Influences of Precollege Out-of-School Time Computer Science Experiences on Students’ Career Interest in Computer Science

Background and context: Although out-of-school time (OST) computer science (CS) experiences during the high school years have been considered an efficacious means to cultivate students’ career interest in CS, there has been a paucity of rigorous research on the topic. Objective: Examine the effects of a wide variety of OST activities on students’ career interest in CS. Method: We carried out a retrospective cohort study, collecting data from a nationally representative sample of 6,044 U.S. first year university students. From 27 survey items about OST CS-related activities during high school, we first selected a list of top-ranking influential variables through machine learning. Then, a multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between these top-ranking variables and students’ career interests at the end of high school. Findings: The analysis showed that high school aged students’ participation in unstructured CS-related activities (e.g., talking about CS with family or friends ); structured CS-related activities (e.g., CS-related summer camps or programs ); along with the opportunities that students experienced during OST CS programs/activities (e.g., designing their own CS projects ) boosted interest in a CS career vis-à-vis careers in other-STEM or non-STEM fields. It also showed that engaging in some activities (e.g., using social media ) was associated with a decreased likelihood of intending a CS career, compared to a career in other-STEM or non-STEM fields. An interaction effect between having a prior career interest in CS and creating blogs/podcasts/video was also observed. Implications: First large-scale analysis of CS OST related activities on CS career interest.