Work in Progress: Understanding Differential Experiences of Identity in Computing Environments Using a Computing Privilege Inventory
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
- Tagged Divisions
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Equity and Culture & Social Justice in Education Division (EQUITY)
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/48523
Paper Authors
Cecilé Sadler Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cecilé Sadler is a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the MIT Media Lab with the Lifelong Kindergarten group. Her interests lie at the intersection of computing and education in designing equitable learning environments that cultivate creativity through technology-mediated creative learning experiences. She focuses on investigating how computing can be leveraged to create spaces for Black and brown youth to practice agency and develop their cultural identity through playful learning experiences. Cecilé is a graduate of North Carolina State University and Duke University, earning her B.S. and M.S. in computer engineering. She is also on the Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows Program research team and serves as senior personnel on the Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AiiCE).
Alicia Nicki Washington
Duke University
orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-6234
Dr. Nicki Washington is a professor of the practice of computer science and gender, sexuality, and feminist studies at Duke University and the author of Unapologetically Dope: Lessons for Black Women and Girls on Surviving and Thriving in the Tech Field. She is currently the director of the Cultural Competence in Computing (3C) Fellows program and the NSF-funded Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education (AiiCE). She also serves as senior personnel for the NSF-funded Athena Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Her career in higher education began at Howard University as the first Black female faculty member in the Department of Computer Science. Her professional experience also includes Winthrop University, The Aerospace Corporation, and IBM. She is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University (B.S., ‘00) and North Carolina State University (M.S., ’02; Ph.D., ’05), becoming the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science at the university and 2019 Computer Science Hall of Fame Inductee.
Shaundra Bryant Daily
Duke University
orcid.org/0000-0002-6612-2049
Shaundra B. Daily is a Cue Family professor of practice in Electrical and Computer Engineering & Computer Science at Duke University and Levitan Faculty Fellow, Special Assistant to the Vice Provosts. Prior to joining Duke, she was an associate professor with tenure at the University of Florida in the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering. She also served as an associate professor and interim co-chair in the School of Computing at Clemson University. Her research focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of technologies, programs, and curricula to support diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM fields. Currently, through this work, she is the Backbone Director for the Alliance for Identity-Inclusive Computing Education as well as Education and Workforce Director for the Athena AI Institute. Having garnered over $40M in funding from public and private sources to support her collaborative research activities, Daily’s work has been featured in USA Today, Forbes, National Public Radio, and the Chicago Tribune. Daily earned her B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University – Florida State University College of Engineering, and an S.M. and Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab.
Abstract
The purpose of this work-in-progress paper is to describe the development and preliminary evaluation of an instrument targeting computing students and professionals that measures privilege in the context of academic and professional computing environments. As concepts of privilege, equity, and inclusion gain more prominence in computing fields, there is a growing need for research instruments that can quantify and elucidate disparities along lines of gender, race, class, and other aspects of identity.
The tool under development expands McIntosh's [1], [2] concept of the "Invisible Knapsack," a metaphor describing the “weightless” collection of unearned advantages that people racialized as white experience in their daily lives. As part of this concept, McIntosh developed a list of examples that demonstrate these privileges. This list is often reviewed as an activity in classes and professional development workshops where the amount of privilege held by an individual is evidenced by the number of statements they agree with. As noted by McIntosh, absent from this work are other factors influencing one’s experience beyond race.
Motivated by this work, we developed a 30-item “Computing Knapsack,” seeking to account for intersectional experiences [3] of privilege (or the lack thereof) within computing spaces. This instrument included four identity constructs: race, gender, socioeconomic status, and ability. Within each construct, statements (i.e., items) were developed to capture potential privileges in computing. Ten related to class and socioeconomic status (e.g., "I am not the first person in my family to pursue a computing/engineering degree"), eight to race (e.g., "Growing up, I could identify professionals in computing who shared my ethnoracial identity"), seven to gender (e.g., "At least 50% of the faculty in my department share my gender identity"), and five to ability (e.g., "I have never missed an assignment or class due to a disability or chronic condition"). As with the original Invisible Knapsack, scoring was determined by the number of items a person agrees with.
The instrument was distributed across two academic years to computing faculty (N=93) and undergraduates (N=161). Preliminary results show that, within each construct (identity), those with the most dominant identities within computing (e.g., white, men, or able-bodied) scored the highest (indicating the most privilege). Further disaggregation revealed that that those holding multiple marginalized identities tended to report lower levels of privilege. Preliminary results also helped to identify potential limitations in the current version (e.g., differences in responses within the same construct between postsecondary students and professionals) as well as potentially unclear items. Future work includes improving collection of participant demographic information as well as item refinement.
Previous work in the computing field has identified ways that privilege manifests; however, little work has been done to quantitatively assess privileges impacting experiences at the postsecondary level [4]–[6]. This research makes an important contribution to work on equity and inclusion in computing by identifying how unexamined privileges manifest across multiple axes of identity. We envision this work catalyzing critical reflections and dialogue that lead to changes in curricula, pedagogical practices, and policies.
Sadler, C., & Washington, A. N., & Daily, S. B. (2024, June), Work in Progress: Understanding Differential Experiences of Identity in Computing Environments Using a Computing Privilege Inventory Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/48523
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