Investigating Impacts of STARS Program Components on Persistence in Computing for Black and White College Students

Persistence is a particularly important topic surrounding computing - 50% of students who begin a computing major do not complete their major [1]. Persistence in computing is an even larger problem for minority students [2]. In this study, we investigate how participation in the STARS program impacts persistence in computing among undergraduate computing students. Using structural equation models based on post-surveys of 1885 students, we found that participation in STARS has a significant impact on increasing persistence among computing students. The relationship between participation in STARS and increasing persistence differs for students by racial-ethnic groups. Overall, STARS significantly impacts persistence by making students more confident in their computing abilities, increasing their career awareness, and providing students with the opportunity to network professionally. Importantly, STARS also influenced persistence indirectly by helping students to be more satisfied with their majors. These findings provide a meaningful basis for future research to investigate how interventions may differentially impact students from different demographic groups.