How Gender, Ethnicity, and Public Presentation Shape Coding Perseverance after Hackathons

Abstract

Hackathon-style coding events are a popular and promising approach to broadening participation in computer science and engineering. We present a quantitative analysis of self-reported perseverance in coding after hackathon-style events for 4,703 hackathon participants run by the nonprofit organization CodeDay. Drawing from previous work on broadening participation in computing, we test hypotheses that seek to answer three questions about whether and how hackathon-style coding events support continued engagement in computing among young people: (1) Are participants from underrepresented groups as likely to continue to engage in coding after attending a hackathon-style event? (2) Are participants more likely to continue to code after hackathon-style events if they attend events with demographically similar peers? (3) Are participants more likely to continue to code after a hackathon-style event if they present their work? In line with many studies of broadening participation, we find that members of underrepresented groups are less likely to report continuing to engage in programming 10 weeks after hackathon-style events. However, we find that these participants are more likely to report continuing to code when a larger proportion of attendees at their event share their gender or ethnicity. We also find that membership in underrepresented groups is associated with a greater likelihood of continued engagement when participants present their work to others at the end of events. Our work contributes to the literature on both education and broadening participation in computing by outlining several conditions under which hackathon-style events may be effective in promoting continued engagement among underrepresented young people.