The formation of tech social capital in Black and Latinx adolescents in an urban computer science program: a case study
Creators: name: Ferguson, Camille A.
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2021

description: Problem: Blacks and Latinx men and women continue to be underrepresented at large technology companies like Twitter, Intel, Microsoft, and Amazon. There are two harmful facets of this problem. First, the nation will soon face a dangerous shortage in the computer science workforce if it isn’t addressed. Second, this gap contributes to economic disparities between people of color in tech and their white and Asian male counterparts. Not only is this a diversity issue, but it raises a moral dilemma for a country committed to equality. Research has often suggested that this problem is a symptom of a technical skills gap between underrepresented populations and their overrepresented counterparts. However, preliminary research suggests that it is not tech skills alone that underrepresented populations need. This researcher argues that young, underrepresented Black and Latinx students need tech social capital in order to gain entry and advance in the tech field. To date, no studies have examined the intersection between technology-related occupations and the type of social capital required to help students navigate through tech spaces. Study Purpose: This study seeks to fill the gap by examining how tech social capital is created and activated. It examines tech social capital as it unfolded in a computer science and coding youth program designed to engage Black and Latinx urban youth. The research was guided by the following research questions:RQ1: How is tech social capital perceived, created and activated in young Black and Latinx students engaged in an urban computer science program for youth?RQ2: How can informal educational environments support and help students to expand their tech social capital?RQ3: What is tech social capital? RQ3.1: What are its components? RQ3.2: How is it different from STEM social capital?Methods: The researcher implemented a secondary data analysis using a qualitative case study design. The primary data was collected by evaluators from the Education Development Center’s Center for Children &amp; Technology (EDCICCT). They collected approximately 259 interviews from 4 cohorts of students, teachers, adult mentors, and parents involved in a computer science and coding youth program. Additionally, the EDCICCT team conducted 110 observations of classes, family meetings, hackathons, professional panels, and other program-related events. For this study, the researcher analyzed a subsample of the original data, including 53 observations and 114 interview files, using NVivo qualitative data analysis software. The interview files represented 57 participants who were each interviewed between 1 and 6 times between spring 2015 and fall 2020.Results: Students reported that the program helped them grow their tech-related networks. They described developing trusting relationships with adults and peers that were used to gain useful resources and be successful in tech spaces. Specifically, they used coding program resources to produce their own projects, access tech jobs and internships, choose appropriate colleges, and declare majors in computer science or related fields. Analysis also revealed that the program assisted students in creating tech social capital by incorporating activities to help them expand their networks and develop the affective dispositions (such as trust and a sense of belonging) that supported its creation. A new model of tech social capital was developed based on these findings.Conclusion: These results demonstrate how supportive resources can expand students’ agency, enabling them to create tech social capital. In the case of the coding program, students used these resources to jumpstart their skills and begin navigating tech education spaces. They also harnessed them to explore and pursue tech-related careers. Further, study results suggest that this program’s design features could inform other projects seeking to expand students’ tech social capital. Government agencies, schools, school districts and informal computer science and coding programs can utilize the Ferguson Model of Tech Social Capital to design more effective programs, policies, and practices to promote computer science education among Black and Latinx youth.