2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Facilitating women’s success in software engineering through the exploration of non-traditional educational environments

Presented at Software Engineering Division (SWED) Technical Session 4

STEM fields face persistent challenges with diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, while women make up 56% of students enrolled in undergraduate degrees, women account for only 22% of the students in engineering programs. This number drops even further in the workforce, where women comprise only 15.9% of the engineering industry (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Consequently, the industry of equity-focused coding education has grown rapidly, leading to the rise of coding bootcamps, workshops, and community-based coding education specifically designed to increase the participation of women and underrepresented programmers in tech (Rea, 2022; Jabbari, 2023). While the impacts of these sites of coding education are many and varied, they have much to offer software engineering educators invested in exploring inclusive pedagogy (Byrd, 2020; Damian et al., 2024; Vakil, 2018).

As faculty and students working within technical communication and engineering, our research team seeks ways to foster more equitable learning environments and help underrepresented students thrive in software engineering. To that end, this presentation offers pedagogical insights derived from an IRB-approved, multi-year qualitative study of sites of coding education created to increase representation, access, and equity in the tech industry.

This presentation shares practices from software developers working to increase equity in tech and analyzes how these coding organizations use inclusive practices to cultivate participants’ computational thinking and programming skills in the context of a constantly changing coding landscape. The study uses interviews, participant observation, and grounded theory analysis to better understand the pedagogical practices of these coding organizations. Ultimately, this presentation offers attendees a framework to critically evaluate pedagogical practices for software engineering education as well as specific strategies for cultivating a more inclusive learning environment and improving the learning experiences of underrepresented students in engineering.

Authors

Dr. Ashley Rea Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott [biography]

Ashley Rea is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition and Director of the Writing and Design Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University–Prescott. Her research considers the intersections of software engineering, technical communication, and educational equity. Her work is published in Technical Communication, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Programmatic Perspectives, and Communication Design Quarterly.
Taylor Alexis Hobbs Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott
Chanel Davis Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott [biography]

Chanel Davis is a junior aerospace engineering student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. She is a Patti Grace Smith Fellow and a Brooke Owens Fellow, with internship experience at BryceTech and United Airlines. Chanel's research focuses on equity in engineering education, emphasizing increasing representation and access in software and computer engineering. Her previous research on improving belonging and inclusion in group projects is now being implemented in all introductory engineering courses at her university. She has presented her work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). On campus, Chanel serves as Vice President of Equity and Belonging for Delta Phi Epsilon and previously served as President of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). She is also a member of the Rocket Development Lab, contributing to experimental propulsion and fluids research. Chanel is passionate about continuing space exploration and advancing human spaceflight while ensuring the aerospace industry becomes more inclusive and accessible.
Abigail Sophia Clerget Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

« View session