Chutes and Ladders: Institutional Setbacks on the Computer Science Community College Transfer Pathway

Community colleges play a large role in educating students who are historically underrepresented in computer science (CS), including women, Latino men, and Black men, as well as post-traditional (older or working) students. In spite of this, there is a dearth of research on the institutional factors that influence whether or not community college students who are enrolled in CS classes and who express an interest in transferring and completing a bachelor’s degree in the field persist. The overused “pipeline” metaphor, which indicates a supply-side lack, has been replaced by many with that of a “pathway.” However, the “pathway” image suggests a general forward-moving trend that can be misleading. In this work, we draw from qualitative interviews with 14 CS students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the field who have studied introductory computer programming at a community college to investigate the following question: “What are the institutional barriers along a CS bachelor’s degree track that includes community college?” Our findings indicate that there are three categories of institutional barriers along the transfer pathway: setbacks that hinder student progression forward, discontinuities in which students leave and re-enter the pathway, and departures in which students leave computer science and/or leave college altogether. We describe specific examples of each and introduce the idea of student movement as a game of “chutes and ladders,” a convoluted trail where students can slide backwards or off the path (chutes), necessitating the implementation of targeted institutional supports that can boost student progress forward (ladders). We suggest institutional interventions that can help students facing each type of barrier to continue on course through community college and transfer to a four-year university.