Creating a Conceptual Framework for Computing Identity Development for Latina Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Latina students are entering higher education at greater rates than before, yet they have disproportionately lower completion rates and career representation in computing than their peers, making up only 2% of all bachelor’s degrees earned in computing and 5% of all women employed in computing occupations (National Science Foundation, 2016). While women across computing have identified issues related to gender stereotypes and socialized beliefs about who can succeed, Latina students, as women of color, may also endure racialized experiences in which they are marginalized not only by their gender but also by their race and ethnicity. Such marginalization makes it difficult for Latina undergraduate students to develop and maintain a computing identity in the competitive, male-dominated context of computing. In previous work, researchers have called for a greater intersectional and theoretical understanding of such identity development processes in order to create more equitable computing learning environments (Rodriguez & Lehman, 2018). This paper builds upon prior work by contextualizing this call and presenting a framework for intersectional identity development specifically for Latina undergraduate computing students. This framework emphasizes the role that intersectional identities have on elements of computing interest, as well as identity performance and recognition. The identity development framework complements traditional understandings of resilience by emphasizing the ways in which Latina women utilize cultural community wealth, funds of identity, and their own sense-making as assets for resilience. Ultimately, the authors advocate for utilizing what we know about identity development to support a policy and practice-based holistic approach to understanding how multiple, intersecting identities influence computing identity.

Topics & Concepts