Online Learning Communities Prove Effective in Recruiting Students into Computing Majors at Illinois State University

Research suggests that the perceptions of students, educators, and other stakeholders play a large role in discouraging women and minorities from pursuing computing-related majors and participating in technical occupations. This NSF-funded project utilizes online learning communities to make computing disciplines more attractive to prospective students — particularly female and minority students — by providing them with a better sense of the range of opportunities in computing and the role of computing in addressing real issues about which people care. Additionally, students are challenged to examine stereotypical and constraining definitions of “femininity” and “ethnicity” and overcome these barriers. Findings show that these methods do not alienate the majority white males and are effective in recruiting students, especially women and minority students, into computing-related majors.