With support from the National Science Foundation (2446240), this project will provide new insight into efforts to build accessible pathways to degrees and careers in computer science (CS) among students who transfer from community colleges to public comprehensive four-year universities. Because transfer students represent a diverse and high-achieving group, supporting their success is an important strategy for broadening participation in the CS workforce. However, little is known about upward transfer degree trajectories in CS or the larger structures, policies, and practices that shape upward transfer student success. Studies that do exist have primarily focused on transfer students at research-intensive and highly selective universities. Leveraging our prior NSF-funded research on transfer success in the University of California system, this project will address these gaps in the literature by collecting data from community college transfer CS majors and university agents (e.g., faculty, staff, administrators) across six California State University campuses. This project is guided by the following overarching research questions: (1) What are the structures, policies, and practices that community college transfer students identify in shaping their degree trajectories in computer science? (2) From the perspective of key university agents (e.g., advising staff, faculty, administrators), what are the relevant structures, policies, and practices that shape community college transfer student degree trajectories and opportunities in computer science?
We began baseline data collection for this project in Fall 2024 and will be collecting longitudinal survey and interview data from computer science transfer students and other key university agents (e.g., university faculty, staff, administrators) over the next five years.
Research Team Jennifer Blaney, PI Devon Graves, Co-PI David Feldon, Co-PI Kaitlyn Stormes, Postdoctoral Scholar