Sense of belonging has been shown to be important for student persistence and success in computer science. A student’s sense of belonging is related to a variety of factors, including gender, prior programming experience, first generation status, and elements of the learning environment. Prior work has also shown that competitive admission processes have a negative impact on student sense of belonging. This paper explores sense of belonging of students who enter a computer science major through either a direct or competitive admission pathway. We look at how admission pathway, prior programming experience, and self-identification as a minority in computer science affect sense of belonging for these students. We find that sense of belonging does not differ in a significant way between admission pathways, however prior experience and self-identification as a minority do affect sense of belonging.
Yu Sun California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Qichao Dong California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Fang Tang California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Leata Hubbard Cheuoua WestEd