Real Talk: Saturated Sites of Violence in CS Education

Real Talk: Saturated Sites of Violence in CS Education
Despite numerous CS education pedagogical interventions, the pipeline of Black women in Computing has not increased, which illustrates the need to address structural issues (such as racism, sexism, power, and privilege) that impact Black women’s intersectional identities. Without honest conversations about power relations within the field of Computing, one cannot expect to engender social change that equates to equity for all CS students. Leveraging intersectionality as a critical framework, we interview 18 Black women about their experiences navigating the computing education ecosystem. Intersectional analysis of Black women’s experiences reveals that CS education consists of saturated sites of violence in which interconnected systems of power converge to enact oppression. Findings reveal three saturated sites of violence within CS education: 1. traditional K-12 classrooms; 2. predominantly White institutions; and 3. internships as supplementary learning experiences.

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