Improving the Persistence and Success of Students from Underrepresented Populations in Computer Science

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With funding from the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program, this project will support the success of high-achieving, low-income STEM students with demonstrated financial need. Over the five years of the award, the "Improving the Persistence and Success of Students from Underrepresented Populations in Computer Science (I-PASS)" project will fund 15 scholarships to students who are pursing bachelor's degrees in computer science (CS). The project will redevelop the standard CS curricula by inserting topics that are tied to students' interests. The participants will have opportunities to do CS research, as well as to engage in service projects. Supports for student success include tiered mentoring and tutoring, and student-centered activities in the CS gateway courses. The project will also provide faculty professional development on issues of sexism, racism, and microagressions to enhance the student learning experience. The I-PASS project aims to address issues of equity and access in CS by: 1) increasing the retention and graduation of underserved students in CS; 2) narrowing the CS performance gaps and graduation rates between CS majors and underserved students; 3) broadening and enhancing the gender, ethnic, generational, and social class backgrounds of CS students; and 4) developing interventions that can be extended to other STEM disciplines. The project's intervention components will be evaluated using a quasi-experimental, mixed method research design that involves a purposively selected treatment group of the student scholars. The scholars will receive the project's intervention for four years, starting the first semester of their first year in college. Two control groups will also be selected and will allow the research team to evaluate the success of the project using quantitative indicators of the program's outcomes (e.g., grades, retention, and persistence to graduation). In addition to quantitative indicators, the project will administer surveys and in-depth interviews to assess the success of the interventions and examine how the intervention components help (or fail to) mitigate obstacles the scholars face in pursuit of their CS degree. The project will build on and add to the body of evidence-based strategies that increase diversity and success of students in STEM, and specifically, in CS. Findings will be disseminated through reports, conference paper presentations, and published research articles.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.