Facilitating women’s success in software engineering through the exploration of non-traditional educational environments

Ashley Rea; Taylor Alexis Hobbs; Chanel Davis; Abigail Sophia Clerget

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Publication Date: June 22, 2025
Start Date: June 22, 2025
End Date: August 15, 2025
Conference Session: Software Engineering Division (SWED) Technical Session 4
Tagged Division: Software Engineering Division (SWED)
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 12
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/56555

Paper Authors

biography

Ashley Rea Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

visit author page

Ashley Rea is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition and Director of the Writing and Design Lab at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University–Prescott. Her research considers the intersections of software engineering, technical communication, and educational equity. Her work is published in Technical Communication, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Programmatic Perspectives, and Communication Design Quarterly.

visit author page

author page

Taylor Alexis Hobbs Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

biography

Chanel Davis Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

visit author page

Chanel Davis is a junior aerospace engineering student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. She is a Patti Grace Smith Fellow and a Brooke Owens Fellow, with internship experience at BryceTech and United Airlines. Chanel's research focuses on equity in engineering education, emphasizing increasing representation and access in software and computer engineering. Her previous research on improving belonging and inclusion in group projects is now being implemented in all introductory engineering courses at her university. She has presented her work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR). On campus, Chanel serves as Vice President of Equity and Belonging for Delta Phi Epsilon and previously served as President of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). She is also a member of the Rocket Development Lab, contributing to experimental propulsion and fluids research. Chanel is passionate about continuing space exploration and advancing human spaceflight while ensuring the aerospace industry becomes more inclusive and accessible.

visit author page

author page

Abigail Sophia Clerget Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

STEM fields face persistent challenges with diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, while women make up 56% of students enrolled in undergraduate degrees, women account for only 22% of the students in engineering programs. This number drops even further in the workforce, where women comprise only 15.9% of the engineering industry (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Consequently, the industry of equity-focused coding education has grown rapidly, leading to the rise of coding bootcamps, workshops, and community-based coding education specifically designed to increase the participation of women and underrepresented programmers in tech (Rea, 2022; Jabbari, 2023). While the impacts of these sites of coding education are many and varied, they have much to offer software engineering educators invested in exploring inclusive pedagogy (Byrd, 2020; Damian et al., 2024; Vakil, 2018).

As faculty and students working within technical communication and engineering, our research team seeks ways to foster more equitable learning environments and help underrepresented students thrive in software engineering. To that end, this presentation offers pedagogical insights derived from an IRB-approved, multi-year qualitative study of sites of coding education created to increase representation, access, and equity in the tech industry.

This presentation shares practices from software developers working to increase equity in tech and analyzes how these coding organizations use inclusive practices to cultivate participants’ computational thinking and programming skills in the context of a constantly changing coding landscape. The study uses interviews, participant observation, and grounded theory analysis to better understand the pedagogical practices of these coding organizations. Ultimately, this presentation offers attendees a framework to critically evaluate pedagogical practices for software engineering education as well as specific strategies for cultivating a more inclusive learning environment and improving the learning experiences of underrepresented students in engineering.

Citation
Format

Rea, A., & Hobbs, T. A., & Davis, C., & Clerget, A. S. (2025, June), Facilitating women’s success in software engineering through the exploration of non-traditional educational environments Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/56555

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - STEM fields face persistent challenges with diversity, equity, and inclusion. For example, while women make up 56% of students enrolled in undergraduate degrees, women account for only 22% of the students in engineering programs. This number drops even further in the workforce, where women comprise only 15.9% of the engineering industry (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Consequently, the industry of equity-focused coding education has grown rapidly, leading to the rise of coding bootcamps, workshops, and community-based coding education specifically designed to increase the participation of women and underrepresented programmers in tech (Rea, 2022; Jabbari, 2023). While the impacts of these sites of coding education are many and varied, they have much to offer software engineering educators invested in exploring inclusive pedagogy (Byrd, 2020; Damian et al., 2024; Vakil, 2018). 

As faculty and students working within technical communication and engineering, our research team seeks ways to foster more equitable learning environments and help underrepresented students thrive in software engineering. To that end, this presentation offers pedagogical insights derived from an IRB-approved, multi-year qualitative study of sites of coding education created to increase representation, access, and equity in the tech industry. 

This presentation shares practices from software developers working to increase equity in tech and analyzes how these coding organizations use inclusive practices to cultivate participants’ computational thinking and programming skills in the context of a constantly changing coding landscape. The study uses interviews, participant observation, and grounded theory analysis to better understand the pedagogical practices of these coding organizations. Ultimately, this presentation offers attendees a framework to critically evaluate pedagogical practices for software engineering education as well as specific strategies for cultivating a more inclusive learning environment and improving the learning experiences of underrepresented students in engineering. 
AU  - Ashley Rea
AU  - Taylor Alexis Hobbs
AU  - Chanel Davis
AU  - Abigail Sophia Clerget
CY  - Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
DA  - 2025/06/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Facilitating women’s success in software engineering through the exploration of non-traditional educational environments 
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/56555
ER  -