Latinas' resilience and persistence in computer science and engineering: Preliminary findings of a qualitative study examining identity and agency

Sometimes I still do not see myself as a computer scientist: Negotiating a computer science identity as a Latina undergraduate and youth mentor

“…Amidst these difficulties, Gislaine finds solace and support in her friendship with a fellow CS peer who is also an underrepresented woman in the field. Their mutual understanding and solidarity provide a source of resilience and empowerment, similar to findings on other Latinas in CS (Esquinca, Villa, Hampton, Ceberio and Wandermurem 2015), enabling them to navigate the challenges of the major together and find strength in their shared experiences.…”

“…In a study conducted by Ebony McGee, Gerek Griffith and Stacey Houston (2019) on Black engineering and computing graduate students, it was found that these students experienced extreme stress in attempting to demonstrate their value to white peers as representative minorities, often concealing their mental health challenges from others. Some Latina CS majors have drawn strength from supportive family members who affirm and encourage their persistence in the field while others have found solace in networks of peer support that offer a safe space for discussing both positive and negative experiences in their personal and academic (Esquinca, Villa, Hampton, Ceberio and Wandermurem 2015).…”

Using Academic Controversy in a Computer Science Undergraduate Leadership Course: An Effective Approach to Examine Ethical Issues in Computer Science

“…With regards to the participation of Latinas in CS, we found the academic controversy exercise helped them to identify and position themselves as capable contributors, whether they played a positional or non-positional leadership role. For example, Carolina, a Latinx CS student, said: As these accounts show, CS Latinx female students honed leadership skills that allowed them to develop their sense of belonging and thrive in CS education, a space where they are prone to feel like an outsider or invisible due to the lack of representation [45], [46].…”

“…We have also highlighted how students interpreted the impact of being able to communicate their ideas and perspectives when working with their peers [3], not only in their leadership courses but in their other CS courses. We also illustrated the importance of supporting students' development of their listening skills to increase their understanding of the unique aspects of professional computing environments as they learned to embrace different perspectives-aspects crucial to developing a leadership identity-which is especially striking because of the lack of representation of Latinx in CS [46].…”