2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This poster is focused on an S-STEM Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS) Program that is held in a partnership between three institutions, all located in the Southeastern U.S. Institution 1 is a public university, Institution 2 and Institution 3 are public community colleges, and offer a range of credentials, including certificates, associates, and bachelors degrees. This program aims to provide 170+ scholarships to students pursuing CSIS degrees who have demonstrated financial need as defined by each of the participating institutions. In addition to the financial award of the scholarship, the S-STEM program provides co-curricular and professional development activities to promote the computing field and connect students with professionals in their desired fields of study. With these activities and holistic support of the students, the program aims to positively contribute to the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students from diverse backgrounds, and enhance computing education to implement effective academic and career pathways for CSIS.

In the first years of the program, the three institutions have coordinated and implemented a variety of activities, including the disbursement of scholarships. They have hosted coding camps for S-STEM students which concluded with awarding students with a digital badge indicating completion of the camp activities. Additionally, the research co-PI leading the computing identity study met with the program directors and coordinators to better understand the program components and speak with CSIS students about the study. Finally, the participating institutions also connected with K-12 partners to recruit students for the scholarship program and build better relationships with the partners.

The research team conducted phenomenologically-informed interviews with a semi-structured protocol to ask participants about their educational background, computing identity formation and components (interest, recognition, competence/performance, and sense of belonging), and their financial need and employment situation. In the first round of data collection, we had five interview participants -- two students from institution 1, two students from institution 2, and one student from institution 3. All students interviewed thus far were first-generation college students, had earned at least 60 academic course credits by the time of the interview, and worked at some point throughout the calendar-year. Within this initial sample of interview participants, the research team explored the tensions between computing identity development and work for program participants. The preliminary findings described three tensions: tension between work hours and S-STEM program activities, the tension between family financial responsibilities and S-STEM program activities, and the tension between seeking out internship opportunities and the short-term, although incredibly important, need for work to support their families and educational expenses. As the research team continues to collect data in the coming semesters for the CSIS S-STEM program, we hope to better understand how students who work are balancing their participation in the S-STEM program and developing their computing identities through the coursework, program activities, and additional professional development opportunities.