Building Recruiting and Inclusion for Diversity (BRAID) in the Computer Science Major: A Longitudinal Research Study

为了更好地理解计算机科学（CS）院系如何成功地使其本科招生多样化，该项目将支持对在全国15所大学学习计算机科学入门课程的学生进行纵向跟踪。所有15个CS系都明确承诺要实现专业多元化，并参与了“多元化建设、招聘和包容”（BRAID）计划。BRAID院校已承诺采取一系列措施来增加计算机系内部的多样性，包括修改入门课程，使其对代表性不足的学生更具吸引力，减少恐惧感。本研究将重点关注入门课程如何促进对计算机科学的兴趣和坚持，并特别关注对女性和代表性不足的少数民族学生最成功的方法。在入门课程中，学生将被调查他们在课程中的经历，以及他们的自我认知、对计算机科学的认知、专业选择和职业规划。这项研究将把目前正在进行的基线数据收集项目扩展为纵向研究。基线研究的学生将在入门课程之后接受跟踪，并在2018-2019学年的春季学期每年接受一次调查。这样做将使研究团队能够评估学生在入门课程之外的经历，例如参与计算机科学课外活动，以及衡量各种结果，例如学生的入学模式（例如，选择计算机科学作为主修或副修）和职业规划，跨越时间。这项研究的结果将为政策制定者、高等教育管理者、教师和公众提供关于招聘和留住更多个人进入计算机领域的最有效方法的新知识。此外，这项研究将提供关于如何通过增加女性和未被充分代表的少数民族完成计算机专业和辅修专业的人数来实现计算机多元化的额外知识。

In an effort to improve an understanding of how computer science (CS) departments can successfully diversify their undergraduate enrollments, this project will support the longitudinal follow-up of students taking introductory CS courses at fifteen (15) universities across the country. All fifteen CS departments have a stated commitment to diversify their major and are participants in the Building, Recruiting and Inclusion for Diversity (BRAID) initiative. BRAID institutions have committed to a set of approaches to increase diversity within CS departments, including modifying introductory courses to make them more attractive and less intimidating to underrepresented students. This research will focus on the ways in which introductory courses promote interest and persistence in CS, with a special focus on what is most successful for women and underrepresented minority students. Students will be surveyed while taking the introductory course about their experiences in the courses as well as their self-perceptions, perceptions of CS, major choice selection, and career plans. This research will extend a baseline data collection project currently being done into a longitudinal study. Students from the baseline study will be followed beyond the introductory courses and surveyed annually through the spring semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. Doing so will allow the research team to assess student experiences beyond the introductory course, such as involvement in CS extracurricular activities, as well as measure a variety of outcomes, such as student enrollment patterns (e.g., choosing CS as a major or minor) and career plans, across time. Findings from this study will provide policy-makers, higher education administrators, faculty, and the general public with new knowledge about the most effective ways to recruit and retain more individuals into the computing field. Further, this study will provide additional knowledge about how to diversify computing by increasing the number of women and underrepresented minorities who complete CS majors and minors.