Changing attitudes about computing science at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Benefits of an intervention program designed for undergraduates

The African American Researchers in Computing Sciences (AARCS) program aims to broaden the participation of African Americans from historically Black colleges and universities in the computing sciences at the faculty and research scientist levels. The AARCS program serves as a model that can be incorporated into larger programmatic endeavors at institutions of higher education to target African Americans and other underrepresented groups. This study highlights features of the program, presents key research questions and findings of the evaluation, and generates specific programmatic knowledge for those interested in interventions designed to increase the representation of African American computing scientists, as well as other scientific-related disciplines within higher education.