Holmegaard, H;
Archer, L;
Godec, S;
Watson, E;
MacLeod, E;
Dewitt, J;
Moote, J;
(2024)
Feeling the weight of the water: a longitudinal study of how capital and identity shape young people’s computer science trajectories over time, age 10–21.
Computer Science Education
10.1080/08993408.2024.2320009.
(In press).
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Abstract
Background and Context: There is a call for more young people to continue into higher education computer science (CS). Objective: To understand young people’s choices into and away from CS, by addressing the inequalities their trajectories as shaped over time and in relation to their capital and identities. Method: Ninety-four longitudinal interviews were conducted with nine young people and their parents from age 10/11 to age 21/22, analysed through the lens of identity and capital. Findings: CS-related capital facilitated “smooth” transitions into CS-degrees, with family capital being salient in the choice-process, and out-of-school experiences for navigating CS-courses. Other young people faced disjunctures between their capital, identity and the field of CS education, feeling “the weight of the water”, experiencing study challenges and being at risk of withdrawing. Finally, a group of young people were “navigating a different waterway”, reflecting a greater fit with a different field. Implications: We call for actions to broadening what counts as CS.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Feeling the weight of the water: a longitudinal study of how capital and identity shape young people’s computer science trajectories over time, age 10–21 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/08993408.2024.2320009 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2024.2320009 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
| Keywords: | Science capital; computer science; aspirations; computer science identities; choices |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10191941 |
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