Get Paid to Program: Evaluating an Employment-Aware After-School Program for High School Women of Color

Abstract

After-school programs are one of the primary mechanisms used to introduce students to computing. Yet, such programs may leave behind students who need to work after-school jobs and earn an income. In this work we implement and evaluate a 10-week-long after-school program we call "Get Paid to Program", which uses research-based curriculum and pedagogical practices to introduce majority-minority, low-income high school women to computing. We evaluate the impact of this program on students' self-confidence around computing and their interest in STEM and computing careers. We evaluate the program with 30 high school women over two program implementations. Our evaluation shows a significant change in participants' computing self-efficacy. Additionally, we observe a refinement of career interests in computer science, programming, and engineering: participants become more certain of their interest, or lack thereof, after program completion. Interestingly, we find relatively little impact on career interest in other STEM fields, suggesting that computing-specific programs are critical for raising student awareness and interest.