Intersectionality in Computer Science: A Systematic Literature Review Anna Szlavi Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway anna.szlavi@ntnu.no Marit Fredrikke Hansen Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway maritfha@stud.ntnu.no Sandra Helen Husnes Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway sandrahh@stud.ntnu.no Tayana Uchˆ oa Conte Universidade Federal do Amazonas Brazil tayana@icomp.ufam.edu.br Abstract—Gender equality, as well as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), in computer science (CS) is primarily limited to binary gender diversity. It is known that women are heavily underrepresented in CS, but substantial parts of the DEI issues are still unexplored. Intersectionality provides a more nuanced perspective of equality as it acknowledges exclusion and discrim- ination coming from overlapping layers of people’s identities, e.g. gender, ethnicity, dis/ability, nationality, socioeconomic status, age, religion, and sexuality, in combination. It is important to address systemic barriers, bias, and stereotypes in CS through the lenses of intersectionality. There is a growing literature on challenges of women and binary gender diversity in CS, but a limitation to many of these investigations is that they look at only one dimension of discrimination rather than the complexity of intersectional challenges. That is why the research objective of this study is to provide information on the relation of intersectionality and CS, using the Systematic Literature Review methodology. The results show that there is still scarce research explicitly connected to the concept of intersectionality in CS, but awareness is increasing. The SLR also reveals various challenges and success factors related to intersectionality, which call for further attention. Index Terms—Intersectionality, Diversity, Inclusion, Computer Science, Systematic Literature Review I. I NTRODUCTION Tech companies often join the Diversity, Equity, and Inclu- sion (DEI) conversation because it is beneficial for their image as an employer, but in general, the conversation usually stops at binary gender diversity [1] [2]. When researching diversity in computer science (CS) (as well as related fields such as software engineering (SE), information and communication technology (ICT), information technology (IT), informatics, computing, etc.), it is important to do so through an in- tersectional lens, to fully understand the complexities and nuances of the issues and their possible solutions. Intersec- tionality encompasses how overlapping factors of a person’s identity, e.g. ethnicity, nationality, disability, gender expres- sion, sexuality, religion, and socioeconomic background, affect individuals in their daily lives, contributing to discrimination [3]. Overwhelmingly, diversity in CS is understood as gender diversity, within the frames of UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, Gender Equality [4]. Statistics from Europe show that women are still highly underrepresented in CS. In order to reach the 5th SDG – gender equality – within CS, intersectionality must also be a part of the solution [5]. Binary gender is only one dimension of inclusion, whereas intersec- tionality considers multiple dimensions of a person’s identity and the complexities of how these parts intersect leading to exclusion. With an intersectional approach, DEI can lead to greater creativity and success in CS [6]. Furthermore, having diverse developers helps prevent the creation of software that perpetuates harmful stereotypes and/or bias. The research objective of this paper is to provide knowledge about intersectionality in CS, both at the university and pro- fessional levels. Relatively many studies research the inclusion of women and binary gender diversity within the CS field [7] [8], and several acknowledge that a recurring limitation in this research area is staying within the binary and ignoring the concept of intersectionality [9] [10]. Thus, few studies about diversity in CS look beyond one dimension and consider the complexity of challenges linked to and explicitly attributing them to intersectionality. These factors motivated the following research questions (RQs): • RQ1: What recent research exists that explicitly embraces intersectionality within computer science? • RQ2: What are the main intersectional challenges in computer science? • RQ3: What factors are important to overcome these challenges and succeed in computer science? To address the research questions RQ1, RQ2, and RQ3,a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was performed to review primary studies within this project scope and to understand intersectionality in CS. The principles by Kitchenham were used to perform the SLR [11]. The structure of this paper is as follows. Section II presents the background, which elaborates on diversity in CS. The research methods are presented in Section III. Section IV Work licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 9 2023 IEEE/ACM 4th Workshop on Gender Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering (GEICSE) 979-8-3503-1230-0/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE 2023 IEEE/ACM 4th Workshop on Gender Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering (GEICSE) | 979-8-3503-1230-0/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/GEICSE59319.2023.00006 DOI 10.1109/GEICSE59319.2023.00006