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5 Impacts of Enrollment Growth on Diversity in Computing
Pages 91-122

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From page 91...
... . 2  SeeIntel Corporation and Dalberg Global Development Advisors (2016)
From page 92...
... For the purposes of this report, "underrepresented minorities" are defined as including the following groups: black or African American, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native; other (including two or more races) are included in the category of "other or unknown" in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
From page 93...
... These trends are explored for women and underrepresented minorities in the following sections based upon available data.4 Representation of Women among CIS Degree Recipients The relative share of computer and information science and support services (CIS) 5 bachelor's degrees reported going to women at all institutions increased until 1985, during the first historical surge in CIS degree production, peaking at 37 percent 2 years before the mid-1980s decline in overall annual CIS bachelor's degree production, as illustrated in Figure 5.2.
From page 94...
... SOURCE: Data from IPEDS degree completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database. See Appendix F for details.
From page 95...
... . The curve labeled "URM" is the combined share of the following underrepresented minority groups: black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic or Latino; and American Indian or Alaska Native.
From page 96...
... institutions. SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database.
From page 97...
... In contrast degrees awarded to Hispanic or Latina females, American Indian or Alaska Native students, and black or African American students have a much more significant contribution from for-profit institutions, which typically do not provide exposure to research or the environment of institutions with advanced degrees, or access to top recruiters and job opportunities. Data on recent CS/CE degree production by race and gender is also available for Computing Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI)
From page 98...
... from 1990 to 2015 for Hispanic or Latino, non-Hispanic black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic white students, by "institutional control," including for-profit status of institution. The total number of CIS bachelor's degrees produced over time for all races/ethnicities is plotted as a reference (dashed line, right vertical axis)
From page 99...
... . SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database.
From page 100...
... at not-for-profit universities since the recent enrollment surge began, the share of degrees in each of these fields going to women, and black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Hispanic/Latino students are plotted in Figures 5.8, 5.9, 5.10, and 5.11. For the purpose of these analyses, these three fields are defined as follows: (1)
From page 101...
... SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database. See text Appendix F for details.
From page 102...
... SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database. See text and Appendix F for details.
From page 103...
... At the same time, while the absolute number of black or African American students completing computer science and related degrees has increased in the current surge, this increase has been slower than that of other race/ethnic groups. As a result, the share of CS, CE, and IS degrees going to African Americans actually decreased between 2009 and 2015, falling from 8.0 to 6.1 percent (CS)
From page 104...
... Hispanic or Latino students have seen increasing representation in all three fields, with very similar shares of the degrees produced in both core CS and IS. Unlike the other groups discussed in this section, the share of degrees conferred to Hispanic or Latino students is markedly larger for CE than for CS or IS.
From page 105...
... However, unlike for women and Hispanics, the rates of intent to major in CS among black and American Indian or Alaska Native students have not yet reached dot-com-era levels. The HERI CIRP survey is based on a sampling of students at a subset of all not-for-profit institutions of higher education, whereas the IPEDS degree completions are extracted from all not-for-profit institutions, and the specific data presented may include more disciplines than those counted in the HERI CIRP survey.
From page 106...
... (2016) and IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database (see Appendix F for details)
From page 107...
... The dotted lines indicate the fraction of freshmen of the corresponding group intending to major in CS from 1970 to 2015, according to the HERI CIRP survey. The solid line indicates the fraction completing a bachelor's degree in CIS in the year indicated, according to IPEDS completions data.
From page 108...
... Institutions 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 Institutions reporting 101 163 132 121 Total enrollments reported 6,659 14,061 12,759 11,864 Average enrollments per institution reporting 66 86 97 98 Women 12.6% 11.0% 16.1% 16.0% American Indian or Alaska Native 0.3% 0.3% 0.4% 0.4% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% Multiracial not Hispanic 1.3% 2.0% 1.7% 2.4% Black or African-American 5.3% 4.4% 4.8% 5.5% Hispanic, any race 7.0% 8.3% 7.1% 6.6% Asian 6.3% 6.1% 9.5% 8.7% White 53.3% 52.0% 51.4% 46.3% Nonresident alien 3.3% 4.1% 4.3% 5.1% NOTE: Students with no or unknown race/ethnicity or gender listed were excluded from the total in calculation of the corresponding percentages. SOURCE: ACM NDC Survey; unpublished data courtesy of ACM.
From page 109...
... The overall goal of this 2015 survey was to measure, assess, and better understand enrollment trends, with a focus on undergraduate degree programs.12 In addition to total course enrollment numbers, institutions were asked to provide the demographics of the students enrolled in courses that are representative of the four course categories: introduction for non-majors, introduction for majors, mid-level, and upper-level computer science courses (CRA, 2017a)
From page 110...
... 2017a. Generation CS: Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments Surge Since 2006.
From page 111...
... For each course category the fraction is higher in 2015 than in 2010 or 2005, though an increase did not necessarily occur during each 5-year interval. DIVERSITY IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH ENROLLMENT GROWTH Representation of Women Interest in CS as a major among both the female and male freshmen populations rose significantly in the lead-up to the surge in CS degree production in the 1980s; the corresponding representation of women among CS degree recipients increased.
From page 112...
... 2017a. Generation CS: Computer Science Undergraduate Enrollments Surge Since 2006.
From page 113...
... In the recent period of enrollment increases, the share of CIS degrees awarded to Hispanic students has increased, but the share going to black and American Indian or Alaska Native students has decreased. While these results are mixed, there may be oppor­ tunities to harness the current enthusiasm for the field to build and sustain new interest in computing among individuals from underrepresented or disadvantaged groups by considering best practices described in the next section and collaborating with organizations focused on broadening participation in computing.
From page 114...
... Diversity and Institutional Responses to Increasing Enrollments As computing departments face pressures created by rapidly increasing enrollments in computing majors and courses, decisions about how to deal with these pressures must be made. Availability of faculty, graduate/undergraduate teaching assistants, classroom space, and financial resources influence the responses of individual institutions.
From page 115...
... In other cases restrictions are placed on the number and type of students being serviced by the department. These actions include imposing enrollment caps on the major, tightening admission requirements for the major, restricting registration in high-demand courses to majors and minors only, and reducing offerings of courses that are not as highly demanded or that service students outside the computing major, as identified by the CRA and ACM Enrollments Surveys discussed in Chapter 3.14 Less than half (46.5 percent)
From page 116...
... as a means of limiting the number of students in courses or degree programs would also have the effect of limiting the diversity (that is, participation of women and underrepresented minorities, with the exception of students who declared two or more races) in undergraduate enrollments.15 In 2015 girls represented only 22 percent and underrepresented minorities only 13 percent of AP test-takers.
From page 117...
... Retention is always a challenge, and adverse conditions associated with high demand for courses -- as well as actions taken by institutions in order to manage enrollments -- could negatively impact the inclusiveness of under graduate computing programs. ACTIVE EFFORTS TO INCREASE DIVERSITY IN COMPUTING As discussed in previous sections the recent increases in degree production (2009 to present)
From page 118...
... The curve labeled "URM" is the combined share of the following underrepresented minority groups: black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic or Latino; and American Indian or Alaska Native. "Other or unknown race or ethnicity" includes students of two or more races and students for whom race/ethnicity is unknown.
From page 119...
... SOURCE: Data from IPEDS completions survey accessed via the WebCASPAR online database. See Appendix F for details.
From page 120...
... LEVERAGING BOOMING ENROLLMENTS TO INCREASE DIVERSITY IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AND RELATED FIELDS Increasing enrollments in CS courses pose a range of challenges for CS units and the students seeking these courses. Much emphasis has been placed on the negative implications for diversity -- in particular, due to increasing competition for courses and higher student-to-faculty ratios for these courses, which could lead to less-welcoming, even hostile environments.
From page 121...
... IMPACTS OF ENROLLMENT GROWTH ON DIVERSITY IN COMPUTING 121 tices, and pedagogies that ensue have the potential to change the culture of the program for the better, but only if institutions make such cultural shifts a priority. In the following chapter, the range of options available to institutions are discussed, along with their advantages and risks; diversity implications are a key dimension.


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