Better Late Than Never: Exploring Students’ Pathways to Computing in Later Stages of College

While introductory computing courses (i.e., CS1) continue to enroll large proportions of first- and second-year computing majors, more non-majors than ever before are enrolling in CS1 at later points in their college careers. These “latecomers” to computing are a unique population that may be more diverse, given that prior research indicates students from historically underrepresented groups often develop an interest in computing later than White and Asian men. Thus, as computing departments grapple with the pressures to broaden participation, latecomers to CS1 may be a population from which to recruit women and underrepresented students of color. Using survey data from a nationwide study of CS1 course takers, this study explores the demographic and academic background characteristics of students who took CS1 in their third year or beyond. We also analyzed the characteristics and CS1 experiences that predict latecomers’ decisions to major or minor in computing. Findings indicate that latecomers came from a variety of academic disciplines and were more likely than computing majors who take CS1 courses earlier in college to be women. However, latecomers who were women were less likely than men to be recruited to a computing major or minor. Additional findings and implications for practice are discussed.