Exploring the Envisioned Identity of Computing Students: Insights from Norway

Higher education institutions are under pressure to educate employable computing graduates who can meet society’s needs. Education, as a process of becoming, shapes students’ identities, and identity is an important topic to study because it influences students’ motivation, retention and satisfaction. Identity serves as the link connecting an individual student with the social world around them. In the context of computing, this social world includes communities, practices and values embedded in the computing discipline, as well as institutions that affect the identity development process. This article presents the envisioned identity of computing students as portrayed by Norwegian educational institutions. Through critical document analysis, 29 documents were examined to determine which attributes are portrayed as desirable for computing graduates. The analysis shows that the envisioned computing graduates are portrayed as industry relevant and employable, continuously competent, socially responsible and diverse. This study contributes to the literature with a cross-level analysis and a discussion of the phenomenon of envisioned computing identity.