Research points to the following strategies for recruitment of more students, especially females and students of color into high-level computer science courses.
1. Recruitment matters. Click here for recruitment tips for encouraging more females and students of color into computer science.
2. Computer science or computer literacy. Are you teaching the academic, theoretical concepts of computer science or teaching basic computer literacy skills?
3. Counselors. Are you working with counselors to identify potential CS students, particularly amongst underrepresented groups? Is your counselor aware of prerequisites and the type of learning that will occur in the class?
4. Stereotypes. Are you confronting student stereotypes about who studies computer science?
5. Students supports. Do students have access to people with knowledge about computer science to provide additional out-of-the-classroom supports?
6. Pedagogy. Are you teaching computer science in an engaging way that draws on the cultural knowledge of students?