Becoming A Computer Scientist: Multimethods To Make Sense Of Professional Computer Scientist Identity Development

Professional identity development is both a powerful pedagogical tool and an excellent indicator of overall life satisfaction for students. This work investigates the experience of undergraduate students as they develop their professional identities into computer scientists. A multimethod research plan makes use of quantitative ethnography (QE) and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to understand the lived experiences of eight undergraduate computer science students professional computer scientist identity development and the messages social media presents about that professional identity. First, a quantitative ethnography is conducted to investigate the expression of professional computer scientist identity in relevant online communities. This investigation into the discourse about computer scientists provides insight into the broader culture that students are joining, outside of the college experience. The found separation of discussion about professional values from other identity subconstructs indicates that students using social media as a source of identity knowledge may not connect the computer scientist identity to professional values and responsibilities. Second, the qualitative research methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis is conducted to facilitate rich elicitation and systematic analysis of the experiences that participants describe as forming their identities. The eight students who graciously shared their journeys to becoming computer scientists have had their experiences analyzed and interpreted with commitment to quality and validity outlined by both interpretative and phenomenological frameworks. The five emergent themes from their stories describe their integration into the computer science culture, finding their niche, optimizing their learning of computer science, compromising between professional and personal desires, and maintaining interdisciplinary interests as new computer scientists. These themes show lived experiences of developing professional computer scientist identity in balance between social, personal, and non-computing contexts.