Using Organizational Change Theories to Examine Women-in-Computing Groups

Abstract

The gender imbalance in computer science is getting worse, with computer science being the only Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) field in which women’s representation has steadily declined throughout the past few decades. This study focuses on one attempt to redress the lack of women in computer science—Women-inComputing (WiC) college clubs. Drawing on organizational change theories, we ask: How do students engage in WiC? Do WiC clubs engender changes? If so, how? We argue that WiC is an identity, a community, a safe space, and the beginning of a career-long practice of mentoring future women in computer science. Moreover, changes driven by such clubs have brought impacts to both the individual level students and the organizational level computer science departments. This study offers a new perspective on applying organizational change theories and contributes to the broader research community on diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.