Abstract
Students’ sense of belonging in Computer Science (CS) education is an understudied area that can yield valuable insights into students’ experiences and the factors that contribute to persistence and success. This study investigates the link between CS curricular processes and students’ sense of belonging by examining the experiences of 29 current CS students and recent graduates from four universities of different status and location in the United States. The study combines focus group and interview data to systematically investigate the phenomenon, accounting for both individual insights and contextual circumstances, and applies Staryhorn's college students’ sense of belonging framework to examine the findings. Three overarching themes emerged from the study as salient student experiences: (1) difficulty finding engagement in theory-heavy coursework, (2) personally meaningful experiences contribute to belonging, and (3) multiple dimensions of connectedness jointly inform belonging. Findings highlight unique challenges that CS students face, and a sense of belonging can be a powerful contributor to students’ academic success and professional development.
Keywords
Sense of belonging plays a critical role in influencing student persistence and success (Strayhorn, 2018), yet it remains an understudied area within computer science (CS) education (Rowan-Kenyon et al., 2023). In CS education, a sense of belonging extends beyond feeling socially supported to also encompass the experience of being accepted as a contributing member of a discipline often marked by cultural and gendered norms that can marginalize students from underrepresented backgrounds (Mooney et al., 2020; Mooney & Becker, 2020).
Students in CS programs are predominantly male (78.5% of enrollments in 2023) and White or Asian (65.4% in 2023) (Tims et al., 2023). Incoming female and first-generation students tend to have a lower sense of belonging in CS courses, and a lower sense of belonging also correlates with negative academic performance in CS courses (Krause-Levy et al., 2021). These patterns persist even when supplemental support programs target underrepresented CS students (Creps et al., 2025).
Students who struggle to adapt to the implicit and explicit expectations of CS programs may choose to, or be required to, switch to other fields (Strayhorn, 2018), disrupting efforts to meet industry demand for talent and limiting capacity to diversify representation in the CS workforce. Despite slowdowns in tech hiring after the recent surge in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the demand for workers in computer and information technology is still projected to grow faster than most other occupations (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). To better understand students’ perceptions of belonging and success in undergraduate CS education, we interviewed 29 undergraduate CS majors and recent CS graduates from four institutions to learn about their sense of belonging within the discipline. By identifying common themes across institutions, our study advances understanding of how curricular and pedagogical strategies may enhance CS students’ sense of belonging, including mitigating the solitary and competitive culture often associated with the field. We believe that targeted efforts to strengthen a sense of belonging in computer science education can improve overall student retention and ultimately expand access to careers in the CS workforce.
Literature Review
Strayhorn (2018) defined a sense of belonging as “students’ perceived social support on campus, a feeling of connectedness, and the experience of mattering” and has found this construct linked to a variety of measures of student success. Runa et al. (2025) offered the first comprehensive analysis of research on a sense of belonging in undergraduate CS education, identifying barriers to belonging that differ across gender, race, and sexuality while highlighting the need for more research on this topic. A survey exploring CS students’ sense of belonging at a U.S. university found that students desired more structured opportunities to connect with peers (Von Briesen et al., 2025). Lehman et al. (2023) highlighted that proximal socialization experiences (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006) were linked to persistence in the major, and found that women were less likely than men to continue in CS majors after completing an introductory course.
Quigley et al. (2024) highlight how underrepresented students’ CS identity develops through access to meaningful CS opportunities that involve moments of struggle, with appropriate support, allowing them to cultivate collective knowledge and skills that strengthen their CS identity. This finding indicates that belonging is not just about peer interactions and student identity, but also about how pedagogical and curricular processes in CS learning shape students’ sense of belonging. Pedagogical and curricular practices, such as student-instructor relationships, assessment and feedback, and peer relations and cohort identity, can contribute to a broader “academic sphere” that shapes students’ holistic experiences and sense of belonging (Cohen & Viola, 2022). Therefore, this research fills a gap in the literature by investigating the link between curricular processes and students’ sense of belonging, specifically in computer science.
Methods
Our study includes CS students and recent graduates from four universities. To capture a diverse range of student perspectives and institutional contexts, we purposely selected institutions representing a mix of public and private research-intensive universities, located in the Northeast, Northwest, and Southeast regions of the United States. These institutions also serve diverse student demographics. Such contextual variation enhances the study's qualitative rigor (Creswell & Poth, 2017).
We received lists of student email contacts from the CS departments of these institutions and from a CS educational program provider partnered with these departments. We recruited participants via email to participate in a study about their CS learning experience. Twenty-two current students and seven alumni who had graduated within the past five years participated in five focus groups (3-4 participants each) and five individual interviews. Focus groups lasted approximately 75 min, and interviews lasted 40 min. Approximately 72% of participants (21/29) were men. The small focus groups allowed each participant to respond to all questions, promoting interactional depth and building group consensus on participants’ learning experience. Meanwhile, the individual interviews allowed participants to share more personal narratives without being influenced by the group dynamic. Combining focus group and interview data allows a systematic investigation of the phenomenon, enriched by individual insights and contextual circumstances. The convergence of the central phenomenon across focus groups and interviews further strengthens the trustworthiness of findings (Lambert & Loiselle, 2008). Michel (1999) further warns against relying solely on focus groups when studying social experiences, especially when these experiences are hierarchical.
We used a semi-structured interview protocol to construct narratives of each participant's journey through the CS major, including their motivation and career aspirations. Participants were invited to share positive and negative experiences encountered during their coursework. We probed their understanding of “belonging” within their academic environment and asked them to describe specific experiences when they felt they did or did not belong. Additional questions addressed participants’ peer relationships and sources of support.
Two lead coders analyzed the interview transcripts using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2012). Applying the theory of college students’ sense of belonging framework (Strayhorn, 2018), we analyzed the data using the three-dimensional framework of motivation, mattering, and connectedness as the primary aspects shaping students’ sense of belonging. We then calibrated codes, developing a shared codebook used for a second round of coding. After re-coding the transcripts using the shared codebook, we resolved any discrepancies and identified overarching themes. Themes centered on students’ curricular experiences and how these experiences influenced their sense of belonging within their CS program.
Findings
Difficulty Finding Engagement in Theory-Heavy Coursework
Many students in our study reported being academically unprepared for a theory-focused computational curriculum and experienced difficulty engaging with courses that focused primarily on theory. Coursework was often lecture-heavy with emphasis on didactic learning. Students found little opportunity to engage with their peers and form the social supports or connectedness that contribute to a sense of belonging. This was more pronounced in online-focused programs, such as Northwest State University (pseudonym), where one of our participants shared they would sit through entire class sessions without hearing from other students or seeing their faces. Our participants also generally found it difficult to connect theory-heavy coursework with their future work life. One participant shared: “a lot of our classes…I don’t think they’re that useful for jobs… there's all the theory, it just never comes up again after the course. Like you could just burn all your notes and it would never matter.”
When students feel a sense of disconnection to the curriculum as it relates to their career, their sense of belonging to the field is hindered. Students described that in the absence of feeling that their college work matters, their motivation to focus on their coursework would plummet. This creates a negative cycle, as students begin to doubt their interests in the CS industry. Sometimes students sought out supplemental opportunities, either online or through their college, in order to find curricular material that “matters” in the workforce and they find interesting, but other times students become jaded with their program and college experience: “I wouldn’t recommend [University], mostly because the coursework doesn’t really prepare you for interviews and questioning.”
Personally Meaningful Experiences Contribute to Belonging
Participants recalled fond memories and pivotal moments that have defined their computer science experiences, such as serving as a TA, conducting research, successfully completing challenging coursework toward their major requirements, and exercising creativity and skills to create a project with real-world impact. Our data revealed that personally meaningful experiences that make them feel valued, accepted, and important can contribute to a sense of belonging among students. A participant who conducted an independent research project shared that “I assisted a nonprofit to build their website. And it was really great to put my CS skills into practice…I feel like that really exemplifies [University] values and kind of why I went here in the first place, honestly.” Another participant became especially involved in the CS department through TAing at his university, and shared that “the TA program is absolutely fantastic and has been integral to my experience… it is literally the best way to get involved with professors.”
Multiple Dimensions of Connectedness Jointly Inform Belonging
Connectedness is another important dimension of sense of belonging (Strayhorn, 2018). We find that CS students’ sense of belonging is informed by multiple dimensions of interpersonal and intrapersonal connections, such as relationships with peers, mentors, and instructors, as well as connectedness to the curriculum and aspired careers. These factors can foster a sense of community that provides additional support, accountability, and opportunities for collaboration to support students pursuing their goals and objectives. A participant shared: “The computer science community is very collaborative. And I think it's great when you work with other people in the class. It's like you make friends. You also learn from them. So you enhance your understanding of the subject.”
On the other hand, our data also reveal the damaging effect on students’ engagement when they feel disconnected from the curriculum and instructor. A participant shared his frustration with a programming course during the first year of college: “I was definitely contemplating changing my major. And it was just a lot of headaches, a lot of, yeah, a lot of just headaches. It turns out we did use a lot of outdated ideas.”
Conclusion
Our findings shed light on connections between sense of belonging, classroom and supplemental experiences, and the multifaceted sense of connectedness that can exist in CS programs. Given the highly challenging and competitive nature of CS academic programs and the tech industry, our study highlights the unique challenges that CS students face in degree completion and college-career transition, and identifies students’ sense of belonging as a multifaceted yet powerful shaping force that facilitates CS students’ academic success and professional development. One participant understood their sense of belonging as “when you feel like you’ve been given everything needed in order for you to thrive.” Our work contributes to the ongoing academic discourse and pedagogical practices in CS education, expanding on existing knowledge of student belonging and success from a more discipline-specific, career-oriented perspective.
Footnotes
Ethical Approval
This research has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Boston College.
Author Contribution(s)
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.