2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Where Research Meets Practice: A Living-Learning Community Model for Computing Education Equity

Presented at Minorities in Engineering Division(MIND) Technical Session 10

This is a full, evidence-based practice paper for the MIND Division. The Center for STEM Diversity at Northern State University represents a strategic institutional commitment to addressing persistent disparities in STEM education and workforce preparation. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of student success outcomes, workforce development, and personal/professional identity formation, the Center serves all students while maintaining particular focus on those from disadvantaged backgrounds pursuing STEM degrees. Among its suite of summer bridge legacy programs, the Computing Pathways Program (CPP) initiative exemplifies innovative approaches to early intervention in computing education.

This practitioner-research paper examines CPP, a distinctive program targeting students who have just completed their first year and are pursuing computing majors, co-majors, or minors. CPP addresses a critical gap in computing education by providing early intervention precisely when students face foundational course challenges that often derail their academic trajectories. The program's comprehensive wraparound support model grounded by the Thrive Mosaic™ Scholar Development Framework (Chapman, 2018; McGee & Robinson, 2020) explicitly unveils the "hidden curriculum"—those unwritten rules and insider knowledge that advantaged students often access through social capital—and builds student community cultural wealth and academic capital. Through this intentional exposure, CPP enables participants to master computing comprehension skills, discover their unique calling within computing industries, and ultimately "crack the code" to overcome underperformance patterns in early foundational computing courses.

Operating through private donor funding, CPP will launch its fourth cohort in summer 2026. The fully funded program serves 12-15 carefully selected students annually, providing two foundational computer science courses during an intensive summer semester. Beyond academics, participants receive comprehensive support including meals, housing, small-setting classes with favorable student-faculty ratios, one-on-one tutoring, peer mentoring, professional development sessions with industry partners, computing industry partnerships, and technical interview skill development—all at no cost to selected students. This holistic approach creates a living-learning community where students bond with like-minded peers who share similar struggles in computer science, fostering both academic growth and social belonging.

Program outcomes demonstrate remarkable success. Alumni have secured competitive internships and full-time positions at Microsoft, Adobe, Tesla, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab after mastering technical interviews, participated in international study abroad experiences, and earned prestigious recognition including Hack.Diversity Fellowship awards and NSF REU opportunities that smooth pathways toward graduate studies. The inaugural cohort, Class of 2025, have secured full-time positions at Amazon and Microsoft or have gone on to pursue graduate degrees in Computer Science. These achievements reflect not merely academic skill development but fundamental transformation in students' capacity to advocate for themselves within highly competitive computing fields.

Following the inaugural cohort, program leadership recognized CPP's distinctive living-learning community model holds significant potential for broader replication. As computing industries face growing demands for socially and technically responsible professionals, universities nationwide could benefit from adapting this approach. Consequently, the team has systematically collected data from cohort members through interviews and surveys, specifically tracking confidence development and professional identity formation in computer science. This evidence base documents program effectiveness while providing a replicable framework for other higher education institutions seeking to address equity gaps in computing education.

This research contributes to ongoing conversations about scaling high-impact practices in STEM and computer education, demonstrating how intentionally designed summer bridge programs can transform student trajectories and ultimately diversify the computing workforce pipeline.

Authors

Ms. Simone Nicholson PhD Candidate Tufts University [biography]

Simone R. Nicholson is a final-year PhD candidate in Engineering Education at Tufts University, where her research focuses on educational equity frameworks and inclusive STEM education, with specialization in HBCU education research supported by multiple prestigious research fellowships including the NSF Graduate Research and GEM Fellowship. As a scholar-practitioner, she bridges research and practice through her work in higher education administration, federal social science research initiatives, and workforce development programs across national laboratories and academic institutions. Her expertise spans mixed-methods research, program evaluation, curriculum design, and educational equity, with practitioner experience in student success programming, faculty development, accreditation processes, and K-12 STEM education. Simone holds an M.S. Certificate in Women and Gender Studies from Florida International University and a B.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from North Carolina A&T State University.
Dr. Grace Caldara Tufts University [biography]

Dr. Grace Caldara is the Director at the Center for STEM Diversity at Tufts University. The Center for STEM Diversity is committed to building an inclusive, equity-driven community that empowers STEM students of all backgrounds. Through intentional programming, we foster an environment where students can bring their whole selves to their academic journey.
We design student-centered initiatives that provides comprehensive support tailored to the diverse needs of our community, creating opportunities for both personal and academic growth. By engaging in ongoing conversations and collaborations around diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and access with faculty, staff and students, we strive to create a more equitable and supportive STEM environment thereby ensuring that all students have the resources and support necessary to succeed.
As the Director, Dr. Caldara drives the strategic vision of the Center by engaging faculty, staff, and the broader campus community to create points of access and opportunity for all students.
Prior to joining Tufts, Dr. Caldara was the Senior Manager of Learning and Development at Supermajority, a non-profit organization working to advance gender equity through education, training, storytelling and activism. During her time at Supermajority she developed and facilitated a nationwide leadership program, run annually, in which she taught thousands of young women of color values-based leadership strategies. Additionally, she managed the 2.9-million-member Pantsuit Nation community focused on elevating personal stories and lived experiences from women from across the country. Prior to its merger with Supermajority, Dr. Caldara was the Director of Community Engagement for the Pantsuit Nation Foundation where she developed diversity, equity and inclusion training materials to more effectively support and guide her team of online moderators in facilitating difficult discussions around race, gender and other systematic marginalizations. She also authored content for the book Pantsuit Nation.
Dr. Caldara holds a Master's and PhD in Chemistry from the University of California Irvine and a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Boston College.
Trevion S Henderson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4319-1700 Tufts University [biography]

Trevion Henderson is Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Tufts University. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education at the University of Michigan.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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