Minoritized Students' Engagement, Identity, and Agency in Computer Science: Listening to the Students Themselves

This panel focuses on the voices of computer science (CS) high school students who come from communities historically underrepresented in CS. Our UCLA team worked in research-practice partnership with teachers and students from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to understand how youth engagement, agency, and identity are being impacted, if at all, by efforts to broaden participation in computing. Going beyond a "numbers" approach, we define equity as attending to the cultural wealth, funds of knowledge, and perspectives youth bring to their CS learning experiences, amplifying minoritized youth's visions of what CS education should be in the CS for All movement. This panel begins by sharing findings from our yearlong qualitative study in four CS classrooms, followed by hearing from the students themselves about what impacts their motivation to learn CS. Student panelists will explain how and why they choose to engage in CS learning toward empowering themselves and their communities, as well as how they are developing CS identities. Together, we will explore what it takes for youth to acquire a sense of "rightful presence" [1] in a field dominated by people who do not look like them or come from their communities.