be a holistic effort, supported by school-wide stakeholders, not only CS teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Computer science education
• K-12 education
• broadening participation
• equity
• gender gap

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge that while our study relied on state enrollment data which classifies gender as a binary, gender is actually a spectrum. As such, we provided space and opportunity for all participants to identify outside of the gender binary should they wish. All gender identifiers used in this study outside of state enrollment data were provided by participants. We would like to thank the teachers, administrators, staff, and students who were involved in this study. This work would not have been possible without your dedication, expertise, support, and kindness.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

IRB Approval was obtained for this study. The name of the participating high school and all participant names have been replaced with pseudonyms.

Notes

1. The school name and all participant names in this study have been replaced with pseudonyms.