Exploring Factors that Influence Underrepresented Students to Persist in Computer Science

Women and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented in Computer Science (CS) major. The goal of this study is to examine the persistence among underrepresented students (URS) in introductory CS courses. This full paper describes an exploratory study to identify which non-cognitive factors such as academic performance satisfaction, learning assistance, peer interaction, and sense of belonging may help in predicting URS's intention to persist in CS major. Results suggest that academic performance satisfaction plays an important role in students' persistence in general. Also, studying with peers may increase women's intention to persist in CS. However, academic support has a negative association with ethnic minorities' persistence in the major. These findings can be used to make decisions to improve students' retention in CS. Implications of these results are discussed.