National Association of Colleges and Employers
Research abundantly emphasizes that students from gender and racially marginalized backgrounds face inequitable barriers to college retention and persistence in computer science disciplines (Lunn, Zahedi, Ross, & Ohland, 2021). While research names systemic issues, such as lack of representative role models, misogyny, racism, and other micro/macroagressions, as impeding female students’ retention (Kizilcec, Saltarelli, Bonfert-Taylor, et. al, 2020), a 2023 study conducted by Rewriting the Code, Inc., (RTC) sought to uncover factors that support, rather than threaten, retention in CS.
Based on data collected from 900+ undergraduate women attending 262 U.S.-based institutions, our research revealed that completing a CS internship had a statistically significant impact on women students’ retention in CS disciplines. Overall, research showed that 65.3% of respondents were more likely to remain enrolled in their CS degree program after completing a CS internship. This outcome increased among Black women, 72% of whom were more likely to persist, and in Latina identities, of whom 88.7% were more likely to retain, following completion of a CS internship.
These data suggest that despite the systemic discrimination and bias we know women students experience in their academic environments (Lehman, Newhouse, Sundar, & Sax, 2023), completing a CS internship positively correlates with degree persistence and completion. Therefore, in addition to promoting equitable and inclusive learning environments, higher education and the workforce would benefit from investing in intentional, accessible, and strategic CS internship experiences for women.
This webinar will explore conclusions from RTC’s 2023 Internship and Retention study. Findings will be examined, shared, and brought to life by a panel of three RTC women who completed CS internships, along with the principal investigator. Panelists will illuminate how a CS internship directly impacted their commitment and resilience as a CS major. Panelists will also highlight the unique features of each internship that reinforced their certainty of a career in CS, such as the presence and effectiveness of a mentor during their internship, intentional summer programming, and opportunities to interact with other women interns.
Employers will leave this session with direct strategies for creating high-impact technical internship experiences that strengthen career certainty among women in CS. Higher Education leaders will leave this session with data-informed tools to build, pursue, and enhance retention-oriented technical internship opportunities for women in CS.
Following this program, you will be able to:
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