Cohort Dynamics and Longitudinal Trends in High School Computer Science Participation

Recent research highlights the need for a more systematic examination of how variations in computer science (CS) access, school context, and student composition interact to shape CS participation and pathways over time. This study addresses this gap by analyzing longitudinal data tracking CS course participation among three cohorts of high school students at six large suburban schools in the northeastern United States. Despite these schools consistently offering multiple CS courses throughout the study period, our analyses reveal that access alone does not translate into participation. While overall CS participation rates varied significantly across schools, the increases between successive cohorts were more stable across schools, typically ranging from six to nine percentage points. However, these gains were neither substantial enough to approach universal participation, nor sufficient to close existing participation gaps. Although the sample size limits broad generalizability, our cohort-centered approach provides a nuanced perspective that accounts for the dynamic shifts within schools’ CS education ecosystems - factors that often obscure trends in traditional longitudinal analyses. Moreover, the consistency of our findings across multiple school contexts underscores the value of such analyses in capturing the complex interplay of access, participation, persistence, and success in CS education.