Abstract: Broadening participation in computer science (CS) for women and underrepresented minority (URM) students is an important national priority. This research is part of a larger, longitudinal, qualitative study that highlights the role of the department chair in leading diversity-related change initiatives at a set of institutions across the country. Findings from this study reveal important insights about how department chairs lead diversity-related change efforts. Further, findings also highlight the ways that department chairs grapple with dramatically increasing enrollments, representative diversity, and critical mass.

Abstract: This study examines the organizational behavior of departments in Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) with sustained success in graduating Latinx computer science bachelor’s degree recipients. I employ the conceptual framework of HSI servingness, built on a systematic review of literature on HSIs, to investigate the creation of opportunity structures to serve Latinx and minoritized students at the department level. The research for this piece is based on a multiple ethnographic case study of four computer science departments in the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI). The data corpus included 103 interviews with multiple stakeholders and 69 observations, each of which was conducted on site at the departments. In the analysis, three findings emerged as especially distinctive organizational behaviors to advance minoritized students’ outcomes in computer science. The first was how departmental personnel used disaggregated institutional data in race-conscious and intersectionality-oriented ways to inform more inclusive departmental practices and to meet demands for external disciplinary accreditation. The second was how departmental personnel took collective responsibility to build career support for students. The third involved how personnel applied a talent development perspective to pedagogical approaches and to creating validating environments for Latinx and other minoritized students. This research extends scholarship on servingness in HSIs to both departmental organizational contexts and to computer science fields. It also offers organizational strategies to create more inclusive environments and promote equitable outcomes for minoritized students in science.

Abstract: Case study results featuring four Latinx STEM faculty members illustrate the forms of institutional support professors can provide to increase the number of Latinx students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The findings highlight three areas of university faculty agency to integrate Latinx students into the cultural and discursive world of STEM: recruitment, admissions, and program development; professional networking; and brokering support for Latinx within the university and across systems. Recommendations are provided for faculty who wish to act as institutional agents and the need for future research into the institutional culture of Hispanic Serving Institutions is identified.

Abstract: While acknowledged as vital to expanding educational opportunity for Latinx students, Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) are also criticized for not adequately serving this population. Drawing on interviews with faculty at three HSIs, this study examines how faculty view Latinx students and their role in advancing these students’ learning, development, and success. Findings show that faculty perceptions of Latinx students coalesced around three broad areas, but interpretations varied, as did faculty’s actions in response.

Abstract: A substantial proportion of Latina/o college students enroll at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and emerging HSIs. Utilizing data from the University of California, Los Angeles Cooperative Institutional Research Program, this study quantitatively examines the choice process of Latina/os enrolled at 4-year HSIs, emerging HSIs, and non-HSIs. Guided by traditional theories of college choice and community cultural wealth, this study examines how demographic characteristics and various forms of capital influence Latina/os’ college choices. Different factors are associated with enrollment at HSIs and emerging HSIs compared with non-HSIs and can inform how institutions can transform practices and environments to serve the needs of their Latina/o students.

Abstract: This chapter provides an overview of the growth among Hispanic serving institutions (HSIs) and discusses the use of assessment as a key strategy for understanding institutional capacity for serving Latinx college students. Frameworks for understanding campus climate and examining college outcomes among Latinx students are explored, along with highlighting models for assessing campus climate and the practical implications for doing so. This chapter suggests that through the use of well‐established frameworks for understanding campus climate, IR should provide leadership in identifying the information needs of HSIs and emerging HSIs to enable broadened understanding and informed decision support to best serve Latinx college students.