2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Broad access institutions (BAIs) are institutions that accept at least 80% of their applicants (Crisp et al., 2021). BAIs, often are more inclusive, affordable, and provide a space for equitable outcomes for diverse students (McClure et al., 2021). These institutions represent important access to educational opportunities, particularly for low-income students (Hillman, 2022a,b; Mintz, 2022).Scholarship on BAIs and computing contexts and S-STEM programs remains scarce (e.g., Blaney, 2022, Rodriguez et al., 2021). Prior scholarship demonstrates asset-based approaches, like community cultural wealth (CCW), support the success of college students with low-income backgrounds (e.g., Bañuelos, 2021; Yosso, 2005), yet few studies have focused on how SSTEM students leverage those assets (AAAS S-STEM REC, 2024; Rincón & Rodriguez, 2021).

Research question:
This study was framed by the following research question:
How do low-income SSTEM students at broad access institutions leverage community cultural wealth to shape their computing identities?

Theory:
This was framed by two theoretical frameworks, including Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) and Computing Identity (Lunn et al., 2021). Community cultural wealth is an assets-based approach that highlights the various forms of capital that students leverage in order to be successful. Computing Identity Theory refers to how students see themselves in relation to computing, including their interest , sense of belonging , recognition , and competence/performance . Taken together these theoretical frameworks can help explain how low-income students leverage the various forms of capital to shape their computing identities.

Methodology:
This phenomenological research study interviewed 10 of S-STEM students at three BAIs in a two-interview sequence. Transcendental phenomenology (Moustakas, 2009) allowed us to investigate the lived experience and gain in-depth descriptions of the phenomenon. We utilized several trustworthiness strategies including the use of rich descriptions, memoing, group consensus-building.

Findings:

Participants leveraged navigational and familial capital, to work within university systems to access resources, understand procedures, and obtain computing internships. Students also viewed their own computing journeys as possible sites for future familial capital for their family members. Students also discussed how they utilized aspirational and resistant capital for nurturing their computing interests and recognizing themselves as computing people. In several instances, students articulated how being low-income and/or first-generation and enduring difficult coursework helped maintain their computing identities.

Discussion/Significance:
Our findings demonstrate that low-income S-STEM students at BAIs leverage several forms of CCW to shape their computing identities. While prior work has mainly focused on more selective institutions, this project centering BAIs illuminates the importance of how navigational and familial capital are leveraged towards computing identity competence/performance as well as how aspirational and resistant capital can be leveraged towards computing identity recognition.