The Community College Information Technology Study

Funder

National Science Foundation

PI

Pamela Anderson, Jill Denner, Karin Coyle

Description

The Community College Information Technology (CCIT) is a longitudinal study, focused on two-year colleges in California that serve 2.7 million students each year. Previous research on community college (CC) students’ enrollment and persistence in Information Technology (IT) courses/programs is limited or has not focused exclusively on CC students.

Based on the growing priority placed on IT, there is a clear need to conduct longitudinal studies that include a broader array of influences and outcomes with large samples of women and underrepresented minorities in IT programs at CCs. By gathering data on the individuals actually progressing through IT programs, and on the factors that influence their decisions, this study will be among the first to provide data to guide policy makers, college faculty and administrators, and researchers.

IT students in CCs will be asked to take 3 online surveys over 3 years focusing on the individual, relational, and institutional factors that influence their educational and career choices.

The results will have implications for both workforce development and broadening participation in STEM and will fill a gap in our understanding of how to retain a larger and more diverse group of students who are prepared to enter the IT workforce.