2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Equitable Computing Education

Presented at Spotlight on Diverse Learners

The field of computing continues to struggle to increase participation that better reflects the domestic composition of the US society at large. Society could benefit from diversifying its workforce as broader participation would invariably produce better tools and services for all. Additionally, the benefits of broader participation also could address socio-economic disparities in existence given the lucrative jobs available in computing.

Unfortunately, conversations about equity are often associated with racial dynamics, academic rigor, and political correctness. One challenge faced is the lack of a clear definition and measures of equity that would enable objective conversations. While there are some common themes in the general understanding of equity, there is also a lot of confusion about the difference between equity and equality and a fair amount of disagreement whether equity is a goal to pursue or just a desired outcome if we can afford it.

The goal of this paper is to present a literature review about equity in computing education and to propose a definition of equity so we can engage the community in a collective, professional, and productive dialogue about equity. We hope that such dialogue would enable us to move forward on assessing equity and thus broadening participation in computing.
The definition presented is adapted from equity in health and mirrors prior definitions of equity highlighting the difference between equity and equality. We close with some concrete suggestions on how to use the definition to define actions that CS programs could implement as part of an equity assessment.

Authors

Dr. Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones University of North Carolina [biography]

Dr. Manuel A. Pérez Quiñones is a Professor of Software and Information Systems at UNC at Charlotte. His research interests include diversity issues in computing, CS education, and human-computer interaction. He currently serves on the Committee on Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine at the National Academies and served as Program Officer at the National Science Foundation. His efforts to diversify computing have been recognized with an ACM Distinguished Member status (2019); the CRA A. Nico Habermann award (2018); and the Richard A. Tapia Achievement Award (2017). He is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Dr. Debarati Basu http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6205-8510 Embry Riddle Aeronautical University [biography]

Dr. Debarati Basu is an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Fundamentals Department in the College of Engineering at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the Daytona Beach campus. She earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech (VT). She received her bachelor's and masters in Computer Science and Engineering. Her research is at the intersection of Engineering Education (EE) and Computing Education Research (CER) to advance personalized learning, specifically within the context of online learning and engagement, educational technologies, curriculum design which includes innovative and equitable pedagogical approaches, and support programs that boost the academic success of different groups of students. She teaches in active learning environments and strives to bring EE and CER into practice.

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