Gender and Racial Disparities in College Admissions and Computing Programs: The Future of Black Women in the Face of Widespread Anti-DEI Legislation

The underrepresentation of Black women in college computing programs is well known but not well understood, as enrollment reports often fail to account for the complexity inherent in this issue. We analyzed longitudinal data for a cohort of public school students from sixth grade through college enrollment in Texas (N=266,062), distinguishing between institution admission and program participation, 2- and 4-year programs, and types of computing and computing-related programs. Results suggest that the underrepresentation of Black women in computing programs may be less of an institutional admissions problem and more of a department culture problem. We leverage these results to examine the tension between expanding Black women's participation in college computing programs, effective affirmative action practices, and the recent rampant endorsement of anti-DEI policies. We conclude by offering practical approaches to addressing race and gender disparities in computing in light of the constraints of anti-DEI legislation.