Goal-Congruity Theory Predicts Students’ Sense of Belonging in Computing Across Racial/Ethnic Groups

Students’ goals may be one of many factors contributing to the underrepresentation of women, people who identify as Black, Hispanic, Latinx/a/o/*, or Native, and first-generation college students in computing. This study examines whether students who desire a career that enables them to pursue communal goals: goals of working with or for the benefit of others (e.g., have a social impact, serve humanity, help others, or give back to their community) may be deterred from computing if they perceive it as incompatible with those goals. Using survey data from over 45,000 undergraduate students, results show that women, compared to men of their same racial/ethnic identity, endorse social impact goals at higher rates, and that the relationship between a student’s sense of belonging in computing and their goals is moderated by their perception of the communal goal affordances of computing.