Developing and Validating a Scale on Subjective Factors Affecting Retention of Underrepresented Computer Science Undergrads

This paper discusses research aimed at developing, validating, and improving the robustness of survey scales to assess the subjective factors that impact the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented minorities (URMs) in computer science (CS) undergraduate programs. Our iterative scale development process consisted of: 1. Selecting questions from existing CS survey instruments; 2. Administering the survey at three different institutions; 3. Conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on the survey items; and 4. Updating the items based on the analysis results. Although a few of the scales are still a work in progress, after two iterative rounds with three surveys (N = 184, N = 338, N = 450), we established fourteen robust factors that can be adopted in future studies. The factors measure students' attitude toward CS, intention to continue their CS trajectory, three factors regarding students' beliefs about computer scientists, computing identity, current experience, proactive and preemptive help-seeking, familiarity with future opportunities, persistence, leadership, confidence, and perception of social support. Further, we demonstrate that these scales can be used to uncover differences between different groups of students (e.g., men and women, Black and non-Black students).