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Diversity 6Gaps in Computer Science: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and HispanicsIntroductionThe computer science (CS) industry, and STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering and Math) fields more broadly, havea well-documented lack of gender and racial diversity, withrelatively few women, Blacks and Hispanics working in theindustry. Despite efforts by tech companies and educationalinstitutions to attract more underrepresented groups to STEMfields, the gap persists. Fewer underrepresented minoritystudents earn degrees in CS in college.4 Additionally, womenare significantly less likely than men to earn a degree in CS,and this gap has grown since the mid-1980s.5Compounding this problem is a lack ofcomprehensive data on the factors that contribute to theunderrepresentation of these groups in CS. Comprehensivedata on U.S. students’ early exposure to CS, as well as onparents’ and educators’ perceptions of CS, can shed light onwhy certain groups choose (or do not choose) to pursue CSthrough high school, in college and as a career.To understand the motivating factors for women,Google’s 2014 report Women Who Choose Computer Science— What Really Matters6 identified four leading factors thatinfluence a woman’s decision to pursue a CS degree:social encouragement to study CS, self-perception (havingan interest in areas applicable to CS, such as problemsolving and tinkering), academic exposure to CS and careerperception (including understanding broader professionalapplications for CS).Expanding on the scope of Women Who ChooseComputer Science — What Really Matters, Googlecommissioned Gallup to conduct a multiyear,comprehensive research effort to better understand thesefactors among students, parents and K-12 educators inthe U.S. The findings from the first year of this study canbe found in two separate reports. Searching for ComputerScience: Access and Barriers in U.S. K-12 Education examinesstudent exposure to computer technology, demand forCS in schools, opportunities for students to learn CS andbarriers to offering CS in schools. The second report, Imagesof Computer Science: Perceptions Among Students, Parentsand Educators in the U.S., explores the confusion betweenCS activities and general computer literacy, perceptions of4, 5 According to National Center for Education Statistics, in 2013-2014 Blacksmade up 10.7% of Bachelor’s degrees in Computer and information science, whileaccording to the 2014 U.S. Census, Blacks make up 13.5% of 20- to 24-year-olds.Race/Ethnicity data retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15 322.30.asp?current yes and /natproj/detail/d2011 20.pdf6Reference access at https://goo.gl/rLX6axCS careers, the stereotypes of who engages in CS and thedemographic profiles of students who have learned CS.This special report on diversity is part of the secondyear of this multiyear study and focuses on access to andparticipation in CS learning opportunities among girls andunderrepresented racial and ethnic minorities, namelyBlacks and Hispanics, in seventh to 12th grade in the U.S.The companion report from this second year, Trends in theState of Computer Science in U.S. K-12 Schools, covers overalldifferences from the first year, including changes in CSofferings, perceptions, and barriers while this report divesinto the pertinent diversity gaps in CS. Understanding theaccess challenges certain underrepresented groups faceand the avenues these groups take to learn CS when theyare available helps reveal important facts about the CSpipeline. Throughout this report, the term “underrepresentedgroups” is used to describe females, Blacks and Hispanics,as they are underrepresented in the field of CS. Sample sizesfor other potentially underrepresented minorities (such asNative Americans) were too small to report.This report also examines social barriers that couldhinder participation by underrepresented groups in CS,including exposure to CS stereotypes in the media, lackof encouragement to learn CS from adults, and parents’and educators’ belief that underrepresented groups arenot as interested in pursuing CS. These data reveal thevarious ways in which students might receive unconsciousmessages that either encourage or discourage theirparticipation in CS.For this phase of the study, Gallup interviewed nationallyrepresentative samples with responses from 1,672 seventh- to12th-grade students, 1,677 parents of seventh- to 12th-gradestudents, and 1,008 first- to 12th-grade teachers via telephone inDecember 2015 and January 2016. In addition, Gallup surveyednationally representative samples with responses from 9,805K-12 principals and 2,307 school district superintendents in theU.S. online. The data for all five samples were weighted to berepresentative of their respective groups, and all comparisonsbetween Year 1 and Year 2 data reflect weighted, representativedata. Gallup researchers tested all differences noted (as higheror lower than other groups) between samples and demographicsubgroups for statistical significance and, in many cases, usedmodels to ensure differences noted are still significant aftercontrolling for other factors, such as education and income. SeeAppendix A for more details on the sampling frames for eachgroup and methodology. This report includes a selection of keyfindings from the second year of this expansive research project.

COMPUTERSCIENCELEARNING

Diversity 8Gaps in Computer Science: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and HispanicsBlack students are less likely than Whitestudents to have access to a ComputerScience class in school. Female students areless likely to be aware of Computer Sciencelearning opportunities online and in theircommunity. While most students who havelearned Computer Science did so in a classat school, Black and Hispanic students aremore likely than White students to havelearned Computer Science outside of theclassroom in after-school clubs or groups.Access to CS: Black Students Are Less Likely ThanWhite Students to Have Access to CS Classes In SchoolAs CS becomes more integrated into a variety ofcareer fields and facets of everyday life, it is of growingimportance that all students have the opportunity to learnCS. Overall, just over half (56%) of seventh- to 12th-gradestudents in the U.S. say their school offers at least onededicated CS class, and about half (51%) report that CS istaught as part of other classes at their school. More thanfour in 10 students (44%) say there are after-school groupsor clubs where students can learn CS.Black students are less likely than White students tosay their school offers a dedicated CS class (47% vs. 58%).Black students are also less likely than Hispanic studentsto have a CS class in their school; however, after controllingfor income and parents’ education, the difference is nolonger significant.7In general, when students have access to CS learningin school, they are more likely to say they are veryinterested in learning it — suggesting that exposure tothese opportunities is key to piquing students’ interest inthe first place. Students who report there are groups orclubs at their school where they can learn CS show greaterinterest in learning CS. Educators might want to think aboutways to integrate CS into schools outside of dedicated CSclasses to appeal to more students.7 All differences discussed are significant at the 0.05 level, and significance holdswhen controlling for parents’ education and annual household income, unlessotherwise noted.To ensure that respondents were thinkingonly about computer science — and notcomputers more generally — respondentswere provided with a definition of computerscience after answering initial questionsabout computer science activities. Inaddition, respondents were remindedmultiple times throughout the surveythat “computer science involves usingprogramming/coding to create moreadvanced artifacts, such as software, apps,games, websites and electronics, andthat computer science is not equivalent togeneral computer use.”Awareness of CS: Female Students Are Less Awareof Computer Science Learning Opportunities On theInternet and In Their Local CommunityWhile there are no gender differences in access toCS in schools, male students are more likely than femalestudents to be aware of groups or clubs at their schoolswhere CS can be learned, and are more likely to be aware ofopportunities in their community and on the internet wherethey can learn CS. While there could be many reasons for thegender awareness gap — including student interest drivingawareness — one possibility is that these opportunities aregeared toward activities more likely to attract boys, such asgaming, and that the material itself might not resonate asmuch with some girls. Approaches to increasing the numberof students — both male and female — who learn CS shouldconsider material that signals to male and female studentsthat they belong and can succeed.8Awareness of CS opportunities is related somewhat tointerest in learning it. Students who say they are aware ofspecific websites where they can learn CS are more likelythan those who are not aware of them to say they are “veryinterested” in learning CS (30% vs. 16%). About two-thirds8 See Master, A., Cheryan, S., and Meltzoff, A. N. (2015). Computing whether shebelongs: Stereotypes undermine girls’ interest and sense of belonging in computerscience [Electronic version]. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 424-437.Retrieved from http://life-slc.org/docs/MasterCheryanMeltzoff 2015 JEP.pdf

Diversity 9Gaps in Computer Science: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and Hispanicsof students overall are aware of specific websites, and justover half are aware of opportunities in their community tolearn CS outside of their school.Among parents, a majority are aware of specificwebsites where their child could learn CS on the internet.Black parents are more likely than White parents to knowof these websites, with nearly two-thirds of Black parentsreporting they know of specific websites to learn CS,compared with half of White parents. Awareness of CSlearning opportunities in the community outside of schoolis even lower among parents than among students, withjust 43% saying they are aware of outside opportunities.Awareness of computer science learning opportunitiesonline and in the community is important, especiallyamong those who lack the opportunity to learn computerscience at school. Awareness of community-based CSlearning opportunities among parents is an important stepin supporting and encouraging CS learning among children(see Appendix B, Figure B4).Learning CS: Overall, Male Students Are More LikelyThan Female Students to Have Learned CS and AreMore Likely to Have Learned It On Their Own, WhileBlack And Hispanic Students Are More Likely ThanWhite Students to Have Learned Outside of theClassroom In After-School Clubs or GroupsWith a majority of students saying their school offers atleast one dedicated CS class, it is not surprising that overhalf the students (55%) in grades seven through 12 saythey have learned some CS. Most of these students (80%)learned CS in a class at school, with almost half of thisgroup (47%) saying they learned in a dedicated CS class.Nearly two-thirds of students who learned CS are selflearners, with 48% saying they learned on their own outsideof class, 39% reporting they learned online, and one-quarteror less saying they learned in a group or club at school(26%) or in a formal group outside of school (22%).Figure 1.HAVE YOU EVER LEARNED COMPUTER SCIENCE IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING WAYS? (% YES)Asked only of those who learned computer science (White n 584, Black n 140, Hispanic n 173)%STUDENTSWHITEBLACKHISPANIC81% 82% 80%50%46% 45%41%38% 38% 37%18%Learned in classat schoolLearned on ownLearned online38%34%Learned in groupor club17%21%Learned in formalgroup outside ofschool

Diversity 10Gaps in Computer Science: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and HispanicsCS groups and clubs at school outside of officialclasses could also engage more Black and Hispanicstudents. Both Black and Hispanic students (34% and 41%,respectively) are more likely than White students (18%)to say they learned CS in a group or club at school. Blackstudents (38%) are also more likely than White (17%) orHispanic (21%) students to say they learned CS in a formalgroup outside of school. Since Black students are lesslikely than White students to have classes at their schoolwhere only CS is taught, many Black students might seekalternative opportunities for learning CS outside of class.However, the vast majority of CS learning still takes placein a class at school across all racial groups, demonstratingthat when schools offer CS classes, it is increasinglyimportant to ensure that all racial and ethnic groups equallyparticipate and benefit.Male students (59%) are more likely than femalestudents (50%) to say they have ever learned CS, and theyare more likely to pursue opportunities to learn CS outsideof the classroom. This difference is striking because maleand female students have the same level of access to CSlearning opportunities in their schools and communities.While male and female students who have learned CSare equally likely to say they learned CS in class, in a clubat school or in a formal group outside of school, malestudents are more likely than female students to say theylearned CS online (44% vs. 31%) or on their own outside ofclass (54% vs. 41%). In fact, over half of the male studentswho say they have ever learned CS say they learned someon their own. This aligns with the finding that males aremore aware of outside opportunities to learn CS.Figure 2.HAVE YOU EVER LEARNED COMPUTER SCIENCE IN ANYOF THE FOLLOWING WAYS? (% YES)Asked only of those who learned computer science(Male n 548, Female n 403)%STUDENTSMALEFEMALE80%Learned in classat school81%54%Learned on own41%44%Learned onlineLearned in groupor clubLearned in formal groupoutside of school31%29%22%22%20%

EXPOSURE TOTECHNOLOGY

Diversity 12Gaps in Computer Science: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and HispanicsBlack and Hispanic students are less likelythan White students to use a computer athome every day, and Hispanic students areless likely than White students to say theyuse a computer at school every school day.More than six in 10 students know an adultwho works with computers and technology,although fewer Hispanic students knowsuch an adult.Home Computer Access Is Higher Among WhiteStudents, With Large Majorities of All StudentsReporting Daily Cellphone UsageDisparities in exposure to technology in the home andschool may also influence the likelihood that students inunderrepresented groups will learn and do computer sciencein the future. Overall, almost four in 10 students (39%) use acomputer at home every day, and among those who do, morethan three-quarters (77%) use a computer at home for twohours or more daily. White students are more likely than Blackand Hispanic students to use a computer at least most daysof the week at home. In fact, two-thirds of White students(68%) use a computer at home at least most days a week,while just half of Hispanic students (50%) use a computerthat often. Almost six in 10 Black students (58%) usecomputers at home at least most days of the week. Just onein 20 students (5%) say they never use a computer at home.At-school computer use is similar to at-home use,with almost four in 10 seventh- to 12th-grade students(38%) saying they use a computer at school every schoolday — although Hispanic students are less likely thanWhite students to say this (31% vs. 42%, respectively). Anadditional one-quarter of students say they use a computermost days at school. Hispanic students are more likely thanWhite or Black students to say they use a computer onlysome days or never (45% vs. 33% and 34%, respectively).Home and school computer use do not differsignificantly by gender, although a greater proportion offemale students (42%) than male students (36%) reportusing a computer at home every day.Cellphone and tablet usage is very high among allstudents, with three-quarters (75%) saying they use acellphone or tablet every day. Among students who use acellphone or tablet every day, 83% use it for at least two hours,including 35% who use it for more than five hours on a typicalday. Black students are more likely than Hispanic students touse a cellphone or tablet every day (81% vs. 72%), and over halfof Black students who report daily cellphone or tablet usage(52%) say they use their cellphone or tablet for more than fivehours on a typical day. The duration of cellphone and tabletusage is just as high among Hispanic students who use theirdevices every day, with 47% saying they use their device morethan five hours on a typical day; just 27% of White studentswho use a cellphone or tablet daily say the same.Figure 3.Figure 4.IN A TYPICAL WEEK, HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE ACOMPUTER AT HOME?IN A TYPICAL WEEK, HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE ACELLPHONE OR TABLET?5%14%19%2%11%6%10%17%MOST 9%3%4%5%15%SOME DAYSNEVERWhiteBlack75%74%72%26%Total n 1672, White n 1033, Black n 228, Hispanic n 310MOST DAYSSOME DAYSNEVER81%24%HispanicEVERY DAYNOT VERY OFTENNOT VERY OFTEN45%30%TotalStudentsEVERY DAYTotalStudentsWhiteBlackHispanicTotal n 1672, White n 1033, Black n 228, Hispanic n 310

Diversity 13Gaps in Computer Science: Exploring the Underrepresentation of Girls, Blacks and HispanicsWhile there are no differences between male studentsand female students when it comes to computer usage,female students are more likely than male students to usea cellphone or tablet every day. In fact, 84% of seventhto 12th-grade female students in the U.S. say they use acellphone or tablet every day, compared with only 68% ofmale students. Daily users among both genders are active,with about one-third saying they use their device morethan five hours in a typical day. With large majorities ofstudents from underrepresented groups using a cellphoneor tablet every day and using them for several hours eachday, opportunities to learn CS through mobile technologyor that explicitly connect CS to the devices they use (forexample, programs that show students how to make theirown mobile app) could help build interest in CS amongthese students.Frequent computer usage is also related to interest inCS. Male students who use a computer every day at homeare more likely to say they are “very interested” in learning CS(40%), compared with male students who use a computerat home just some days a week (25%). This difference doesFigure 5.STUDENTS “VERY INTERESTED” IN LEARNING COMPUTERSCIENCE, BY NUMBER OF DAYS THEY USE A COMPUTERAT HOMEMALEFEMALE40%Every day17%37%Most daysSome daysNot very often17%25%16%23%13%not exist for female students, among whom about one inseven (between 13% and 17%) say they are “very interested” inlearning CS regardless of how frequently they use a computerat home. This may be attributable to male and femalestudents using computers at home for different purposes.For example, male students might be more likely to usecomputers to play video games, where they a

The computer science (CS) industry, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields more broadly, have a well-documented lack of gender and racial diversity, with relatively few women, Blacks and Hispanics working in the industry. Despite efforts by tech companies and educational