Research Memo

Students Aspiring to Computer Science Careers

Overview

This memo outlines findings of in-class surveys administered nationally to 267,363 high school students in Fall 2015. 33,535 students expressed interest in Computer Careers.

The most striking findings of the survey are:

  • Continuing a long-term trend, males are four times more likely than females to be interested in computer careers.
  • Female computer career aspirants are highly interested in art as an extracurricular activity.
  • Computer career aspirants are more uncertain than non-aspirants of their postsecondary education plans.
  • Computer careers appeal to “A” students as often as “C” students.
  • Interest in computer careers declines throughout high school, but those who persist are significantly more focused on a STEM majors/careers.
  • Parents are critical influences on Computer Career aspirants’ career choice.

The analysis provides evidence-based insights to shape public policy, inform nonprofit efforts, and inspire advances in education to attract even more talent to an in-demand field.

Gender and Computer Career Aspirations

Males are four times more likely than females to aspire to Computer Careers (80% vs. 20%).[1] This pattern is similar across racial/ethnic groups.

Racial/ethnic differences in Computer Career aspirations are limited. Asians are most likely to aspire to computer careers (18%) and Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics are all equally less likely (12%).

Post-Secondary Extra-Curricular Interests

Students could choose up to three activities from a list of more than 40 they might pursue in college. Female Computer Career aspirants stand out from their peers on one activity: Art.

  • Female Computer Career aspirants want to pursue Art activities in college at higher rates than do male aspirants, female non-aspirants, or male non-aspirants (38%, 13%, 15%, 6% respectively).
  • Similar patterns also appear when focus turns to only students who are considering a STEM major/ career.[2] Art is a desirable postsecondary activity for 38% of female Computer Career aspirants, but only:
    • 17% of females aspiring to non-Computer STEM careers,
    • 13% of male Computer Career aspirants, and
    • 6% of males aspiring to non-Computer STEM careers.
  • Similar patterns are replicated across racial groups.
    • Among female STEM aspirants, Computer Career aspirants are more likely than non-aspirants to have an interest in art activities:
      • Whites (44% vs. 17%)
      • Hispanics (39% vs. 18%)
      • Asians (36% vs. 20%)
      • African Americans (25% vs. 12%).
    • These gaps between female Computer Career aspirants and female non-aspirants expand when we look at all female students.

 

Educational Uncertainty

  • Computer career aspirants are more uncertain3 of their post-secondary education plans than non-aspirants (20% vs. 15%).
    • Greater educational uncertainty among Computer Career aspirants than non-aspirants holds regardless of gender – females (20% vs. 13%) and, to a lesser extent, males (21% vs. 18%).
    • Greater educational uncertainty is expressed by Computer Career aspirants than non-aspirants regardless of race. This holds among:
      • Females, whether from racial/ethnic groups historically overrepresented (22% vs. 13%) or underrepresented (17% vs. 12%) in STEM.
      • Males, whether from racial/ethnic groups historically overrepresented (22% vs. 19%) or underrepresented (18% vs. 15%) in STEM.
    • Computer career aspirants are more uncertain[3] of their post-secondary education plans than even peers who aspire to other types of STEM careers (20% vs. 16%). Among STEM aspirants:
      • 20% of females aspiring to Computer Careers but only 12% aspiring to other STEM careers are uncertain about post-secondary education.
      • 21% of males aspiring to Computer Careers compared with 18% aspiring to other STEM careers are uncertain about post-secondary education.
    • Computer Career aspirants are less interested than non-aspirants in attending community colleges (18% vs. 23%).

Educational Preparation

  • 41% of Computer Career aspirants (compared with 39% of non-aspirants) report taking specialized courses – (STEM or non-STEM focused) AP or CTE classes.
    • However, females and males aspiring to Computer Careers diverge in specialized courses
      • Females more often than males report AP classes (28% vs. 22%).
      • Females less often than males report CTE classes (13% vs. 18%).
    • Gender differences in the specialized coursework of Computer Career aspirants persist across racial/ethnic groups.[4]
  • Computer Career aspirants become slightly more common as student GPA[5] declines (11% of “A” students and 14% of “C” students).
    • However, the negative correlation between GPA and Computer Career aspirations disappears when males and females are analyzed separately.
    • Regardless of GPA:
      • Computer Career aspirants are about 5% of females.
      • Computer Career aspirants are about 21% of males.

Graduation Year and Computer Career Aspirations

  • Computer Career aspirations decline as graduation approaches. This holds among:
    • Females, whose aspirations fall from 6% among freshmen to 4% among seniors.
    • Males, whose aspirations fall from 25% among freshmen to 19% among seniors.
    • Racial/ethnic groups: This pattern is consistent across racial/ethnic groups.
  • Nevertheless, those who remain Computer Career aspirants increasingly focus solely on STEM careers as graduation approaches [6] (45% of freshmen vs. 50% of seniors).
    • In other words, Computer Career aspirants are less likely to be torn between STEM and non-STEM career options by senior year than as freshmen.
    • This trend between freshman and senior year holds among:
      • Females (26% to 33%) as well as males (51% to 55%).
      • Racial/ethnic groups historically overrepresented in STEM (45% vs. 53%).
  • Hispanics (43% to 49%) – but less so among non-Hispanic groups historically underrepresented in STEM [URGs] (47% vs. 48%).
  • Moreover, Computer-Career aspirants are uniquely committed to STEM careers. When students aspire to STEM majors/careers, Computer Career aspirants more often than non-Computer Career aspirants are focused solely on STEM careers of some kind (48% vs. 28%). These contrasts persist regardless of gender.
    • Females: (29% vs. 15%, respectively, solely considering STEM careers)
    • Males: (52% vs. 35%, respectively, solely considering STEM careers)

Influences on Computer Career Aspirants

Students in CTE and Health Science Career (HSC) classes could choose up to two influences on their career choices.[7] We compare those who did and did not aspire to Computer Careers.

  • Computer Career aspirants cite five influences most often: My own interests/ experiences (58%), fathers (22%), mothers (17%), teachers (10%), and classes (10%).
    • Computer Career non-aspirants cite the same, but mothers are relatively more important (24%) and fathers relatively less important (20%).
  • A look at the aggregate data shows some influences vary by gender of Computer Career aspirants.
    • Own interests/experiences are more frequently cited by females than males (63% vs. 58%) – but are the top influences regardless of gender.
    • Mothers are an important influence for more females than males (21% vs. 16%).
    • Fathers are an important influence for more males than females (23% vs. 15%).
    • Teachers are important influencers for more females than males (13% vs. 10%).
    • Classes are similarly important for females and males (11% vs. 10%).
  • Some interesting nuggets about Computer Career aspirants:
    • Social media: 12% of female Computer Career aspirants in the HSC sample mention social media – more than female non-aspirants (5%) or male computer aspirants (7%) in the HSC sample.
    • Mothers: Among females who aspire to computer careers, mothers are cited as influences most often by African-Americans and least often by Whites (31% vs. 16%).
    • Some racial/ethnic groups have influences that are slightly unique and often tie for fifth place (or displace top 5 influencers identified in the aggregate sample) among Computer Career aspirants.
      • Asians: Classes (14%)
      • Whites: Classes (13%) and Teachers (14%)
      • Hispanics: Other family (11%), teachers (13%).

Conclusions

Computer careers present a similar challenge as other STEM careers – gender gaps in aspirations. However, overcoming two obstacles – uncertainty about postsecondary education paths to their career and the importance of art to female Computer Career aspirants – may be critical to ensuring an adequate supply of Computer Career professionals. The results also suggest the value of looking separately at segments of the STEM pipeline.

[1] Computer careers are defined as the following options presented in one or more surveys distributed to high school students: Animation, App Mobile Tech, Coding, Computer Science, Cyber Security, Data Science Business Analytics, Game Design, Internet Ecommerce Tech, Web Design, Computer Info Sci Engineering, IT, Coding Programming, Computer Info Systems, Computer Network Engineering, Computer Network Mgt Admin, Computer Network Tech, Computer Office Tech, Computer Repair, Computer Science, Computer Technician, Computer Technology, Electronics Computer Tech, Game Software Development, Internet Information System, Network System Support, Network Tech.

[2] The following Ns apply to subsets of students: STEM aspirants who aspire to computer careers (N=33008); STEM aspirants who are non-Computer Career aspirants (N=74222); Non-Computer Career aspirants (N=230,490); Asian female Computer Career aspirants (N=580); Asian male Computer Career aspirants (N=1804); Asian female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=6351); Asian male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=4503); African American female Computer Career aspirants (N=1241); African American male Computer Career aspirants (N=4820); African American female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=27067); African American male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=16999); White female Computer Career aspirants (N=2565); White male Computer Career aspirants (N=10726); White female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=55509); White male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=43356); Hispanic female Computer Career aspirants (N=1517); Hispanic male Computer Career aspirants (N=5991); Hispanic female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=30953); Hispanic male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=22495)

[3] Students are uncertain of the post-secondary educational pathway if they report they are “not sure” or will not seek post-secondary education.

[4] Regardless of race/ethnicity, more male than female Computer Career aspirants have taken CTE courses of some type: Asians (27% vs. 19%); Blacks (26% vs. 22%); Whites (29% vs. 22%); Hispanics (26% vs. 19%). Regardless of race/ethnicity, more female than male Computer Career aspirants have taken AP courses of some type: Asian (41% vs. 35%); Black (25% vs. 16%); White (24% vs. 20%); Hispanic (28% vs. 21%).

[5] GPA is self-reported and GPAs are combined into three categories: “A” students report A+/A/A- averages; “B” students report B+/B averages; “C” students report GPAs of B- or lower.

[6] This increasingly solid focus on STEM careers may be due to more students narrowing their interest to computer careers only, to those previously torn between computer careers and non-STEM careers resolving in favor of STEM careers, or due to those who enter high school interested in both computer careers and non-STEM careers losing interest in computer careers.

[7] N=103,438 responding to these surveys; 16,400 students were classified as computer career aspirants.

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[1] Computer careers are defined as the following options presented in one or more surveys distributed to high school students: Animation, App Mobile Tech, Coding, Computer Science, Cyber Security, Data Science Business Analytics, Game Design, Internet Ecommerce Tech, Web Design, Computer Info Sci Engineering, IT, Coding Programming, Computer Info Systems, Computer Network Engineering, Computer Network Mgt Admin, Computer Network Tech, Computer Office Tech, Computer Repair, Computer Science, Computer Technician, Computer Technology, Electronics Computer Tech, Game Software Development, Internet Information System, Network System Support, Network Tech.

[1] The following Ns apply to subsets of students: STEM aspirants who aspire to computer careers (N=33008); STEM aspirants who are non-Computer Career aspirants (N=74222); Non-Computer Career aspirants (N=230,490); Asian female Computer Career aspirants (N=580); Asian male Computer Career aspirants (N=1804); Asian female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=6351); Asian male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=4503); African American female Computer Career aspirants (N=1241); African American male Computer Career aspirants (N=4820); African American female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=27067); African American male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=16999); White female Computer Career aspirants (N=2565); White male Computer Career aspirants (N=10726); White female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=55509); White male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=43356); Hispanic female Computer Career aspirants (N=1517); Hispanic male Computer Career aspirants (N=5991); Hispanic female Computer Career non-aspirants (N=30953); Hispanic male Computer Career non-aspirants (N=22495)

[1] Students are uncertain of the post-secondary educational pathway if they report they are “not sure” or will not seek post-secondary education.

[1] Regardless of race/ethnicity, more male than female Computer Career aspirants have taken CTE courses of some type: Asians (27% vs. 19%); Blacks (26% vs. 22%); Whites (29% vs. 22%); Hispanics (26% vs. 19%). Regardless of race/ethnicity, more female than male Computer Career aspirants have taken AP courses of some type: Asian (41% vs. 35%); Black (25% vs. 16%); White (24% vs. 20%); Hispanic (28% vs. 21%).

[1] GPA is self-reported and GPAs are combined into three categories: “A” students report A+/A/A- averages; “B” students report B+/B averages; “C” students report GPAs of B- or lower.

[1] This increasingly solid focus on STEM careers may be due to more students narrowing their interest to computer careers only, to those previously torn between computer careers and non-STEM careers resolving in favor of STEM careers, or due to those who enter high school interested in both computer careers and non-STEM careers losing interest in computer careers.

[1] N=103,438 responding to these surveys; 16,400 students were classified as computer career aspirants.