Sccessful participation in computer science requires much more than just making computer science classes available.
When it comes to the digital divide, often the focus is on how lack of internet service and basic technology will hurt students’ academic performance. This is particularly true during the pandemic, when most schools are operating online.
But as a STEM educator at one of the nation’s elite historically Black colleges, I see another negative effect of the digital divide: racial disparities in the field of computer science.
Computer science is one of the fastest-growing and highest-paying fields. So if students from certain groups are being shut out of the field, it means that public education is failing in its role as the great equalizer.