Does Access to Computing Education Improve Equity? Identifying Promising Practices and Existing Barriers for Broadening Participation among Underrepresented Students in California

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Does Access to Computing Education Improve Equity? To address the underrepresentation of women and people of color in computing education and careers, national, state, and local efforts have ramped up to expand access to computer science education at the secondary school level and provide the skills all students need to participate in the technology-driven economy. This study examines the relationship between the expansion of access to computing education course offerings and the enrollment, success, and persistence in computing course sequences among underrepresented students across the state of California. This study examines whether current broadening participation in computing initiatives are improving racial and gender equity in computing at the high school level. The work informs strategies for effectively improving computing education outcomes among underrepresented people of color and women of all kinds and broadening the talent pool of the future U.S. computing workforce. This study focuses in California, examining statewide data trends and data across three school districts that have implemented computer science course expansion efforts-- Oakland, Los Angeles and San Francisco. This multiyear longitudinal study of computing course availability, student enrollment/participation, student success, and persistence in computing courses: (a) Identifies successful interventions and existing challenges in broadening participation and closing equity gaps in computing, and (b) Identifies the demographic, academic, and curricular factors that are predictive of short- and long-term computing outcomes across student populations. This work informs, refines, and improves ongoing district and state-level computer science expansion plans through an intentional process of continual improvement, and produces empirical and theoretical findings to inform efforts to broaden participation in K-12 computing education.